Jellejetta "Jetta" Klijnsma (; born 18 March 1957) is a Dutch politician serving as the

King's Commissioner A King's commissioner (, ''CvdK'') is the head of government and legislature in a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands. When the List of monarchs of the Netherlands, reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commission ...

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 ...

since 2017. She is a member of the Labour Party (PvdA). 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 ...

from 2010 to 2012, she focused on matters of

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

s, disabled people and

medical ethics Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...

. Previously she was State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment under the

Fourth Balkenende cabinet The fourth Balkenende cabinet was the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics of the Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands from 22 February 2007 until 14 October 2010. The Cabinet of the Netherlands, cabinet was formed by ...

(2008–2010) and an alderwoman of the municipality of

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

(1998–2008). From 2012 to 2017 she was appointed again as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment, dealing with the matters of unemployment insurances, pay equality, long-term unemployment, poverty, health and safety at work under the Second Rutte cabinet.

Early life

Klijnsma was born 18 March 1957 in

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout the town. Other v ...

. She studied

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

, with a specialization in

social history Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

and

economic history Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the Applied economics ...

. After graduating she began to work for the Labour Party's

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 ...

. She was assistant to MPs André van der Louw, Marcel van Dam and Thijs Wöltgens. Klijnsma has a physical handicap. She was born with spastic legs and only learned how to walk at age thirteen. She has a

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

background but turned non-religious and became a member of the Dutch Humanist League.Humanist League website
/ref>

Political career

In 1990 she was elected to 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 ...

of The Hague. In 1998 she became alderwoman for welfare, health and emancipation. After the 2006 municipal elections she became responsible for culture and finance and also became vice-

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. After Wim Deetman stepped down, she was mayor ''ad interim'' of The Hague and so became the first woman in that function. In December 2008 she succeeded fellow Labour Party politician Ahmed Aboutaleb as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in the

. She was State Secretary until February 2010, when the Labour Party withdrew its support for Balkenende's government. An MP from 2010 to 2012, she was appointed again as Social Affairs State Secretary in the Second Rutte cabinet in November 2012, serving until the inauguration on 26 October 2017 of the Third Rutte cabinet which the PvdA does not support. On 1 November 2017 she was appointed

of the province of

after former The Hague Mayor Jozias van Aartsen was appointed in March 2017 as Acting Commissioner; she took office on 1 December.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. J. (Jetta) Klijnsma
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Klijnsma, Jetta 1957 births Living people Aldermen of The Hague Dutch atheists Dutch humanists Dutch political consultants Dutch politicians with disabilities Economic historians Former Calvinist and Reformed Christians King's and Queen's Commissioners of Drenthe Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Mayors of The Hague Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Municipal councillors of The Hague People from Hoogeveen People with cerebral palsy Social historians State Secretaries for Social Affairs of the Netherlands University of Groningen alumni Women mayors of places in the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch women politicians Women King's and Queen's Commissioners of the Netherlands Dutch MPs 2010–2012