Elco Brinkman

Janneke Salentijn

​

(m. 1977)​

Elco Brinkman
Brinkman in 2008
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the Senate
In office 7 June 2011 –11 June 2019
Children	3 children
Parent	Bram Brinkman (1915–2009) (father)
Residence	Leiden
Alma mater	Free University Amsterdam (Bachelor of Social Science, Bachelor of Laws, Master of Social Science, Master of Laws)
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Jurist · Researcher · Businessperson · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Trade association executive · Lobbyist

Leendert Cornelis "Elco" Brinkman (born 5 February 1948) is a retired Dutch politician and businessman who served as Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture from 1982 to 1989 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in 1994. ^[1]

Career

Brinkman studied political science and law and at the Free University Amsterdam simultaneously obtaining a Master of Social Science and Laws degree. Brinkman worked as a researcher at his alma mater from September 1970 until July 1974 and as a civil servant for the Ministry of the Interior from July 1974 until November 1982. After the 1982 general election, Brinkman was appointed Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture in the First Lubbers cabinet taking office on 4 November 1982. After the election of 1986 Brinkman continued his office in the Second Lubbers cabinet. At the election of 1989 Brinkman was reelected as a member of the House of Representatives and took office on 14 September. He declined to serve in the new cabinet and instead was selected as parliamentary leader on 7 November 1989. Shortly before an upcoming election, party leader and Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers announced his retirement and Brinkman was anonymously selected as his successor on 29 January 1994. For the election of 1994 Brinkman served as lijsttrekker (top candidate) but shortly thereafter announced that he was stepping down following disappointing election results on 16 August 1994 but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a frontbencher chairing the House Committee on Kingdom Relations and spokesperson for Health. In April 1995 Brinkman unexpectedly announced his retirement and resigned from the House of Representatives on 26 April 1995.

Brinkman retired from active politics at just 47 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government; he worked as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Construction Association from May 1995 until July 2013, Vice Chairman of the Industry and Employers Confederation (VNO-NCW) from April 2002 until May 2008 and a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the VNO-NCW from June 1995 until July 2013. Brinkman returned to active in politics and after the Senate election of 2011 was elected as a member of the Senate and became parliamentary leader serving from 7 June 2011 until 11 June 2019. Brinkman retired from active politics a second time at 71 but following his retirement continues to be active as an advocate and lobbyist for trade associations.

Decorations

Honours

Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour	France	6 February 1984
	Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II	Belgium	10 September 1988
	Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	20 November 1989

References

1. "CDA-coryfee Elco Brinkman kondigt vertrek uit politiek aan" (in Dutch). NOS. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2019.

External links

Official

• (in Dutch) Mr.Drs. L.C. (Elco) Brinkman Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Mr.Drs. L.C. Brinkman (CDA) Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal

Party political offices
Preceded by Ruud Lubbers	Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives 1989–1994	Succeeded by Enneüs Heerma
	Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal 1994
Preceded by Ruud Lubbers 1989	Lijsttrekker of the Christian Democratic Appeal 1994	Succeeded by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer 1998
Preceded by Jos Werner	Parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the Senate 2011–2019	Succeeded by Ben Knapen
Political offices
Preceded by Til Gardeniers-Berendsen as Minister of Health and Environment	Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture 1982–1989	Succeeded by Hedy d'Ancona
Preceded by Til Gardeniers-Berendsen as Minister of Culture, Recreation and Social Work Ad interim
Civic offices
Preceded by Unknown	Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Interior 1979–1980	Succeeded by Unknown
	Director-General of the Department for Public Administration of the Ministry of the Interior 1980–1982
Preceded by Bert de Vries	Chairman of the Supervisory board of Public Pension Funds APB 2001–2009	Succeeded by Harry Borghouts
Business positions
Preceded by Office established	Chairman of the Executive Board of the Construction association 1995–2013	Succeeded by Maxime Verhagen
Preceded by Hans de Boer	Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of the Industry and Employers confederation 2002–2008	Succeeded by Hans Wiegel
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Bram Peper	Chairman of the Supervisory board of the International Architecture Biennal Rotterdam 2001–2011	Succeeded by Ed Nijpels
Preceded by Wim Deetman	Chairman of the Supervisory board of the Royal Library 2004–2015	Succeeded by Tjibbe Joustra
Preceded by Hans Wiegel	Chairman of the Supervisory board of Staatsbosbeheer 2008–2010	Succeeded by Inge Brakman