Wouter Bos

Wouter Bos (2007)

Wouter Jacob Bos (born July 14, 1963 in Vlaardingen ) is a Dutch politician , former party leader of the social democratic Partij van de Arbeid and from February 22, 2007 to February 23, 2010, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands. On March 12, 2010, he announced his retirement from politics. Bos no longer wants to run for the Second Chamber and resigned as party leader on April 25, 2010. His successor as party leader is Job Cohen , the former mayor of Amsterdam .

Life

youth

Bos grew up in a social democratic family with a Protestant background in Vlaardingen. His father was one of the founders of the Economic Fund for Development Cooperation (ICCO), which he headed for many years. Between 1969 and 1974 Wouter Bos attended the Protestant elementary school de Beurthonk in Odijk and in 1974 the Christian Lyceum in Zeist , which he graduated in 1980 with a focus on natural sciences and classical literature. From 1980 to 1981 he was a volunteer instructor at the YMCA National Center in Curdridge , UK .

In 1981 he joined the PvdA. In the same year Bos began studying political science at the Free University of Amsterdam . In 1982 he also began studying economics. In 1988 he completed both subjects cum laude .

Professional career

Between 1988 and 1998 Bos worked in various positions at the Dutch-British oil multinational Royal Dutch Shell . With this background, Bos differs from other Dutch politicians on the left, who lack the view of a large multinational corporation . Bos started at Shell because he believed that "the Dutch left should not leave the business world to the Dutch right."

Between 1988 and 1990 he worked as a management consultant at the refinery in Pernis , where he specialized in training and reorganization. In 1990 he became political advisor to the board of directors, responsible for employee relations and working conditions. He also acted as a representative of the central board for the agreements with the group works council . From 1992 to 1993 he was General Manager of Shell Romania Exploration, responsible for setting up Shell's Romanian subsidiary. In 1993 he was transferred to Hong Kong , where he was responsible for recruiting and selecting new management personnel for Shell in South Korea , Taiwan , Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China as Personnel Planning and Development Manager for Shell companies throughout the East Asian region . In 1996 he returned to Europe, where he acted as a new markets advisor for Shell International Oil Products in London with a special focus on acquisitions in the fast growing LPG markets of South America and Asia . In 1998 he left Shell with the intention of going into Dutch politics. For a short time he was political advisor to the PvdA parliamentary group in the Dutch lower house of the States General and personal assistant to financial policy spokesman Rick van der Ploeg .

politics

MP since 1998

In 1998 Bos was elected to the Dutch Second Chamber for the PvdA , where he distinguished himself as a financial expert. Together with Rick van der Ploeg and Willem Vermeend , he traveled as polder boys through the country and gave lectures on economics at universities . In a cabinet reshuffle in 2000, he followed Willem Vermeend as State Secretary for Finance, responsible for taxation , monetary policy and financial equalization with regional and local authorities. Together with the liberal minister Gerrit Zalm , he obtained parliamentary support for a radical reform of the tax system. After the elections in May 2002, he returned to parliament as an expert on income and health policy .

Top candidate 2003

After the overthrow of the first cabinet, Jan Peter Balkenende , Bos was elected the top candidate for the following elections and the actual chairman of the PvdA in the internal party elections in 2002 with 60% of the vote. He immediately took over the chairmanship of Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven , which he, together with Klaas de Vries and Jouke de Vries, exceeded by a margin of 30%.

In the 2003 elections, Bos was head-to-head with the incumbent Prime Minister of the Christian Democrats Balkenende. Bos almost doubled the votes and seats for the PvdA in 2002 from 15% (23 seats) to 27% (42 seats) in 2003. The resurrection of the PvdA is in part due to Bos' charisma and youthful appearance (some journalists also speak of a "sexy touch"). Still, Balkenendes CDA remained the largest party by two seats. During the subsequent negotiations to form a government, the personal chemistry between Balkenende and Bos was not right. After extensive negotiations with the PvdA, the CDA formed a government with the conservative-liberal VVD and the progressive-liberal D66 .

As group leader of the largest opposition party , Bos spent a significant part of his time on reforming the internal organization of the PvdA and its public image , together with party leader Ruud Koole . Bos has been criticized for publicly remaining silent on important reforms and political issues, and for his moderate style allowing other parties to claim leadership of the opposition. Despite the still strong public support, criticism of his approach “style before substance” resulted in him being voted the most overrated politician in the Netherlands.

Top candidate 2006 and ministerial office

Wouter Bos during the 2006 election campaign in Hengelo

At his party's convention in December 2005, Bos announced his claim to the office of prime minister if the PvdA were to become the strongest party after the next national elections. In the local elections in 2006, the PvdA did pretty well as the strongest local party. Nevertheless, the PvdA under Bo's leadership fought a bitter campaign in the 2006 parliamentary elections with the competing CDA for the position as the strongest parliamentary group. Some see the pension reform proposed by Bos to combat the effects of demographic change as the reason for the recent setback in popularity .

Others stress the dwindling trust in Bos among sections of the electorate who view him as untrustworthy for the same reasons. In the parliamentary elections in November 2006, the PvdA was again subject to the CDA von Balkenende. Both major political parties emerged from the elections weakened, with the PvdA leading at the beginning of the election campaign ultimately losing a good 5% of the votes and 10 seats.

The CDA and PvdA finally agreed on a coalition with the ChristenUnie (CU). Since February 22, 2007, Bos was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the fourth Balkenende cabinet .

Personal

In 2002 he married Barbara Bos (the same family name is coincidental). The couple's two daughters were born in 2004 and 2006.

Web links

Commons : Wouter Bos  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Homepage of Wouter Bos (ndl.)
• Drs. WJ (Wouter) Bos , Parlement & Politiek (ndl.)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ End of the beam wijst uitnodiging Bos af. In: De Telegraaf of October 1, 2006.
2. ↑ Kiezer is left, move right. In: Trouw of November 11, 2006.

predecessor	Office	successor
Gerrit Zalm	Minister of Finance of the Netherlands 2007–2010	Jan Kees de Jager