Raymond Willem Knops (born 10 November 1971) is a Dutch politician and retired RNLAF officer who served as State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations under the

Third Rutte cabinet The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022 (since 15 January 2021 demissionary). It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democra ...

from 2017 to 2019 and again from 2020 until 2022. A member of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( , CDA) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in the Netherlands. Formed as a federation in 1975 by the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and the Christian Historical ...

(CDA), he was Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations from 2019 to 2020 in an acting capacity. Knops has held a seat 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 ...

between 2005 and 2023 with three interruptions due to cabinet formation processes and service in government.

Early political career

As a member of the

, Raymond Knops he 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 ...

Horst aan de Maas Horst aan de Maas (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. In 2010 the municipalities Sevenum and part of Meerlo-Wanssum joined the municipality. ...

in 1998. In 1999, he became 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 the

municipal executive In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, oftentimes abbreviated to ; ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of t ...

, in which he was in charge of economic and agricultural affairs, spatial planning, traffic, the environment and public housing until 2001, when he became Deputy Mayor and alderman in charge of economic affairs,

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

, recreation and tourism and strategic projects. He held the position until 2005, when he entered the

following the resignation of

Hubert Bruls Hubertus Maria Franciscus "Hubert" Bruls (born 6 February 1966) is a Dutch politician who has served as Mayor of Nijmegen since 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he has also served as chairman of the Dutch Security Council s ...

, who had been appointed to the mayorship of

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

National career

Knops has served as a member of the House of Representatives from 11 October 2005 to 30 November 2006, from 1 March 2007 to 17 June 2010, from 7 September 2010 to 26 October 2017 and again since 31 March 2021. He returned as a parliamentarian in 2007 as 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 ...

had been sworn in, as well as in 2010 as the successor of

Ab Klink Abraham "Ab" Klink (born 2 November 1958) is a retired Dutch politician of Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and sociologist. He is a corporate director of the VGZ Cooperative since 1 January 2014 and a professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amster ...

, who had resigned his seat. In the 2021 election, Knops was returned to the House of Representatives as the outgoing State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations. In the House of Representatives, he focuses his work on matters of political asylum policy and

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

. Knops was appointed State Secretary at the

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (; BZK) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for domestic policy, civil service, public administration, elections, relations with local governments, intelligen ...

under Minister

Kajsa Ollongren Jkvr. Karin Hildur "Kajsa" Ollongren (; ; born 28 May 1967) is a Dutch-Swedish politician who served as Minister of Defence from 10 January 2022 to 2 July 2024. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Inter ...

in the

on 26 October 2017. From 1 November 2019 until 14 April 2020, he was Acting Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations due to Ollongren's extended medical leave of absence. He then returned as a State Secretary and was succeeded on 10 January 2022 by Alexandra van Huffelen as the

Fourth Rutte cabinet The fourth Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 10 January 2022 until 2 July 2024. The cabinet was a continuation of the third Rutte cabinet and was formed by the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( ...

was installed. There had been speculation Knops would be

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the Fourth Rutte cabinet after similar speculation in 2017. However, during the 2021–2022 cabinet formation process, the ministry was awarded to Ollongren of the

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

party. In February 2023, he left the House of Representatives to become a lobbyist for The Netherlands Industries for Defence & Security. He became "manure scout" in November 2024, assisting agriculture minister Femke Wiersma in mitigating a manure surplus. Knops was tasked with investigating whether more permits could be granted to increase the manure handling capacity.

Honours and awards

EST Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana - 1st Class BAR

Member 1st Class of the

Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (, also the Order of the Cross of St. Mary's Land) was instituted by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri, on 16 May 1995 to honour the independence of the Estonian state. (The Latin name ''Terra Mariana'' ...

(

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, 5 June 2018)265. Riiklike autasude andmine
- website of the

President of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia () is the head of state of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is one of the few parliam ...

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Drs. R.W. (Raymond) Knops
Parlement.com *
Raymond Knops
CDA.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Knops, Raymond 1971 births Living people 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch military personnel 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch military personnel Aldermen in Limburg (Netherlands) Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Dutch aviators Dutch colonels Dutch flight instructors Dutch military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Military personnel of the Iraq War Ministers of kingdom relations of the Netherlands Ministers of the interior of the Netherlands Municipal councillors in Limburg (Netherlands) People from Horst aan de Maas Royal Netherlands Air Force officers Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots State secretaries for the interior of the Netherlands Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2021–2023 Dutch lobbyists Christian Democratic Appeal MPs