As a parliamentarian, he focused on matters of housing, Kingdom relations and education.

Elected to the municipal council of Lelystad in 1982, Van Bochove presided over the party group from 1985 until 1990, when he was appointed as an alderman, a position he retained until 2002.

He regained it in the following months, after parliamentarians resigned to join the First Rutte cabinet.

Van Bochove was the last mayor of Weesp from 2014 until the municipal merger with Amsterdam finalized on 24 March 2022.

[1] He was the longest-serving acting mayor of North Holland with a term of 95 months and 23 days.