Hendrik Karel Jan "Henk" Beernink (2 February 1910 – 22 August 1979) was a Dutch politician of the defunct

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged i ...

(CHU) party now merged into 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 ...

(CDA) party and jurist. Beernink attended a Gymnasium in

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 ...

from April 1922 until May 1928 and applied at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

in June 1928 majoring in

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 ...

and obtaining a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

degree in October 1929 and graduating with a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in December 1932. Beernink worked as a civil servant for the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Papendrecht Papendrecht () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, at the crossing of the River Beneden Merwede and the Noord River. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which ...

from December 1932 until February 1939 and for the municipality of

Rijswijk Rijswijk (), formerly known as Ryswick ( ) in English, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Its population was in , and it has an area of , of which is water. The municipality also includes t ...

from February 1939 until April 1967 and as

Municipal clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

from June 1945 until April 1967. Beernink was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after the election of 1946, taking office on 4 June 1946 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 ...

chairing the special parliamentary committee for the Financial Relationship Law and the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' Whip 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 the Interior,

Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

, Housing and Spatial Planning,

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, Press media and

Postal Services The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

. Beernink also served as Chairman of the Christian Historical Union from 9 July 1958 until 19 March 1966. In February 1963 the Leader of the Christian Historical Union 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 their ...

of the Christian Historical Union Hendrik Tilanus announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1963, the Christian Historical Union leadership approached Beernink as his successor, Beernink accepted and became the Leader of the Christian Historical Union and the ''

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) for 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 opera ...

, taking office on 20 February 1963. The Christian Historical Union made a small win, gaining 1 seat and now had 13 seats in the House of Representatives, Beernink subsequently became Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 16 May 1963. The following second cabinet formation of 1963 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Christian Historical Union, the

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...

(KVP), 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 the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and mi ...

(ARP) which formed the Cabinet Marijnen with Beernink opting to remain in the House of Representatives instead of accepting a cabinet post in the new cabinet and he continued to serve in the House of Representatives as Parliamentary leader. For the election of 1967 Beernink served for a second time as ''Lijsttrekker''. The Christian Historical Union suffered a small loss, losing 1 seat and now had 12 seats in the House of Representatives. The following cabinet formation of 1967 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Catholic People's Party, the

(VVD), the

(ARP) and the

(CHU) which formed the Cabinet De Jong with Beernink appointed as

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 ...

, taking office on 5 April 1967. On 12 April 1967 Beernink announced that he was stepping down as Leader in favor of Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Jur Mellema. In March 1967 Beernink announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1971. Following the cabinet formation of 1971 Beernink was not giving a cabinet post in the new cabinet, the Cabinet De Jong was replaced by the Cabinet Biesheuvel I on 6 July 1971. Beernink semi-retired from active politics and became active in the

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 ...

and occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director on several supervisory boards and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government ( Electoral Council, Public Pension Funds APB and the Cadastre Agency) Beernink was known for his abilities as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and

team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...

. Beernink continued to comment on political affairs until his is death at the age of 69.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. H.K.J. (Henk) Beernink
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Beernink, Henk 1910 births 1979 deaths Chairmen of the Christian Historical Union City and town clerks Christian Historical Union politicians Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Leaders of the Christian Historical Union Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) People from Maarssen People from Rijswijk Utrecht University alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians