Ruud Verkuijlen
Member of the House of Representatives
Assumed office
18 January 2022
Preceded byMark Rutte
In office
7 September 2021 – 11 January 2022
Preceded byJan Klink
Succeeded byHawre Rahimi
Member of the Hilversum municipal council
In office
27 March 2014[1] – 15 September 2021[2]
Succeeded byEllis Zeeuw van der Laan
Personal details
Born
Rudolf Verkuijlen[3]

(1960-10-13) 13 October 1960
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Children2
Alma materNetherlands School of Public Administration
Occupation

Rudolf "Ruud" Verkuijlen (born 13 October 1960) is a Dutch police commissioner, civil servant, and politician. A member of the conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he was appointed to the House of Representatives in September 2021 after having participated in the 2021 general election. He previously worked for the National Police and served on the Hilversum municipal council in the years 2014–21.

Early life and career

Verkuijlen was born in 1960 in Amsterdam and grew up in its western borough.[4][5] His father was the president of a trade organization.[6] Verkuijlen joined the Amsterdam police force in 1986, working at its Lijnbaansgracht police station and rose to the rank of chief inspector. He left the Amsterdam police in 2005 in favor of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations to head the services and contracts department for C2000, the communications system used by Dutch emergency services. Three years later, he became leader of the police profession department of the Nederlands Politie Instituut (Dutch police institute) in Zeist.[7][8][9] Verkuijlen followed an executive master in police management at the Netherlands School of Public Administration starting in 2009, and he was the manager of the violence against police officers and public services program at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations between 2010 and 2012.[7][9][10] Verkuijlen started serving as the National Police's head of research and development in the latter year.[11] He filled that post until he became manager of the violence against police officers program and New Year coordinator in 2016.[12][13]

Verkuijlen reacted disappointed when the third Rutte cabinet stated in 2018 that it was against prohibiting firecrackers and skyrockets around New Year's Day. He argued it would have solved a large part of the aggression and violence against the police during that period.[14] He clarified that he did not find a ban on all consumer fireworks necessary.[15] Verkuijlen later called on mayors to force people who have been caught with illegal fireworks in the past to report to their local police station on New Year's Eve to prevent them from causing unrest.[16] The following year, amidst an increasing number of reports of violence against police officers, Verkuijlen said he thought that society was having behavioral issues and that people were getting more and more short-tempered.[17] He also pled for additional legislation against doxing because of its danger to police officers.[18]

Politics

Verkuijlen was elected to the Hilversum municipal council in 2014 after he was placed fourth on the VVD's party list.[1][19] His focus was on security, and he promoted the creation of neighborhood WhatsApp group chats to prevent and solve crime.[11][20] He also expressed his opposition to plans to experiment with the legal cultivation of cannabis in the municipality, saying it would not bring an end to illegal cultivation due to export opportunities.[21] Verkuijlen became chair of the VVD's thematic network Justice and Security in November 2017, and he was re-elected to the Hilversum council in 2018 as the VVD's fourth candidate.[6][7][22] He started serving as one of three deputy speakers of the Hilversum council in 2019.[23] As a councilor, Verkuijlen called on the Hilversum hospitality industry to create a blacklist with sexual assaulters.[24]

House of Representatives

He ran for member of parliament in the March 2021 general election as the VVD's 39th candidate and received 547 preference votes. He was not elected, as his party won 34 seats.[25] Later that year, Verkuijlen was appointed to the House of Representatives as a temporary member because of a vacancy, and he was sworn in on 7 September.[10] Bas van 't Wout had gone on sick leave due to an occupational burnout on 2 June and was being temporarily replaced by Jan Klink; Klink, however, became a permanent member of parliament when Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius stepped down, leaving a seat for Verkuijlen.[26] Verkuijlen left the Hilversum municipal council a week after his House appointment.[2] He is on the Committees for Education, Culture and Science; for Justice and Security; and for Health, Welfare and Sport. He serves as the VVD's spokesperson for human trafficking, prostitution, tackling recidivism, crime prevention, judicial youth policy, the child welfare council, the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles, and Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.[4][27] Van 't Wout's sick leave was supposed to expire after 22 September, but it was extended to 11 January 2022, bringing an end to Verkuijlen's House membership.[28] However, he was again sworn in as a House member the following week after Mark Rutte had resigned to serve as prime minister in the fourth Rutte cabinet.[29][30]

Verkuijlen stirred controversy with his maiden speech, which he held on 12 May 2022 during a debate about care orders for children of victims of the childcare benefits scandal. A maiden speech is traditionally not interrupted by questions or comments from other members of parliaments. However, due to the sensitive nature of the subject and due to the VVD having received blame for the scandal, other House members had asked Verkuijlen to deviate from this tradition to allow for a debate. Verkuijlen refused, leading to victims of the scandal leaving the public gallery in protest. He later called it an error of judgement on his part and returned to the lectern to answer questions.[31]

Verkuijlen was one the VVD's lijstduwers in Hilversum in the March 2022 municipal elections.[32]

Personal life

Verkuijlen has been living in Hilversum since 1996 and lived in Amsterdam before.[4] He has a wife named Marlies and two daughters.[6]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Ruud Verkuijlen
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2021 House of Representatives People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 39 547 34 Lost[lower-alpha 1] [33]
2023 House of Representatives People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 31 534 24 Lost [34]

Notes

  1. ↑ Verkuijlen was appointed to the body later during the term due to a vacancy.

References

  1. 1 2 "Verslag" [Report]. Hilversum (in Dutch). p. 4. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Mascini, Leander (15 September 2021). "VVD-raadslid Verkuijlen tóch naar Tweede Kamer, Zeeuw van der Laan neemt zijn plek in de Hilversumse fractie over" [VVD councilor Verkuijlen to the House of Representatives after all, Zeeuw van der Laan takes over his spot in the Hilversum caucus]. De Gooi- en Eemlander (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "R. (Ruud) Verkuijlen MA". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Ruud Verkuijlen". Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  5. ↑ Verkuijlen, Ruud (12 March 2021). "Van Hilversum naar Den Haag- aflevering 4- Ruud Verkuijlen" [From Hilversum to The Hague - episode 4 - Ruud Verkuijlen] (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Stolk, Savannah. bscholte. Retrieved 14 November 2021 – via YouTube.
  6. 1 2 3 Mascini, Leander (9 March 2021). "Drie vragen aan Twee Kamer-kandidaat Ruud Verkuijlen (VVD): 'Kansgelijkheid is belangrijk om jongeren uit criminaliteit te houden'" [Three questions for House of Representatives candidate Ruud Verkuijlen (VVD): 'Equality of opportunity is important in order to keep the youth out of crime']. De Gooi- en Eemlander (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 "Ruud". VVD Veiligheid en Justitie (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Runhaar, Henk (27 June 2014). "VVD eist smartengeld controleurs" [VVD demands financial compensation inspectors]. De Gooi- en Eemlander (in Dutch).
  9. 1 2 "Biografie, onderwijs en loopbaan van Ruud Verkuijlen" [Biography, education, and career of Ruud Verkuijlen]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Vijf Kamerleden beëdigd" [Five House members sworn in]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (Press release) (in Dutch). 7 September 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  11. 1 2 Haenen, Marcel (2 December 2020). "Het is geen protest, ze knallen uit verveling, weet de politiechef" [It is not a protest, they are playing with firecrackers out of boredom, knowns the police commissioner]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  12. ↑ Van der Wal, Carla (28 March 2018). "Vorig jaar ruim negenduizend keer geweld tegen politie" [Violence against the police on over 9,000 occasions last year]. Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Van der Wal, Carla (4 January 2021). "Bond in offensief: plan voor lokale vuurwerkshows in de maak" [Union on the offensive: plan for local fireworks displays in the making]. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "Kabinet wil geen verbod op knalvuurwerk en pijlen" [Cabinet does not want to prohibit firecrackers and skyrockets]. Trouw (in Dutch). 5 June 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  15. ↑ Steenhoff, Petra; Hersbach, Remy (30 December 2018). "Burgemeester Utrecht verbijsterd na bestoken hulpverleners met vuurwerk" [Utrecht mayor shocked following harassment emergency workers with fireworks]. NOS (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "Politie wil meldplicht voor mensen die zijn opgepakt met illegaal vuurwerk" [Police wants duty to report for people who have been caught with illegal fireworks]. RTL Nieuws (in Dutch). 5 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  17. ↑ Verkuijlen, Ruud (2 April 2019). "Meer geweld tegen agenten: 'De samenleving heeft een gedragsprobleem'" [More violence against police officiers: 'Society is having behavioral issues']. Trouw (Interview) (in Dutch). Interviewed by Salm, Harriët. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "Politie: maak dreigend vragen naar privégegevens op internet strafbaar" [Police: prohibit menacing questions for private information on the Internet]. NOS (in Dutch). 9 April 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  19. ↑ "Kandidatenlijst" [Party list]. VVD Hilversum (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  20. ↑ Bartels, Valentijn (14 December 2017). "Jaarwisseling is sloopfestijn" [Turn of the year is festival of destruction]. De Gooi- en Eemlander (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  21. ↑ Bartels, Valentijn (13 October 2017). "'Positief over legale teelt Hilversum'" ['Positive about legal cultivation Hilversum']. De Gooi- en Eemlander (in Dutch). p. 2.
  22. ↑ "Kandidatenlijst voor de Gemeenteraadsverkiezingen 2018" [Party list for the 2018 municipal elections] (PDF). VVD Hilversum (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  23. ↑ "Gereedschap raad is beperkt" [Tools of council are limited]. De Gooi- en Eemlander (in Dutch). 14 September 2019. p. 15.
  24. ↑ "VVD'er pleit voor zwarte lijst billenknijpers in horeca: "Vrouwen betasten is sport geworden"" [VVD member pleads for blacklist ass squeezers in the hospitality industry: "Feeling up a woman has become a sport"]. NH Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 August 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  25. ↑ "Uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 17 maart 2021 Proces-verbaal" [Results general election 17 March 2021 Report] (PDF). Kiesraad (in Dutch). 29 March 2021. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  26. ↑ "Benoemingen Tweede Kamerleden" [Appointments of members of the House of Representatives]. Kiesraad (Press release) (in Dutch). 7 September 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  27. ↑ "Ruud Verkuijlen". VVD (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  28. ↑ "R. Verkuijlen opnieuw benoemd als tijdelijk lid Tweede Kamer" [R. Verkuijlen re-appointed as temporary member of the House of Representatives]. Kiesraad (Press release) (in Dutch). 22 September 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  29. ↑ "Beëdiging nieuwe Kamerleden" [Swearing in of new House members]. Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal (Press release) (in Dutch). 17 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  30. ↑ "Benoemingen leden Tweede Kamer, Eerste Kamer en Europees Parlement" [Appointments members House of Representatives, Senate, and European Parliament]. Kiesraad (Press release) (in Dutch). 12 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  31. ↑ "Ouders lopen boos weg uit Tweede Kamer bij VVD-bijdrage uithuisplaatsingen" [Parens leave House of Representatives angrily during VVD contribution care orders]. NOS (in Dutch). 12 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  32. ↑ "Aantal stemmen per lijst en per kandidaat" [Number of votes per list per candidate] (PDF). Hilversum (in Dutch). 17 March 2022. p. 4. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  33. ↑ "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.
  34. ↑ "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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