[1][2] In 2009, feminist magazine Opzij named Jongerius the most powerful Dutch woman of the year, citing her role at FNV during the economic crisis.

[3] In September 2013 information surfaced that Jongerius wanted to become the new mayor of Utrecht, to succeed Aleid Wolfsen.

Jongerius occupied the second place on the Labour Party list for the European Parliament elections of 2014, after Paul Tang.

[5] She was elected to the European Parliament in May 2014, and she served as the party's spokesperson for social affairs and employment.

[6][11] During her membership of the European Parliament, Jongerius served as a supervisory board member of PostNL (2013–18) and the Atria Institute (2014–24), which is specialized in gender equality and women's history.