Jan Hendrik "Rob" Bats (born 1 April 1962 in Winterswijk) is a Dutch politician. He is a member of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party in ...

(VVD). From 1 May 2012 to 1 April 2013 he was

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Haren, Groningen. Previously he worked as a civil servant in

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

. From 2002 to 2006, he was a member of 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, rural counci ...

Meppel Meppel (; Drents: ''Möppelt'') is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe. Meppel is the smallest municipality in Drenthe, with a total area of about 57 km² (22 sq ...

. During this time he was also corporate director of the Thorbecke Academy for

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

and public management. From 2007 to 2010, he was a representative for the

States Deputed The provincial executive (, GS) is the executive branch of government of a province in the Netherlands. It is the equivalent of the municipal executive at the provincial level. The provincial executive consists of the King's Commissioner (chair) ...

of the province of

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 Nov ...

. Rob Bats studied public administration at the

University of Twente The University of Twente (Dutch: ''Universiteit Twente''; , abbr. ) is a public technical university located in Enschede, Netherlands. The university has been placed in the top 170 universities in the world by multiple central ranking tables. ...

. He is married and has two sons.

References

* 'Nieuwe burgemeester Bats in mei aan de slag', '' Algemeen Dagblad'', March 2, 2012 1962 births Living people Dutch civil servants Dutch corporate directors Dutch public administration scholars Mayors in Groningen (province) Municipal councillors in Drenthe People from Haren, Groningen People from Winterswijk People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians Members of the Provincial-Executive of Drenthe University of Twente alumni {{Netherlands-mayor-stub