Jan Peter Balkenende

Jan Peter Balkenende
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 22 July 2002 – 14 October 2010
Monarch	Beatrix
Deputy	See list Eduard Bomhoff Johan Remkes Roelf de Boer Gerrit Zalm Thom de Graaf Laurens Jan Brinkhorst Wouter Bos André Rouvoet
Preceded by	Wim Kok
Succeeded by	Mark Rutte
Leader of Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives
In office 23 November 2006 – 21 February 2007
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen
Succeeded by	Pieter van Geel
In office 23 January 2003 – 21 May 2003
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
In office 1 October 2001 – 11 July 2002
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
Leader of Christian Democratic Appeal
In office 1 October 2001 – 9 June 2010
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Sybrand van Haersma Buma
Personal details
Born	(1956-05-07) 7 May 1956 Biezelinge, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse(s)	Bianca Hoogendijk (1996–present)
Children	Amelie
Residence	Capelle aan den IJssel
Alma mater	Free University Amsterdam
Signature

Jan Peter Balkenende (born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician. He was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2002 until 2010. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Appeal party.

Balkenende lives in Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands.

Biography

Balkenende grew up in the village of Biezelinge in Zeeland province. He completed his high school at the Christelijk Lyceum for Zeeland in Goes and earned a degree in History and Dutch law from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His political career started in Amstelveen, where he was a city council member from 1982 to 1998. During this time, he also earned a PhD in law and became a part-time professor of Christian social thought at VU, a position he held until becoming prime minister in 2002.

Balkenende's political career started very quickly. He joined the CDA faction in the Dutch House of Representatives in 1998 and became the faction leader in 2001 after an internal power struggle. As the party leader, he led the CDA to a big victory in the 2002 elections, which focused on voter dissatisfaction with the previous governments and the rise and fall of Pim Fortuyn. However, the coalition formed by the CDA, VVD, and Fortuyn’s LPF lasted only three months before collapsing.

After new elections, the second Balkenende cabinet (2003-2006) was formed, but the coalition between CDA, VVD, and D66 also failed. D66's departure led to the brief Balkenende III cabinet, which became a caretaker government after a few months due to new elections. The fourth Balkenende cabinet (2007-2010) struggled to work together, and it fell in 2010 after a crisis over the Uruzgan decision. After the CDA lost heavily in the 2010 elections, Balkenende resigned as party leader, and his (caretaker) premiership ended with the formation of the Rutte cabinet in October 2010.

Much of Balkenende’s time being primer minister was during good economic times. The public debate in the Netherlands focused on identity, with issues of multiculturalism and immigration becoming political topics. Balkenende positioned himself as a defender of values and norms and led the search for national identity. The economic climate shifted towards the end of his premiership due to the financial crisis, and the government intervened by supporting struggling banks. Policy changes also included a significant reform of the healthcare system in 2006.

Since late 2010, Balkenende has been a professor of Governance, Institutions, and Internationalisation at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

From 2011, he worked for Ernst & Young (EY) as a partner and later as an external advisor. Since 2021, he has also worked as an independent professional at Hague Corporate Affairs.

References

• Bio at Parlement.com (in Dutch)

Other websites

• Media related to Jan Peter Balkenende at Wikimedia Commons