Christiaan "Chris" Stoffer (born 19 September 1974) is a Dutch politician who has served as

Leader of the Reformed Political Party The Leader of the Reformed Political Party is the most senior politician within the Reformed Political Party (, SGP) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Chris Stoffer, who succeeded Kees van der Staaij in 2023. History The leaders ou ...

(''Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij'', SGP) since 25 August 2023.

Career

Prior to his service in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, 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, borough cou ...

Nunspeet Nunspeet () is a municipality and town in the central Netherlands. It has been an agricultural site since prehistoric times. The municipality contains a number of villages, namely Hulshorst, Elspeet, and Vierhouten. Nunspeet has a vivid historica ...

from 2002 to 2018. From 2010 onwards, he led the SGP group in the municipal council. As a civil engineer, Stoffer worked for the

Rijkswaterstaat Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Ministry ...

government organisation until 2018, for which he was a project leader and team manager. Stoffer has been a member of the House of Representatives since 11 April 2018, when he succeeded

Elbert Dijkgraaf Elbert Dijkgraaf (born 6 January 1970) is a Dutch economist and politician of the Reformed Political Party (SGP). He is professor at the Erasmus School of Economics where he holds the chair "Empirical economics of the public sector". He also is ...

. After having come party leader on 25 August 2023, he led the party during the 2023 general election. described Stoffer's political style as more impulsive than that of his predecessor,

Kees van der Staaij Cornelis Gerrit "Kees" van der Staaij (; born 12 September 1968) is a Dutch politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2023 and Leader of the Reformed Political Party (''Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij'', SGP) ...

, citing Stoffer's organizing of a protest supporting Israel following its

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

and a

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

campaign opposing the results of a submarine tender. At the invitation of ELNET, Stoffer visited Israel at the start of 2024. He said he wanted to show his solidarity with Israel following the October 2023 Hamas-led attack that had sparked the conflict, and he dismissed calls for a ceasefire in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

amongst considerable civilian casualties, saying Hamas infrastructure first had to be destroyed. Stoffer organized a pro–Israeli protest at

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital and most populated city of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in response to pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses.

Personal life

Stoffer is a member of the

Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands The Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands (Dutch: Gereformeerden Gemeenten in Nederland, abbreviated GGiN) is a pietistic Reformed church, Reformed church located mainly in the Netherlands, along with five congregations in North America an ...

. At the age of 13, Stoffer's mother died. He is married and has three children.

Electoral history

References

External links

Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoffer, Chris 1974 births Living people Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians Dutch MPs 2023– Leaders of the Reformed Political Party Municipal councillors in Gelderland People from Harderwijk People from Nunspeet Reformed Political Party politicians 20th-century Dutch people University of Twente alumni Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2021–2023