Edith Ingeborg Schippers (born 25 August 1964) 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) and businesswoman who served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of DSM Netherlands between 2019 and 2023. Schippers, a

political consultant Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televi ...

by occupation, worked for the Industry and Employers Confederation from 1997 until 2003. Schippers became a member of 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 ...

shortly after the 2003 general election taking office on 3 June 2003, 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 know ...

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 health, deputy spokesperson for employment and as deputy

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 legislature, legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. ...

. After the 2010 general election, Schippers was appointed as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Rutte I cabinet taking office on 14 October 2010. Following the 2012 general election, she returned to the House of Representatives serving from 20 September 2012 until 5 November 2012, when she continued as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Rutte II cabinet. In May 2017, Schippers announced her retirement from national politics and did not stand for the 2017 general election; she left office upon the installation of the Rutte III cabinet on 26 October 2017. Schippers retired after spending 14 years in national politics and became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

, as a corporate director for DSM Netherlands. For the 2023 Senate election, she returned to politics as VVD lead candidate. She was elected, but she left the Senate in January 2025 to become CEO of pharmaceutical wholesaler Mosadex.

Early life

Schippers was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, but spent her years attending

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

.
At the age of 12, she moved to Wachtum in

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Jan ...

. Edith Schippers' alma mater is

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, where she studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from 1985 till 1991. She also spent half a year studying at

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, India in 1990. In 1993, Schippers became personal assistant to member of parliament Dick Dees. She served in this position until 1994, after which she became a staff member of the VVD parliamentary fraction dealing with healthcare, welfare and sports. After that, Schippers found employment at

employers' organisation An employers' organization or employers' association is a collective organization of manufacturers, retailers, or other employers of wage labor. Employers' organizations seek to coordinate the behavior of their member companies in matters of mutua ...

VNO-NCW VNO-NCW (known in English language, English as the "Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers") is a Dutch Employers' organization, employers' federation founded in 1996 as a merger of the Christian-democratic ''Nederlands Christelijk We ...

. From 1997 until 2001, her portfolio as secretary for VNO-CNW included

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

and the

labour market Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labou ...

and from 2001 until 2003

spatial planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...

Political career

Schippers was elected into the

in the 2003 general election and was sworn in on 3 June of that year.

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

became her mentor. In 2006, she was elected as vice chairman of the VVD parliamentary party. Schippers considered this a great honour, but not her greatest success. In 2010, she succeeded Ab Klink in becoming Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the

first Rutte cabinet The first Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Verhagen cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, government of the Netherlands from 14 October 2010 until 5 November 2012. The Cabinet of the ...

. She briefly returned to the House of Representatives after the 2012 general election, but left again when the continuation of her ministership in the second Rutte cabinet was confirmed. As Minister of Health, Schippers was repeatedly accused of being a tobacco industry lobbyist, and was labeled "minister Tobacco", because she had ties to the tobacco industry and because she tried to revert the ban on smoking in bars and cafes. She also overcame three motions of no confidence in the House of Representatives. One was issued in 2012, for not adequately informing the States General about the costs of bringing the Olympics to the Netherlands. In the same year another motion of no confidence was issued against her and minister

Henk Bleker Hinderk "Henk" Bleker (born 26 July 1953) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation in the First Rutte cabinet from 14 October 2010 to 5 November 2012. A member of ...

, for the way they treated the issues surrounding

Q-fever Q fever or query fever is a disease caused by infection with ''Coxiella burnetii'', a bacterium that affects humans and other animals. This organism is uncommon, but may be found in cattle, sheep, goats, and other domestic mammals, includin ...

. In 2013 a motion was issued regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector. In 2016 this issue regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector was investigated on a Dutch talkshow In March 2017, she announced she would not return in a new cabinet. On 26 October 2017, she was succeeded by

Hugo de Jonge Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge (; born 26 September 1977) is a Dutch politician who has served as Acting King's Commissioner of Zeeland since 16 September 2024. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he was elected to its leadership in 202 ...

. Schippers briefly returned to the political scene following the 2017 general election, when Speaker

Khadija Arib Khadija Arib (; ; born 10 October 1960) is a Moroccans in the Netherlands, Moroccan-born Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), Speaker of the House ...

appointed Schippers as the so-called ''informateur'', whose role is to explore possible governing alliances. In February 2018, she was speculated as a possible successor to the recently resigned Minister of Foreign Affairs Halbe Zijlstra, but she expressed that she was not available for another ministership, wanting instead to spend more time with her daughter. Schippers was her party's lead candidate in the 2023 Senate election, and she won a seat. Under her leadership, the

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 ...

announced it would support the Dispersal Act, a bill intended to more fairly distribute asylum seekers across the Netherlands. Her party had voted against the bill in the House of Representatives, and party leader

Dilan Yeşilgöz Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (; born 18 June 1977) is a Dutch politician who has served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2023. She also served as List of Ministers of Justice of the Netherlands, Minister of Ju ...

had tried to prevent its treatment in the Senate. Schippers stated that the political landscape had shifted since the House vote, citing a new majority supportive of measures to simultaneously reduce refugee arrivals. She was appointed CEO of pharmaceutical wholesaler Mosadex, effective 1 January 2025. Schippers stepped down from the Senate on 13 January, unable to combine both roles, and she was succeeded as parliamentary leader by .

Personal life

Schippers is married to Sander Spijker, a project manager for P5COM who is specialised in profit improvement and cost reduction in the healthcare industry. They have one child, a daughter.

Literature

* Versteegh, Kees (2021).
Schaduwleiders: rollen en invloeden van 'tweede mannen' in de politiek
' (in Dutch). Boom. .

References

External links

;Official
Drs. E.I. (Edith) Schippers
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Schippers, Edith 1964 births Living people Dutch atheists Dutch corporate directors Dutch chief executives in the manufacturing industry Dutch expatriates in India Dutch former Christians Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch political consultants 21st-century Dutch businesswomen 21st-century Dutch businesspeople Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of health of the Netherlands Ministers of sport of the Netherlands People from Baarn Politicians from Utrecht (city) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Women government ministers of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Leiden University alumni Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012