Klaas Dijkhoff | |
---|---|
![]() Dijkhoff in 2015 | |
Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives | |
In office 26 October 2017 –18 March 2021 | |
Preceded by | Halbe Zijlstra |
Succeeded by | Mark Rutte |
Minister of Defence | |
In office 4 October 2017 –26 October 2017 | |
Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
Preceded by | Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert |
Succeeded by | Ank Bijleveld |
State Secretary for Security and Justice | |
In office 20 March 2015 –4 October 2017 | |
Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
Preceded by | Fred Teeven |
Succeeded by | Mark Harbers |
Member of the House of Representatives | |
In office 23 March 2017 –31 March 2021 | |
In office 17 June 2010 –20 March 2015 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Klaas Henricus Dominicus Maria Dijkhoff 13 January 1981 Soltau,West Germany |
Nationality | Dutch |
Political party | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (since 1998) |
Residence | Breda |
Alma mater | Tilburg University (LLM,MPhil,PhD) |
Occupation | Politician ·Jurist ·Legal educator ·Researcher ·Consultant |
Klaas Henricus Dominicus Maria Dijkhoff (born 13 January 1981) is a Dutch legal scholar and politician who led the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. He previously was Minister of Defence (2017) and State Secretary for Security and Justice (2015–2017).
A jurist by occupation,Dijkhoff resides in Breda. He was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in the 2010 general election. After the resignation of Fred Teeven,he was appointed to succeed him and resigned as a parliamentarian the same day he took office as State Secretary at the Ministry of Security and Justice in the Second Rutte cabinet on 20 March 2015. After the resignation of Minister of Defence Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert,Dijkhoff was nominated to serve out the remainder of her term in the already demissionary Second Rutte cabinet and resigned as State Secretary for Security and Justice on 4 October 2017 and served as Minister of Defence until the Third Rutte cabinet was installed on 26 October 2017.
Dijkhoff announced in October 2020 that he would retire from politics following the 2021 general election.
Klaas Henricus Dominicus Maria Dijkhoff was born on 13 January 1981 in the town of Soltau in Germany. He is the son of officer Henricus Marikus Cornelis Dijkhoff and nurse Petronella Dominicus Maria Thijssen.
Dijkhoff went to secondary school in Eindhoven,where he did the gymnasium programme. He then studied Dutch law at the Tilburg University,where he successively obtained an LLM degree in international and European law in 2003, [1] [2] an MPhil degree cum laude in 2005, [3] [4] and a PhD degree in law of war in 2010 with his dissertation titled War,Law and Technology. [5]
While writing his thesis he worked as a legal scholar at Tilburg University and Inholland University of Applied Sciences. He also had his own consultancy firm specialised in legal affairs and IT.
Dijkhoff became a member of the VVD in 1998. He held several positions within the party such as member of the election program committee in 2009–2010 and from 11 March 2010 until 7 February 2013 he was a member as well as VVD fraction leader of the municipal council of Breda.
On 17 June 2010,he was elected as a member of the House of Representatives. In 2013,Dijkhoff got appointed national campaign leader for the municipal council elections of March 2014. He first became the party's spokesperson on development aid. He booked his biggest success in stopping subsidies to development organisations with a chairman earning more than €124,000.00 a year. Later on he became the spokesperson on European affairs. He was then the VVD spokesperson on matters of homeland security,public safety and police affairs.
Dijkhoff passed two motions in the House of Representatives in the battle against Jihad fighters. His motions called upon the cabinet to stop free travel to conflict zones and denationalisation of Jihad fighters. [6] [7] In 2013,he passed legislation through parliament making identity fraud a punishable offence. [8]
He resigned on 20 March 2015,when he became State Secretary for Security and Justice in the Second Rutte cabinet. His portfolio included Integration,Immigration,Asylum Affairs,Public Prosecution Service,Privacy Policy,Administrative Law,Family Law,Youth Justice,International Law,Prison Administration,Gambling Policy,Copyright Law,Rehabilitation,Prevention,Debt Management and Minority Affairs. On 4 October 2017,he resigned to become Minister of Defence following the resignation of Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
Dijkhoff was reelected to the House of Representatives in the general election of 2017. When the Third Rutte cabinet was inaugurated on 26 October 2017,he succeeded Rutte as leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives.
Dijkhoff lives together with his wife in Breda. In July 2017,their daughter was born. In September 2018,he wrote an open letter to Archsbishop Wim Eijk,explaining that he was leaving the Catholic Church and revoking his membership after Eijk had criticised him in an interview. [11]
General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.
The second Rutte cabinet,also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet,was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) after the election of 2012. The cabinet was a centrist grand coalition and had a slim majority in the House of Representatives. VVD Leader Mark Rutte served as Prime Minister;prominent PvdA politician Lodewijk Asscher,a former alderman of Amsterdam,served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment.
Aukje de Vries is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).
General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks,the sitting government remained in power.
Sophia Theodora Monique "Sophie" Hermans is a Dutch politician currently serving as Second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Climate and Green Growth in the Schoof cabinet. Hermans previously served as a member of the House of Representatives representing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy between 2017 and 2024.
Alfons Adrianus (Thierry) Aartsen is a Dutch politician who has been serving as a Member of the House of Representatives since September 2018. He served as a councillor of Breda municipality between 2010 and 2018. Aartsen is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).
Wybren Ridley van Haga is a Dutch politician and engineer who was a member of the House of Representatives between 2017 and 2023. He was initially elected as a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),but was expelled from the party in 2019,causing the third Rutte cabinet to lose its parliamentary majority. Van Haga subsequently sat as an independent MP before joining Thierry Baudet's Forum for Democracy party,where he was placed second on the party list in the 2021 election. He has since quit Forum for Democracy and created his own political party Belang van Nederland.
Eelco Heinen is a Dutch politician serving since 2 July 2024 as the Minister of Finance. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),he held a seat in the House of Representatives between March 2021 and July 2024,and he previously worked as a party staffer.
Ruben Pieter Brekelmans is a Dutch politician serving as the minister of defence in the Schoof cabinet since 2024. Brekelmans previously served as a member of the House of Representatives on behalf of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). As a parliamentarian,he focused on foreign affairs and migration.
Anthony Albertus Hermance "Thom" van Campen is a Dutch politician who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),he previously held a seat in the Zwolle municipal council (2011–2021) and worked as a political assistant.
Ulysse Ellian is an Afghan-born Dutch lawyer and politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election on behalf of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Ellian also served as a municipal councilor in Almere between 2018 and 2021.
Mariëlle Lucienne Josepha Paul is a Dutch politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),she was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election,and she became Minister for Primary and Secondary Education as part of the fourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023. She continued with the same portfolio in the Schoof cabinet as State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Equal Opportunities starting in July 2024. Paul previously worked as a communications director for several multinational corporations.
Peter Christiaan de Groot is a Dutch politician,who has been serving as a member of the House of Representatives since the 2021 general election. He is a member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),and he also served on the Harderwijk municipal council between 2014 and 2021.
Jacqueline van den Hil is a Dutch politician of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She served as a member of the House of Representatives from the 2021 general election until March 2024. Before entering politics,Van den Hil worked as a health care manager in her native province of Zeeland.
Daniël "Daan" de Neef is a Dutch speechwriter and former politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),De Neef was a political staffer of the VVD and owned a speech consultancy. He held a seat in the Breda municipal council starting in 2018 and was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election. De Neef stepped down the following year and switched to the Party for the Animals (PvdD) shortly after.
Eric van der Burg is a Dutch politician,who served as State Secretary for Justice and Security in the fourth Rutte cabinet between January 2022 and July 2024. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),he was elected to the Senate in 2019. Van der Burg previously had a lengthy political career in the municipality of Amsterdam which culminated in his brief service as ad interim Mayor of Amsterdam in 2017.
Peter Johannes "Peter" Valstar is a Dutch politician of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He worked as a press officer for the VVD,as the political assistant of Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Prime Minister Mark Rutte,and as a spokesperson at the Ministry of Defence before being elected to the House of Representatives in March 2021.
Pim Johannes Thomas van Strien is a Dutch politician of the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who has served as a member of the House of Representatives since 2021. He previously worked as a press officer for the VVD and Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
Rudolf "Ruud" Verkuijlen is a Dutch police commissioner,civil servant,and politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD),he was appointed to the House of Representatives in September 2021 after having participated in the 2021 general election. He previously worked for the National Police and served on the Hilversum municipal council in the years 2014–21.