Edith Ingeborg Schippers (born 25 August 1964) 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 businesswoman serving as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the DSM Company since 1 February 2019. Schippers, a

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...

by occupation, worked for the Industry and Employers Confederation from 1997 until 2003. Schippers became a Member of the House of Representatives shortly after the election of 2003 taking office on 3 June 2003, 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 kn ...

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 ...

, deputy spokesperson for Employment and as deputy parliamentary leader. After the 2010 general election Schippers was appointed as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Cabinet Rutte I taking office on 14 October 2010. Following the election of 2012 she returned as a Member of the House of Representatives serving from 20 September 2012 until 5 November 2012, when she continued as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Cabinet Rutte II. In May 2017, Schippers announced her retirement from national politics and did not stand for the election of 2017, the Cabinet Rutte II was replaced by the Cabinet Rutte III on 26 October 2017. Schippers retired after spending 14 years in national politics and became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

as a corporate director for the DSM Company.

Early life

Schippers was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, but spent her years attending

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

.
At the age of 12, she moved to

Wachtum Wachtum is a village located in the municipality of Coevorden, within the Dutch province of Drenthe. History The village was first mentioned between 1381 and 1383 "to Wachtman". The etymology is unknown. Wachtum is an ''esdorp'' without a churc ...

in Drenthe. Edith Schippers' alma mater is Leiden University, where she 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 ...

from 1985 till 1991. She also spent half a year studying at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, India in 1990. In 1993, Schippers became personal assistant to member of parliament

Dick Dees Dirk Jan Dignus "Dick" Dees (born 13 December 1944) is a retired Dutch politician. A member 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 ...

. She served in this position until 1994, after which she became a staff member of the VVD parliamentary fraction dealing with healthcare, welfare and sports. After that, Schippers found employment at

employers' organisation An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutua ...

VNO-NCW. From 1997 until 2001, her portfolio as secretary for VNO-CNW included healthcare and the labour market and from 2001 until 2003

spatial planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...

Political career

Informal Meeting of Ministers of Health (26434161611)

Schippers was elected into 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 ...

in the 2003 general election and was sworn in on 3 June of that year.

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'' ...

became her mentor. In 2006, she was elected as vice chairman of the VVD parliamentary party. Schippers considered this a great honour, but not her greatest success. In 2010, she succeeded Ab Klink in becoming Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the

first Rutte cabinet The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for Fr ...

. She briefly returned to the House of Representatives after the 2012 general election, but left again when the continuation of her ministership in the

second Rutte cabinet The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for ...

was confirmed. As Minister of Health, Schippers was repeatedly accused of being a tobacco industry lobbyist, and was labeled "minister Tobacco", because she had ties to the tobacco industry and because she tried to revert the ban on smoking in bars and cafes. She also overcame three

motions of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in the House of Representatives. One was issued in 2012, for not adequately informing the States General about the costs of bringing the Olympics to the Netherlands. In the same year another motion of no confidence was issued against her and minister Henk Bleker, for the way they treated the issues surrounding Q-fever. In 2013 a motion was issued regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector. In 2016 this issue regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector was investigated on a Dutch talkshow In March 2017, she announced she would not return in a new cabinet. On 26 October 2017, she was succeeded by

Hugo de Jonge Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge (; born 26 September 1977) is a Dutch politician serving as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning since 2022 in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he was elected to its leade ...

. Schippers briefly returned to the political scene following the 2017 general election, when Speaker

Khadija Arib Khadija Arib (; ar, خديجة عريب; born 10 October 1960) is a Moroccan-Dutch politician of the Labour Party, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands from 12 December 2015 to 7 April 2021. In the 2016 S ...

appointed Schippers as the so-called ''informateur'', whose role is to explore possible governing alliances. In February 2018, she was speculated as a possible successor to the recently resigned Minister of Foreign Affairs

Halbe Zijlstra Halbe Zijlstra (; born 21 January 1969) is a retired Dutch politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 26 October 2017 to 13 February 2018 in the Third Rutte cabinet. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( ...

, but she expressed that she was not available for another ministership, wanting instead to spend more time with her daughter.

Personal life

Schippers is married to Sander Spijker, a project manager for P5COM who is specialised in profit improvement and cost reduction in the healthcare industry. They have one child, a daughter.

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. E.I. (Edith) Schippers
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Schippers, Edith 1964 births Living people Dutch atheists Dutch corporate directors Dutch chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dutch expatriates in India Dutch former Christians Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch political consultants 21st-century Dutch businesswomen Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of Health of the Netherlands Ministers of Sport of the Netherlands People from Baarn Politicians from Utrecht (city) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Women government ministers of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians