Henricus Gregorius Jozeph "Henk" Kamp (; born 23 July 1952) is a Dutch 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 i ...

(VVD) who served as

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

in the Cabinet Rutte III from 24 September 2021 to 10 January 2022. He previously served as Minister of Defence in the Cabinets Balkenende I, II and

III III or iii may refer to: Companies * Information International, Inc., a computer technology company * Innovative Interfaces, Inc., a library-software company * 3i, formerly Investors in Industry, a British investment company Other uses * ...

from 12 December 2002 until 22 February 2007. Kamp studied

Customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

at the Civil Service Academy 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 ...

. Kamp worked as a tax collector for the

Fiscal Information and Investigation Service The Fiscal Information and Investigation Service ( nl, Fiscale inlichtingen- en opsporingsdienst (FIOD)) is an agency of the government of the Netherlands responsible for investigating financial crimes. It is part of the Tax and Customs Administ ...

(FIOD) of the Tax and Customs Administration from April 1980 until May 1994. After the election of 1994 Kamp was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 17 May 1994 and served 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 Integration. After the election of 2002 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Cabinet Balkenende I taking office on 22 July 2002. The Cabinet Balkenende I fell just 87 days into its term and shortly thereafter was appointed as

following the resignation of

Benk Korthals Albert Hendrik "Benk" Korthals (born 5 October 1944) is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist. Korthals attended the Gymnasium Leiden from June 1957 until June 1963 and applied at the Leid ...

taking office on 12 December 2002. After the election of 2003 Kamp continued as Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Balkenende II. The Cabinet Balkenende fell on 30 June 2006 was replaced with the caretaker Cabinet Balkenende III with Kamp retaining his position. After the election of 2006 Kamp returned to the House of Representatives on 30 November 2006 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Kingdom Relations. In December 2008 Kamp was nominated as the first Governor of the Caribbean Netherlands serving from 1 January 2009 until 10 October 2010. After the election of 2010 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Cabinet Rutte I taking office 14 October 2010. The Cabinet Rutte I fell 18 months into its term and shortly thereafter announced that he would not stand for the election of 2012 but accept to serve in a new cabinet position. After the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

Kamp was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Rutte II taking office on 5 November 2012. In February 2016 Kamp announced his retirement and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2017 and declined to serve in new cabinet. Kamp retired from active politics at 65 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 sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...

s as a corporate and non-profit director and serves on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and works as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Healthcare Providers association since January 2018 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) in February 2018.

Early life

Henricus Gregorius Jozeph Kamp was born on 23 July 1952 in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. ...

in the Netherlands Province of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of U ...

in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

family. He left the

faith years later and became a

Humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

. After completing his HAVO diploma he worked at two wholesalers in Enschede, Borculo and Tilburg until 1977. From 1977 to 1980 he attended the auditors training at the Tax Training in

. He worked as an investigator for the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) until 1986.

Politics

From 1976 to 1994 he was a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

Borculo Borculo is a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the municipality of Berkelland, Gelderland. Borculo was an independent municipality until 2005, when it merged with Eibergen, Neede, and Ruurlo. Other population centers in the municipality of Borc ...

. From 1986 he was in also alderman in

. From 1987 to 1994 he was a member of the Provincial Council of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. He became a Member of the House of Representatives on 17 May 1994. On 22 July 2002, Kamp became Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. He was Minister of Defence from December 12, 2002, till 22 February 2007. After early elections were held as a result of parliamentary agreements following the formation of the minority cabinet Balkenende III. As part of his "farewell tour" as Minister of Defence, Henk Kamp visited the Dutch troops in Afghanistan and paid his respects to president

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

. President Karzai awarded Henk Kamp the High State Medal of Ghazi Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan. Kamp left 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 ...

on 1 January 2009 to head the transformation of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius to special municipalities within the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 13 September 2012, the day after the parliamentary elections, Kamp was asked to prepare for the formation of a new cabinet and had exploratory conversations with several parties. Already on that very day the Parliamentary leaders in the

met with the President of the House of Representatives

Gerdi Verbeet 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), sh ...

. His opinion after the talks was to start a formation on a coalition with the

and the Labour Party with himself and former Leader of the Labour Party

Wouter Bos Wouter Jacob Bos (; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. Bos attended the Christian Gymnasium in Zeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam i ...

as informateurs. The formation resulted in the forming of the Cabinet Rutte II and Kamp became Minister of Economic Affairs and took office on 5 November 2012. After the resignation of Minister of Security and Justice

Ivo Opstelten Ivo Willem Opstelten (born 31 January 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Opstelten applied at Leiden University in May 1963 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bach ...

on 10 March 2015, Kamp became the senior member of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

and the third highest-ranking member after

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 ...

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 Unileve ...

and

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, ...

Lodewijk Asscher Lodewijk Frans Asscher (; born 27 September 1974) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2016 to 2021 and parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. Asscher worked as ...

. Early February 2016 Kamp announced his retirement from national politics as of the 2017 elections.

Decorations

Notes

References

External links

;Official *
H.G.J. (Henk) Kamp
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamp, Henk 1952 births Living people Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Dutch chief executives in the healthcare industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch former Christians Dutch humanists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch trade association executives Former Roman Catholics Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Provincial Council of Gelderland Members of the Social and Economic Council Ministers of Agriculture of the Netherlands Ministers of Defence of the Netherlands Ministers of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of Housing and Spatial Planning of the Netherlands Ministers of Social Affairs of the Netherlands Municipal councillors in Gelderland People from Hengelo People from Hof van Twente People from Zutphen People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Tax collectors Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch businesspeople 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch politicians