Gerardina Alida "Gerdi" Verbeet (born 18 April 1951) is a retired Dutch politician and political consultant who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 6 December 2006 to 19 September 2012. A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), she is the second officeholder elected independently by 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 ...

after her predecessor

Frans Weisglas Frans Willy Weisglas (born 8 August 1946) is a retired Dutch politician, diplomat and economist. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 16 May 2002 until 30 Nove ...

. She served as a member of the House of Representatives from 26 July 2002 to 19 September 2012 and previously from 11 December 2001 until 22 May 2002.

Biography

Early life

Verbeet attended the Gymnasium in Amsterdam and began a study in social geography, which she did not finish. Instead she studied Dutch language and literature and worked as a teacher.

Politics

Between 1994 and 2001 she was political advisor to State Secretary

Tineke Netelenbos Tine "Tineke" Netelenbos-Koomen (born 15 February 1944) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businesswoman. Netelenbos attended a Lyceum in Amsterdam from May 1960 until June 1966. Netelenbos worked as a civics teacher ...

and parliamentary leader Ad Melkert. On 23 May 2001 she became a member of the

, filling the vacancy left by

Rob van Gijzel Rob van Gijzel (born 29 June 1954 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch politician. He is a former MP and was mayor of Eindhoven between 8 April 2008 and 13 September 2016. When Van Gijzel was a student, he became an active member of the Jonge Socialist ...

. In the general election of 2002 she was not reelected, but in July 2002 she reentered the House of Representatives, filling the vacancy left by

Eveline Herfkens Eva Leonie "Eveline" Herfkens (; born 9 January 1952) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) and activist. Private life and education Eva Leonie Herfkens was born on 9 January 1952 in The Hague in the Netherla ...

. In the Dutch general election of 2003 and 2006 she was able to retain her seat. In the House of Representatives, Verbeet concentrated on sport, policy regarding elderly people, and state pensions. On 6 December 2006 she was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, defeating ministers Maria van der Hoeven of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

and

Henk Kamp Henricus Gregorius Jozeph "Henk" Kamp (; born 23 July 1952) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who served as Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Rutte III from 24 September 2021 to 10 January 2022. He pre ...

of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

. She is the second female Speaker, after

Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven (born 2 August 1943) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and librarian. Biography Before entering politics Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven was born in Noordwolde in the Frisian municipality of Weststellin ...

, and the second Speaker elected in independent elections, after

. Verbeet was reelected as Speaker on 22 June 2010, after the general elections of 9 June. On 2 May 2012 Verbeet made known that she would not stand for re-election as a member of the House of Representatives and speaker for the Dutch general election of 2012 and would retire from active politics.Kamervoorzitter Verbeet vertrekt
NOS, May 2, 2012

Personal

Verbeet is divorced from her first husband and remarried in 2010 with fellow Labour Party politician Wim Meijer after a relationship of three years. She has two sons; two stepdaughters and three grandchildren and lives in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mw. G.A. (Gerdi) Verbeet
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Verbeet, Gerdi 1951 births Living people Dutch agnostics Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch political consultants Dutch speechwriters Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Politicians from Amsterdam Speakers of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Women legislative speakers 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians