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 The Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal is the most senior politician within the Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA) in the Netherlands.The current leader has been Wopke Hoekstra since 10 December 2020. H ...

(CDA) in 1994.

Career

Brinkman studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and at the Free University Amsterdam simultaneously obtaining a

Master of Social Science A Master of Social Science (MSocSc, MSSc or MSS) is a master's degree which has a number of different meanings dependent upon the education system in question. Europe In Finland and Sweden, where the university degree nomenclatura is simply bas ...

and

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

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 An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

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 The First Lubbers cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch Government from 4 November 1982 until 14 July 1986. The cabinet was formed by the christian-democratic Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the conservative-liberal People's Part ...

taking office on 4 November 1982. After the election of 1986 Brinkman continued his office in the

Second Lubbers cabinet The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

. At the election of 1989 Brinkman was reelected as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and took office on 14 September. He declined to serve in the new

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and instead was selected as

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

on 7 November 1989. Shortly before an upcoming election,

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

and Prime Minister

Ruud Lubbers Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (; 7 May 1939 – 14 February 2018) was a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1982 to 1994, and as United Nations High Commissioner for Re ...

announced his retirement and Brinkman was anonymously selected as his successor on 29 January 1994. For the election of 1994 Brinkman served as ''

lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the leader of a political party in an election to a legislative body. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government. In open list electoral systems, it is ...

'' (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 In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

chairing the House Committee on Kingdom Relations and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

. 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 Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

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 A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

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 A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partici ...

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr.Drs. L.C. (Elco) Brinkman
Parlement & Politiek *
Mr.Drs. L.C. Brinkman (CDA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkman, Elco 1948 births Living people Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch lobbyists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch trade association executives Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Leaders of the Christian Democratic Appeal Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Members of the Social and Economic Council Ministers of Health of the Netherlands Ministers of Sport of the Netherlands People from Dirksland People from Leiden Protestant Church Christians from the Netherlands Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II Reformed Churches Christians from the Netherlands Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam faculty 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch jurists 21st-century Dutch politicians