Alexandra Carla van Huffelen (born 21 July 1968) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party. She served in the third and fourth Rutte cabinets, and she became party chair in November 2024.
Alexandra van Huffelen | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Van Huffelen in 2022 | |
| Chairperson of Democrats 66 | |
| Assumed office 23 November 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Victor Everhardt |
| State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation | |
| In office 10 January 2022 – 2 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Raymond Knops |
| Succeeded by | Zsolt Szabó |
| State Secretary for Finance | |
| In office 29 January 2020 – 10 January 2022 Serving with Hans Vijlbrief | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Menno Snel |
| Succeeded by | Marnix van Rij Aukje de Vries |
| Member of the Senate | |
| In office 11 June 2019 – 29 January 2020 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexandra Carla van Huffelen 21 July 1968 Leiden, Netherlands |
| Political party | Democrats 66 (from 1989) |
| Residence(s) | Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | Leiden University (Bachelor of Public Administration) Erasmus University Rotterdam (Master of Public Administration) |
| Occupation | Politician · civil servant · Management consultant |
| Website | State Secretary for Finance |
Early life and career
editVan Huffelen was born in 1968, and her father was a clinical neurophysiology professor. She studied public administration at Leiden University and Erasmus University Rotterdam, and she began her career at the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. She started working for energy company Essent in 2000, eventually serving as sustainable energy director. Following a drop in employee rationale, an internal evaluation pointed to her leadership style as the cause. Van Huffelen later stated that she had learned from the experience, and she acknowledged having exerted excessive pressure to achieve cost reductions.[1]
In 2010, she was appointed alderwoman in Rotterdam, responsible for sustainability. She served on behalf of D66, which she had joined in 1989. Van Huffelen was a proponent of urban agriculture, and she advocated for green roofs and narrow strips of plants along façades. She ran for party chair of D66 in 2013, but she narrowly lost the member election. She has served as chair of the D66's fundraising committee and as treasurer of the party's Rotterdam chapter.[1] In 2014, she became managing director of GVB, Amsterdam's public transport operator, where she was tasked with absorbing a €65 million reduction in government subsidies over ten years. The organization prioritized its busiest and most profitable lines, with the newly opened North–South Line playing an important role. Less busy stops and bus and tram lines were discontinued. Alongside her role at GVB, Van Huffelen started serving as a member of the Senate in June 2019.[2][3]
She became State Secretary for Finance in the third Rutte cabinet on 29 January 2020, where she worked to compensate victims of the childcare benefits scandal. Under Van Huffelen's leadership, victims received €30,000 payments to ease the compensation procedure's backlog; however, the number of applicants for the procedure increased.[1] Her position changed to State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation on 10 January 2022 when the fourth Rutte cabinet was formed. Van Huffelen's term as state secretary ended on 2 July 2024, when the Schoof cabinet was sworn in.[4] She announced her candidacy for party chair of D66 in September 2024 following the stepping down of Victor Everhardt.[5] Van Huffelen was elected to the position with 65% of the vote, and she assumed office on 23 November 2024. Besides, she is planned to succeed Daniël Wigboldus as president of the executive board of Radboud University Nijmegen in February 2025.[1][6][7][8]
Personal life
editVan Huffelen's husband works as a notary. As of 2024, they lived in the center of Utrecht.[1]
Electoral history
edit| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2023 | House of Representatives | Democrats 66 | 73[a] | 1,119 | 9 | Lost | [9] | |
| 2024 | European Parliament | Democrats 66 | 33[a] | 3,760 | 3 | Lost | [10] | |
Notes
edit- ^ a b Van Huffelen participated as a lijstduwer.
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Hofs, Yvonne (22 November 2024). "De nieuwe D66-voorzitter Alexandra van Huffelen is gewend bestuursfuncties te stapelen" [D66's new party chair Alexandra van Huffelen is used to having multiple management positions]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 November 2024.
- ^ "Twee nieuwe staatssecretarissen Financiën: D66'ers Van Huffelen en Vijlbrief". Algemeen Dagblad. 26 January 2020.
- ^ "Senator Van Huffelen verlaat Eerste Kamer". Eerste Kamer. 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Ministers en staatssecretarissen kabinet-Schoof beëdigd" [Ministers and state secretaries of Schoof cabinet sworn in]. NOS (in Dutch). 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Van Soest, Hans (6 September 2024). "Oud-staatssecretaris Van Huffelen wil partijvoorzitter D66 worden: 'Vertrouwen herstellen'" [Former State Secretary Van Huffelen wants to be party chair of D66: 'Restore trust']. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 10 September 2024.
- ^ "Alexandra Van Huffelen nieuwe voorzitter van D66" [Alexandra van Huffelen new D66 party chair]. NOS (in Dutch). 13 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ "Alexandra van Huffelen to be appointed President of the Executive Board of Radboud University". Radboud University Nijmegen (Press release). 11 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ Meesterburrie, Arjan (13 November 2024). "Alexandra van Huffelen verkozen tot nieuwe partijvoorzitter D66" [Alexandra van Huffelen elected D66 party chair]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 November 2024.
- ^ "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. 21–22. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ "Proces-verbaal centraal stembureau uitslag verkiezing Europees Parlement Model P22-1" [Central electoral council report of the results of the election of the European Parliament Model P22-1] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 19 June 2024. pp. 17–18, 40. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
External links
edit
Media related to Alexandra van Huffelen at Wikimedia Commons
- Official
- (in Dutch) Drs. A.C. (Alexandra) van Huffelen Parlement & Politiek
- (in Dutch) Drs. A.C. van Huffelen (D66) Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal