Ton Maarten Christofoor Elias (born 14 March 1955) is a Dutch businessman, retired politician and former journalist who served as a member of 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 2008 to 2017. As a parliamentarian for 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 ...

(''Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie'' – VVD), he focused on matters of economic affairs, education and transport. Born 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 ...

, Elias graduated from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

in 1983. He worked for the TV show ''Den Haag Vandaag'' as a political journalist until 1989 and later became communications director of Aegon N.V. before founding two businesses: Elias Advies and Elias Communicatie. He was number 23 on the VVD list during the general election of 2006 and thus not elected; he entered the States General in 2008 after having sold his companies, as

Henk Kamp Henricus Gregorius Jozeph "Henk" Kamp (; born 23 July 1952) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who was Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Rutte III from 24 September 2021 to 10 January 2022. He previousl ...

left the House of Representatives after being appointed to be ''Rijksvertegenwoordiger voor de openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba'', starting 2009. He was fully elected in the 2010 general election (number 20) and reelected in the general election of 2012. He was the VVD's spokesman on Economic Affairs and later Education, Public Transportation and Traffic. During the Speaker of the House of Representatives election, 2016 he received 51 votes. He came second to the Labour Party candidate

Khadija Arib Khadija Arib (; ; born 10 October 1960) is a Moroccans in the Netherlands, Moroccan-born Dutch politician of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Netherlands), Speaker of the House ...

, who received 83 votes and was elected. For the 2017 general election Elias was not part of the candidacy list of the VVD, which Elias stated he would appeal to the party board. His appeal was supported by Senate President

Ankie Broekers-Knol Anneke "Ankie" Broekers-Knol (born 23 November 1946) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as State Secretary for Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet from 11 June 2019 until 10 January 2022. She is a member of the People's Par ...

but rejected. He was the House's First Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2017; he currently works as a consultant. Elias received the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

from French Foreign Affairs Minister

Jean-Marc Ayrault Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2017. He previously was Mayor of Nantes from 1989 ...

in November 2016.

References

*
Parlement.com biography

External links

*
Ton Elias
personal website *
House of Representatives biography
*
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy biography
1955 births Living people Dutch campaign managers Dutch columnists Dutch political consultants Dutch political commentators Dutch political journalists Dutch television personalities Dutch MPs 2012–2017 Politicians from The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians University of Amsterdam alumni Dutch MPs 2006–2010 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 {{Netherlands-VVD-politician-stub