Hans Wiegel (; born 16 July 1941) is a retired

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

politician 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 ...

(VVD) and businessperson. Wiegel studied

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 ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

before switching to

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 ...

obtaining a

Bachelor of Social Science The academic undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Social Science (BSS, B.Soc.Sc., or B.Soc.Sci.) requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. I ...

degree and worked as a freelance

political pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

from July 1965 until April 1967. Wiegel also served as Chairman of the political youth organisation JOVD from November 1965 until October 1966. Wiegel became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after election of 1967 taking office on 18 April 1967 serving 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 kno ...

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 Local Government Affairs. After the election of 1971

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 Parliamentary leader

Molly Geertsema Willem Jacob "Molly" Geertsema II (; 18 October 1918 – 27 June 1991) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist. Geertsema attended a Gymnasium in The Hague from June 1930 until June 1937 and appl ...

was appointed as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the Cabinet Biesheuvel I announced he was stepping down and Wiegel was anonymously selected as his successor taking office on 1 July 1971. For the elections of 1972 and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Wiegel 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) and following a successful

cabinet formation 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 ...

with Christian-democratic Leader

Dries van Agt Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; born 2 February 1931) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of t ...

formed the Cabinet Van Agt–Wiegel with Wiegel appointed as

and

taking office on 19 December 1977. For the election of 1981 Wiegel again served as ''Lijsttrekker'' but the following

resulted in a coalition between the Christian-democrats and Labour Party and he returned to the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader on 25 August 1981. In April 1982 Wiegel unexpectedly announced he was stepping down as Leader following his nomination as the next Queen's Commissioner of Friesland and endorsed '' rising star''

Ed Nijpels Eduardus Hermannus Theresia Maria Nijpels (born 1 April 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and nonprofit director. Nijpels studied Civil law (common law), Civil law at the Utrecht University obtain ...

as his successor and was installed Queen's Commissioner serving from 16 June 1982 until 1 February 1994. Wiegel also 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, and worked as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the

Brewers association The Brewers Association (BA) is an American trade group of over 5,400 brewers, breweries in planning, suppliers, distributors, craft beer retailers, and individuals particularly concerned with the promotion of craft beer and homebrewing. Two of ...

from August 1984 until November 2012, the Healthcare Insurance association from February 1994 until February 2012 and the Travel Companies association from May 1994 until June 1995 and as Vice Chairman of the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) from May 2008 until February 2012. Wiegel continued to be active in politics and was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1995 taking office on 13 June 1995 serving as a frontbencher and chairing the parliamentary committees for General Affairs and the Interior and as spokesperson for the Interior, Governmental Reforms and the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

. In March 2000 Wiegel unexpectedly announced his retirement and resigned from the Senate on 1 April 2000. Wiegel semi-retired from active politics at 58 but continued to be active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and lobbyist, and worked as a occasional

mediator Mediator may refer to: *A person who engages in mediation *Business mediator, a mediator in business * Vanishing mediator, a philosophical concept * Mediator variable, in statistics Chemistry and biology *Mediator (coactivator), a multiprotein ...

for coalition agreements and political crisis's and as a political pundit and columnist for ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, '' de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief s ...

'', ''

Algemeen Dagblad The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' () or ''AD'' () (English: "General Daily Paper") is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and is ...

'' and WNL. Wiegel was known for his abilities as a skillful

debater Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a Discussion moderator, moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred ...

and effective negotiator and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until he suffered a minor

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in August 2019 which forced him to undergo rehabilitation. He holds the distinction as the second youngest-serving Party Leader and Parliamentary leader at the age of and the youngest-serving Deputy Prime Minister at the age of .

Early life

Hans Wiegel was born on 16 July 1941 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in the

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

in a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

family as the only son of Wilhelm Wiegel III (born 21 March 1913 in

) and Sophia Maria Alberdina Smolenaars (born 3 November 1915 in

Cimahi Cimahi () is a landlocked city located immediately west of the larger city of Bandung, in West Java Province, Indonesia and within the Bandung Metropolitan Area. It covers an area of 40.37 km2 and had a population at the 2010 Census of 541, ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

). After completing gymnasium in

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

in 1959, Wiegel started studying

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 ...

at the

. After a couple of months he switched his

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

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 earned a

Candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

degree in 1965. He decided not to pursue a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. Instead, he became involved in politics. Wiegel has been active within the youth wing of the

, the

Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Jongerenorganisatie Vrijheid en Democratie, JOVD) is a Dutch political youth organisation. The JOVD cooperates with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), but is politically independen ...

, of which he had been a member since 1961. In 1963 he was appointed to its national board and served as Chairman from 1965 until 1966.

Politics

In 1967 Wiegel was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives. In 1971, when he was only thirty years old, he became the Leader of his party. During the period of the Cabinet Den Uyl Wiegel acted as the main

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

against the Cabinet and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Joop den Uyl Johannes Marten den Uijl, better known as Joop den Uyl (; 9 August 1919 – 24 December 1987) was a Dutch politician and economist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1973 to 1977. He was a member of the Labour Party (PvdA). ...

. In 1977 he negotiated the formation of the Cabinet Van Agt-Wiegel, in this cabinet he became

and

, Wiegel prepared the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

al revision of 1983. In 1995 he was elected as a Member of the Senate. In 1999 Wiegel caused a short cabinet crisis by voting against the constitutional revision that would make national

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

s possible. This crisis is called the ''Night of Wiegel''. Wiegel left 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 ...

in 2000, soon after the ''Night of Wiegel''. Wiegel led the

in Dutch general election of 1972, Dutch general election of 1977, and Dutch General Election of 1981. During his leadership the

orientation shifted away from the upper class and towards the middle class and educated workers; this led to electoral success. In 1982 Wiegel left national politics. He was awarded honorary membership of the

and became Queen's Commissioner of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

from 16 June 1982 until 1 February 1994. During his period as Queen's Commissioner Wiegel became known as the "Oracle of

Diever Diever is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Westerveld, and lies about 18 km northwest of Hoogeveen. Diever is located near the , a major north–south route for pleasure boats in the province ...

", because he played an important role advising the VVD and commenting on events in national politics. In 1986 Wiegel was asked to return to the

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations ( nl, link=no, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties; BZK) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for domestic policy, civil service, public administration, elections, loca ...

; he refused, however.

Possible return to politics

On the evening of 6 May 2002 in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

, he would be meeting with

Pim Fortuyn Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (; 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002), was a Dutch politician, author, civil servant, businessman, sociologist and academic who founded the party Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF) ...

, who saw a suitable

in Wiegel. Earlier that day however, Fortuyn was assassinated in

. In October 2005 the local branch of the

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; en, "Alphen upon Rhine" or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Old Rhine), where the r ...

called all other local branches to sign a petition to get Wiegel back in active politics. More than 90% of the branches supported this petition. Wiegel wanted to announce whether he is making a comeback or not in March/April 2006. However then leader

Jozias van Aartsen Jozias Johannes van Aartsen (. born 25 December 1947) is a retired Dutch politician who served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy from 2004 to 2006. A native of The Hague, he attended the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet ...

stated in January 2006 that Wiegel most likely will be the

's candidate for Prime Minister in the 2007 elections. In the last years the Dutch press has speculated – he rarely responds to rumors – whether Wiegel will make a comeback. On 8 March 2006, the day after a poor showing of the

in the Dutch municipal elections of 2006, Wiegel issued a press statement to the effect that he will not return to Dutch politics again. On 22 November 2007 Wiegel was announced that he should go to the

in a broad liberal movement together with the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...

Rita Verdonk Maria Cornelia Frederika "Rita" Verdonk (born 18 October 1955) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and later founder of the Proud of the Netherlands (Trots) party and businesswoman. Verdonk atten ...

's Proud of the Netherlands and the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; abbreviated D66, ) is a Social liberalism, social liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the Centrism, centre of the Left–right political spectrum, p ...

. Besides

none of these parties favor of this plan. On 15 September 2009 he repeated these words in the morning bulletin ''Goodmorning Netherlands'' Wiegel then called his party should seek cooperation with the

. Thirty years after leaving national politics, Wiegel is still mentioned often as a potential

. He still is very popular among

party members in the Netherlands. He has 'threatened' to return to national politics a number of times, usually resulting in the

going up in the polls. His opponents admonish this behaviour, implying that he is just trying to keep himself from being forgotten. On 12 April 2010 during a broadcast of the Dutch TV program

De Wereld Draait Door ''De Wereld Draait Door'' (; English: "The world keeps on turning") also known by the acronym DWDD was an early-evening talk show on Dutch television, broadcast every weekday at 7:00 p.m. on NPO 1. It is the Netherlands' longest-running, reg ...

Wiegel humoristic joked to be the best

the Netherlands never had. That view was shared by politician

Joost Eerdmans Bernard Johannes "Joost" Eerdmans (born 9 January 1971) is a Dutch politician, broadcaster and former civil servant who has served as Leader of JA21 since 18 December 2020, a party he co-founded with Annabel Nanninga. Elected to the House of R ...

on Wiegel's seventieth birthday. On 29 May 2012 in an interview with the

he expressed criticism on the agreement the

and 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-Revolutionary ...

made with the

GreenLeft GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands. It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...

and

ChristianUnion The Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more sociall ...

on the budgetary crisis and called it "a serious strategic error".

Personal

Wiegel married his first wife Jacqueline Francina "Pien" Frederiks (born 9 September 1954) on 1 June 1973. He had two children with her, Erik (born 1975) and Marieke (born 1977). On 6 November 1980 tragedy struck when Pien Frederiks died of complications from suffering a car crash, she was twenty-six years old. She left her two young children behind Erik (five) and Marieke (three). On 7 April 1982 Wiegel quietly remarried to his late wife's older sister Marianne Frederiks (born 21 September 1951). On 6 January 2005 tragedy struck again for the now sixty-three-year-old Wiegel when, in a sad twist of fate, Marianne Frederiks died in a car crash at the age of fifty-three. From 2006 until 2010 Wiegel had a relationship with Madelon Spoor. Wiegel currently lives in a farm in Oudega, a small town in the municipality

Súdwest-Fryslân Southwest Friesland ( fy, Súdwest-Fryslân ) is a municipality in the Northern Netherlands, located in the province of Friesland. It had a population of 84,092 in August 2017. Sneek is the municipal seat. With a total area of 841.56 km2, Sú ...

in the

, he also owns a

Pied-à-terre A ''pied-à-terre'' (, plural: ''pieds-à-terre''; French for "foot on the ground") is a small living unit, e.g., apartment or condominium, often located in a large city and not used as an individual's primary residence. The term implies use of ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. On 6 August 2019 Wiegel announced that he had suffered a light

at his home and that he would be undergoing

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

in the next few months.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
H. (Hans) Wiegel
Parlement & Politiek *
H. Wiegel (VVD)
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