His Excellency
Hugo de Jonge
De Jonge in 2019
Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning
Assumed office
10 January 2022
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byPosition established
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office
26 October 2017 – 10 January 2022
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byLodewijk Asscher
Succeeded bySigrid Kaag
Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport
In office
26 October 2017 – 10 January 2022
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byEdith Schippers
Succeeded byErnst Kuipers
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal
In office
15 July 2020 – 10 December 2020
Preceded bySybrand van Haersma Buma
Succeeded byWopke Hoekstra
Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
Assumed office
5 September 2023
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byHanke Bruins Slot
Personal details
Born
Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge

(1977-09-26) 26 September 1977
Bruinisse, Zeeland, Netherlands
Political partyChristian Democratic Appeal
Residence(s)Rotterdam, South Holland, Netherlands
OccupationPolitician
civil servant
Teacher
School administrator
Political consultant

Hugo Mattheüs de Jonge (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦyɣo mɑˈteːʏz də ˈjɔŋə]; born 26 September 1977) is a Dutch politician serving as Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, since 2023 and 2022, respectively, in the Fourth Rutte cabinet. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he was elected to its leadership in 2020 for the 2021 Dutch general election. He withdrew later that year, citing an impossibility to combine his position as Health Minister in charge of the COVID-19 pandemic efforts with his party leadership.[1]

Early life and career

De Jonge studied at the Ichthus Hogeschool in Rotterdam to become a teacher in primary education and then continued in Zwolle a study for school management, which he completed with a diploma "school leader primary education".

De Jonge worked in education for five years, first as a schoolteacher and eventually as deputy director of a primary school.[2]

De Jonge moved to national policy by working as a policy assistant for the CDA group in the House of Representatives in 2004. Between 2006 and 2010 he worked at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science as political assistant of the CDA Minister Maria van der Hoeven and State Secretary Marja van Bijsterveldt and as a policy assistant with a focus on quality improvement of the secondary education.[3]

Political career

Alderman

In 2010, De Jonge was appointed as alderman with the portfolio of Education, Youth and Family in Rotterdam. As such, he argued in 2013 on national television for the closing of the Islamic school association Ibn Ghaldoun after a number of problems came to light.[4][5]

After the municipal elections of 2014, De Jonge was appointed again as alderman, with the Healthcare portfolio. The same year he was announced as the Politician of the Year in Rotterdam.[6] In October 2016, he announced a programme to persuade parents that are considered vulnerable to consider voluntary birth control.[7] As he left the Rotterdam politics in October 2017, he was awarded the municipal Wolfert van Borselenpenning.[8]

Minister

In October 2017, De Jonge was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Third Rutte cabinet.[9] During the administration of the oath and installation of the new Ministers, De Jonge received media attention because of his unusual choice of shoes, receiving both criticism and praise.[10][8]

After the resignation of Bruno Bruins as Minister for Medical Care on 19 March 2020, De Jonge became responsible for the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] In this capacity, he initiated the development of a COVID-19 app.[2]

On 18 June 2020, De Jonge announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Christian Democratic Appeal, which had been vacant since the resignation of Sybrand van Haersma Buma in May 2019.[12] In the vote, he won against Pieter Omtzigt.

Political positions

In his candidacy for the CDA leadership, De Jonge expressed his commitment to the political centre, seeing the CDA as a "broad people's party". He is seen as less right wing on economic issues than his predecessors, having previously called for the market and competition in healthcare to be restrained.[2][13] He has also expressed the belief that his party should not cooperate with the right-wing populist parties Party for Freedom and Forum for Democracy.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Hugo de Jonge stopt als lijsttrekker van het CDA, te druk met coronacrisis". nos.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hugo de Jonge: van onderwijzer tot mogelijke CDA-leider". NOS (in Dutch). 18 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  3. ↑ "Hugo de Jonge nieuwe minister op VWS" (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "'Sluiting Ibn Ghaldoun onvermijdelijk' – Binnenland – PAROOL". Het Parool (in Dutch). 12 June 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Ook PvdA wil Ibn Ghaldoun sluiten". RTL Nieuws. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Cookies op AD.nl | AD.nl". www.ad.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Graaf, Peter de (October 2016). "'Verplicht kwetsbare ouder tot tijdelijke anticonceptie' – Binnenland – Voor nieuws, achtergronden en columns". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Hoogste onderscheiding én schoenen voor De Jonge bij afscheid" (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Het is officieel: dit worden de nieuwe ministers en staatssecretarissen van Rutte III". RTL Nieuws. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Ophef over Portugese schoenen van vicepremier De Jonge: 'Niet gepast'". RTL Nieuws. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "PvdA'er Martin van Rijn volgt Bruins tijdelijk op als minister voor Medische Zorg". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 20 March 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Hugo de Jonge wil lijsttrekker van het CDA worden". NOS (in Dutch). 18 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  13. ↑ "Minister De Jonge: 'Marktwerking in de zorg is doorgeslagen'". RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 1 March 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "Hugo de Jonge: CDA moet niet met FvD in zee". AD.nl (in Dutch). 30 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
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