Christianne van der Wal-Zeggelink (born 13 November 1973) is a Dutch politician of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD).

Life

Van der Wal was born in 1973 in

Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border. It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the ...

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

, and she studied

facility management Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional discipline focused on coordinating the use of space, infrastructure, people, and organization. Facilities management ensures that physical assets and environments are managed effe ...

. She was a municipal politician in

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The south ...

, and she became

chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The Chair of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is the party chair, chief administrator and manager of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (, VVD) in the Netherlands. The current chair is Eric Wetzels. History The VVD chair is ...

starting on 25 November 2017. Van der Wal joined the

Provincial Executive The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

in 2019. She served as Minister for Nature and Nitrogen Policy in the fourth Rutte cabinet between 10 January 2022 and 2 July 2024. Van der Wal was elected to 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 ...

in November 2023. After the Schoof cabinet was formed, she told that she had not been interested in another term as minister. She had endorsed the

coalition agreement A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...

as a member of the VVD

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

, but she said she would not feel comfortable executing it, citing its arrangements on nitrogen policy. In the House, Van der Wal was the VVD's spokesperson on defense and culture. A

motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

by Van der Wal was adopted, urging the government to assist museums generate additional revenue by loaning out more of their stored artworks. She added that national funding for renovations should be contingent on participation in such initiatives.

House committee assignments

* Committee for Education, Culture and Science * Committee for Digital Affairs * Art committee * Committee for Health, Welfare and Sport * Committee for Foreign Affairs * Committee for Defence * Delegation to the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly The NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It consists of delegates from the parliaments of the 32 NATO member countries as well as from associate ...

Electoral history

References

External links

;Official *
Ch. (Christianne) van der Wal-Zeggelink
Parlement & Politiek 1973 births Living people Chairmen of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy Municipal councillors in Gelderland People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians 21st-century Dutch women educators 21st-century Dutch educators University of Amsterdam alumni People from Oldenzaal People from Harderwijk 21st-century Dutch women politicians Dutch MPs 2023– Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly {{Netherlands-VVD-politician-stub