René Willums Leegte (born 8 July 1968, in

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 ...

) is a Dutch politician and former businessman. As a member 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 ...

he was a member of the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives ( , literally "Second Chamber of the States General", or simply ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General of the Netherlands, States General, the other one ...

between 26 October 2010 and 24 March 2015. He focused on matters of

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

and

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

. In January 2015 Leegte laid down his party spokesmanship for gas winning in Groningen and earthquakes in the region. He did so after having a conversation on the topic and party strategy on it being overheard during a train ride. Leegte resigned as member of the House of Representatives on 24 March 2015 after having had an additional paid job for over a year at an organisation which was subjected to his parliamentary portfolio. Leegte did not enter the job in the register, nor report the earnings; he also used his parliamentary email address for the additional job. Leegte felt this conflicted with the integrity rules of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and thus resigned.

References

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Parlement.com biography

External links

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René Leegte
personal website *
House of Representatives biography
1968 births Living people Businesspeople from The Hague Engineers from The Hague Dutch political consultants Dutch speechwriters Dutch public relations people Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Politicians from The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Wageningen University and Research alumni Dutch Mennonites Dutch MPs 2010–2012 {{Netherlands-VVD-politician-stub