Mariëlle Paul
Paul in 2023
Minister for Primary and Secondary Education
Assumed office
21 July 2023
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byDennis Wiersma
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
6 December 2023
In office
31 March 2021 – 21 July 2023
Succeeded bySimone Richardson
Personal details
Born (1966-11-05) 5 November 1966
Geldrop, Netherlands
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)
Alma materLeiden University
Occupation
  • Politician
  • communications director

Mariëlle Lucienne Josepha Paul[1] (born 5 November 1966) is a Dutch politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), she was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2021 general election, and she became Minister for Primary and Secondary Education as part of the fourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023. She previously worked as a communications director for several multinational corporations.

Early life and corporate career

Paul was born in 1966 in the North Brabant town of Geldrop to Pakistani parents.[2][3] Her father was Anglo-Indian, and her parents had moved from Karachi to the Netherlands the year before Paul's birth, when her father – a mechanical engineer – took a job at DAF.[4][5][6] Paul grew up with a sister and moved from Geldrop to the nearby village of Heeze in 1973.[4][7] She played the piano and attended the secondary school Augustinianum at gymnasium level starting in 1979.[8][9] She studied international law at Leiden University in the years 1985–91 and was a member of the student association Minerva.[2][3][6]

After graduating, Paul started working for oil and gas company BP. She became a corporate communications director at public relations company Hill & Knowlton six years later.[2][10] Between 2000 and 2004, she co-owned a Haarlem communication consultancy called Principal Communications, and Paul subsequently started working for the bank ABN AMRO.[2][11] She was employed there for almost nine years and filled positions in marketing, communication, and HR.[2][10] Paul became corporate and sales communications director at media group Sanoma in 2013.[10] She left that company in 2015 and worked for the NGO Porticus as its interim communications director. Paul was Royal BAM Group's communications director between 2017 and her election to the House of Representatives in 2021.[2]

House of Representatives

In the 2021 general election, she was placed 17th on the VVD's party list.[12] Paul had served as member and vice chair of the board of the Amsterdam VVD between 2017 and 2021.[4][13][14] Her party won 34 seats, causing her to be elected. Paul received 2,633 preference votes and was sworn into the House of Representatives on 31 March 2021.[15] She became her party's spokesperson for international trade, development aid, and macroeconomic policy, but her portfolio changed to primary and secondary education shortly after. Compensation for victims of the childcare benefits scandal was added later as well.[16] Besides, Paul is part of the contact groups Germany, United Kingdom, and United States, and she is on the Committees for Education, Culture and Science; for European Affairs; for Finance; for Foreign Affairs; for Kingdom Relations (chair); and for Public Expenditure.[2] She was one of her party's lijstduwers in Amsterdam in the 2022 municipal elections.[17]

When Khadija Arib left the House in late 2022, Paul took over as chair of a committee to pepare a parliamentary inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands in an acting capacity. Newspaper NRC reported in February 2023 that some members of the committee had demanded the departure of fellow members Pepijn van Houwelingen (FVD) Wybren van Haga (BVNL) for promoting prejudiced views. The following week, Paul – who did not have the authority to remove members – announced that the committee would continue its work following constructive talks.[18][19] After preparations were finished in June 2023, the parliamentary inquiry was indefinitely postponed, as not enough parties had nominated a member of parliament to take part. Paul had already indicated she would not be available to lead the inquiry.[20][21]

Minister for Primary and Secondary Education

On 18 July 2023, it was announced Paul would become Minister for Primary and Secondary Education as part of the fourth Rutte cabinet. Her predecessor, Dennis Wiersma, had resigned the month before following reports of unacceptable behavior in the workplace.[22] The cabinet had collapsed on 7 July due to disagreements over asylum reform and continued as a caretaker government.[23] Paul was sworn in by King Willem-Alexander at palace Huis ten Bosch on 21 July.[24] Her appointment marked the first time in Dutch political history that the cabinet consisted of more women than men.[22] Serving alongside Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf, who leads the ministry, Paul's responsibilities are preschooling, primary and secondary education, special education, adult education, informal education, action plan basic skills, equal opportunities, teacher policy, civilian service, National Program Education, education real estate, DUO, and Inspectorate of Education.[25]

Personal life

Paul is a resident of Amsterdam, where she had been living for thirty years at the time of her swearing in as MP.[2][12] She is single.[26]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Mariëlle Paul
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2021 House of Representatives People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 17 2,633 34 Won [27]
2023 House of Representatives People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 10 2,704 24 Won [28]

References

  1. ↑ "Drs. M.L.J. (Mariëlle) Paul". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Mariëlle Paul". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. 1 2 Breur, Jolanda (12 December 2009). "Vrouwen helpen elkaar hogerop" [Women help each other rise]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Thijssen, Willie (8 March 2021). "Mariëlle Paul - oorspronkelijk uit Heeze - maakt goede kans op zetel in Tweede Kamer" [Mariëlle Paul – originally from Heeze – has a good chance of winning a seat in the House of Representatives]. ED (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Khan, Mohammad Zubair (2 May 2021). "اینگلو انڈین: پاکستان کی 'روشن خیال' اور 'فرض شناس' برادری جس نے بہتر اور محفوظ مستقبل کے لیے ملک چھوڑ دیا" [Anglo-Indian: Pakistan's 'enlightened' and 'dutiful' community that left the country for a better and safer future]. BBC News (in Urdu). Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. 1 2 Paul, Mariëlle (2 January 2023). "VVD-Kamerlid Mariëlle Paul:'Ik heb nooit gedacht: dit is out of my league'" [VVD House member Mariëlle Paul: 'I have never thought: this is out of my league']. NRC (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Petra de Koning. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  7. ↑ Verleg, Thijs (6 March 2021). "Mariëlle Paul met Heezer roots op weg naar de Kamer" [Mariëlle Paul with Heeze roots on her way to the House of Representatives]. Heeze-Leende24 (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "08:40". Goedemorgen Nederland. Season 2023. Episode 173 (in Dutch). 17 May 2023. NPO 1. Retrieved 14 June 2023 – via NPO Start.
  9. ↑ "Biografie, onderwijs en loopbaan van Mariëlle Paul" [Biography, education, and career of Mariëlle Paul]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 "Mensen" [People]. Het Parool (in Dutch). 6 May 2013. p. 7.
  11. ↑ Boersma, Valerie (2 May 2013). "Mariëlle Paul director Communications bij Sanoma" [Mariëlle Paul director Communications at Sanoma]. Adformatie (in Dutch). Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  12. 1 2 De Leeuw, Corrie (6 March 2021). "Zuidoost-Brabant moet het met weinig mensen doen in de Tweede Kamer: "Maar ik zeg houdoe tegen iedereen"" [Southeast Brabant will only have a few people in the House of Representatives: "But I say houdoe to everyone"]. ED (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  13. ↑ Koops, Ruben; Meijs, Floor (18 March 2021). "Twaalf Amsterdammers maken entree in Tweede Kamer" [Twelve people from Amsterdam enter the House of Representatives]. Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  14. ↑ Von Piekartz, Hessel (18 August 2023). "Onderwijsminister Mariëlle Paul wordt ook wel de 'anti-Wiersma' genoemd" [Education minister Mariëlle Paul has also been called the 'anti Wiersma']. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  15. ↑ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021 Proces-verbaal" [Results general election 17 March 2021 Report] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. p. 157. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  16. ↑ "Mariëlle Paul". VVD (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "Dataset Verkiezingen gemeenteraad 2022" [Data set 2022 municipal election]. Gemeente Amsterdam (in Dutch). 21 March 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  18. ↑ De Koning, Petra; Van den Dool, Pim (3 February 2023). "Crisissfeer in coronacommissie: positie Van Houwelingen en Van Haga ter discussie" [Atmosphere of crisis in COVID-19 committee: Position Van Houwelingen and Van Haga up for discussion]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  19. ↑ Peer, Wouter (6 February 2023). "Crisis in coronacommissie gesust: onderzoek gaat door mét Van Houwelingen en Van Haga" [Crisis in COVID-19 committee soothed: Inquiry continues with Van Houwelingen and Van Haga]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  20. ↑ Rutten, Rik; Wieringa, Rein (27 June 2023). "De parlementaire enquête naar het coronabeleid komt er nu niet, en misschien nooit" [The parliamentary inquiry into the pandemic response will not happen now, and maybe ever]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  21. ↑ Hoedeman, Jan; Klaassen, Niels (1 July 2023). "Corona-enquête tot nader order gestaakt: hoe kwam het zover? 'Dit ondermijnt het vertrouwen in de overheid'" [COVID-19 inquiry indefinitely halted: How did it come to this? 'This undermines trust in the government']. Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  22. 1 2 "Kamerlid Mariëlle Paul wordt nieuwe minister op Onderwijs" [House member Mariëlle Paul will become the Minister for Education]. NOS (in Dutch). 18 July 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  23. ↑ "Dit is wat we nu weten over de val van kabinet-Rutte IV" [This is what we know about the fall of the fourth Rutte cabinet]. NOS (in Dutch). 8 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  24. ↑ "Benoeming minister voor Primair en Voortgezet Onderwijs" [Appointment of Minister for Primary and Secondary Education]. Government of the Netherlands (Press release) (in Dutch). 18 July 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  25. ↑ "Mariëlle Paul". Government of the Netherlands (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  26. ↑ Quaegebeur, Els (9 December 2021). "Nieuw op het pluche" [New in the banks]. Vrij Nederland (in Dutch). p. 29.
  27. ↑ "Proces-verbaal verkiezingsuitslag Tweede Kamer 2021" [Report of the election results House of Representatives 2021] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "Proces-verbaal van de uitslag van de verkiezing van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal 2023 d.d. 4 december 2023" [Report of the results of the election of the House of Representatives on 4 December 2023] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 4 December 2023. pp. 15–16. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
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