Gert Jan Maarten "Gert-Jan" Segers (born 9 July 1969) is a Dutch politician serving as

Leader of the Christian Union The Leader of the Christian Union is the most senior politician within the Christian Union ( nl, ChristenUnie, CU) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Gert-Jan Segers, who succeeded Arie Slob in 2015. History The Leaders outwardly ...

since 2015. He has been 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 ...

since 2012 and

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 ...

since 2015.

Early career

A native of

Lisse Lisse () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Western Netherlands. The municipality, which lies within the Duin- en Bollenstreek, covers an area of of which is water. Its population was in . Located within the mun ...

, Segers 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 ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

and obtained a master's degree in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

–

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic relations and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

. From 2000 to 2007 he was a

Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such ...

ary in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. From 2008 to 2012, he was the chairman of the Christian Union think tank Mr. G. Groen van Prinsterer Stichting. He is also a columnist for the Dutch newspaper ''

Nederlands Dagblad ''Nederlands Dagblad'' (; "Dutch Daily") is a Dutch daily newspaper, available nationwide, with a daily circulation of 23,800 issues (in 2020). History The paper was founded in 1944 as a semi- resistance paper during World War II called ''Refor ...

''; he wrote two books criticising

political Islam Political Islam is any interpretation of Islam as a source of political identity and action. It can refer to a wide range of individuals and/or groups who advocate the formation of state and society according to their understanding of Islamic pri ...

, as well as two novels.

Politics

Segers entered the

following the 2012 general election. In 2015, he succeeded

Arie Slob Arie Slob (; born 16 November 1961) is a Dutch politician and history teacher who served as List of Ministers of Education of the Netherlands, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education and Media in the Third Rutte cabinet from 26 October 2017 u ...

as party leader and parliamentary leader. In the 2017 general election, the Christian Union remained stable with five seats. Prime Minister

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unilever ...

first turned toward

GroenLinks 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 ...

to form his third cabinet, but policy disagreement between the parties prevented participation. Rutte then turned toward the Christian Union, who accepted the offer to govern: two Christian Union members were appointed (

Carola Schouten Cornelia Johanna "Carola" Schouten (born 6 October 1977) is a Dutch politician serving as third Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions in the IV Rutte Cabinet since 10 January 2022. Sh ...

and

Private life

Gert-Jan Segers is married and has three children. Theo Segers, the former Mayor of

Staphorst Staphorst () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. History The villages of Staphorst and its southern neighbour Rouveen came into existence as in the 13th century monks started to bring the bogs and swamps into culture. All ...

and current Mayor of

Molenlanden Molenlanden () is a municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. The municipality was created on 1 January 2019 by merging the municipalities of Giessenlanden en Molenwaard. It is located east of Rotterdam along the Lek (river) ...

, is his cousin.

References

External links

*
Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segers, Gert-Jan 1969 births Living people 21st-century Dutch male writers 21st-century Dutch novelists 21st-century Dutch politicians Christian Union (Netherlands) politicians Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians Dutch columnists Dutch journalists Dutch male novelists Dutch political scientists Dutch Protestant missionaries Dutch Reformed Church missionaries Johns Hopkins University alumni Leaders of the Christian Union (Netherlands) Leiden University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from Lisse Protestant missionaries in Egypt Reformatory Political Federation politicians 20th-century Dutch people