Gerard Pieter van As (born 12 November 1944, in Gouda) is a Dutch

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. From 2002 to 2006 he was a member of

Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List (, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands that existed from 2002 to 2008 at a national level and was named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was ...

(LPF) in the Dutch

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 also served as

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the LPF from 2004 to 2006.

Career

Van As studied law at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. He then worked in property law and as a real estate broker. From the 1970s to the early 1990s, he served on the municipal council of

Alphen aan den Rijn Alphen aan den Rijn (; or "Alphen on the Rhine") is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The city is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn (Old Rhine ...

for the

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...

. From 1982 to 1993, he was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

. In 2002, he cancelled his membership of the VVD and joined the

. During the

2002 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on 15 May 2002.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1396 The elections were amongst the most dramatic in Dutch history, not just in terms of the electoral ...

, he was elected to parliament for the LPF. In parliament, he focused on finance and government expenditure. From 2004 to 2006, he served as party leader of the LPF. On 16 August 2006, he abandoned the LPF after a conflict with the party's leadership. He turned down an offer from

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as the 14th Secretary General of NATO, secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, prime minister of the Neth ...

to rejoin the VVD and joined Nawijn Group and unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for Nawijn's Party for the Netherlands. Van As retired from parliament in 2006. In 2010 Van As took part in the municipal elections in Alphen aan den Rijn for the new localist party ''Nieuw Elan.'' He once again became alderman in 2013.

References

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Parlement.com biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:As, Gerard Van 1944 births Living people Independent politicians in the Netherlands Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Aldermen in South Holland People from Alphen aan den Rijn People from Gouda, South Holland People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Pim Fortuyn List politicians