Edith Schippers

Her Excellency
Edith Schippers
Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport
Assumed office
14 October 2010
Prime Minister Mark Rutte
Preceded by Ab Klink
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
3 June 2003 – 14 October 2010
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
20 September 2012 – 5 November 2012
Personal details
Born Edith Ingeborg Schippers
(1964-08-25) 25 August 1964
Utrecht, Netherlands
Nationality Dutch
Political party People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Spouse(s) Sander Spijker
Children 1
Residence Baarn, Netherlands
Alma mater Leiden University (Drs.)
Occupation Politician
Employers' organization official

Edith Ingeborg Schippers (born 25 August 1964) is the current Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Netherlands.

A Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), Schippers was a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 until 2010 and again, briefly, in 2012. Schippers was elected as deputy leader of the VVD in the House of Representatives in 2006, a position she served in until she became a minister in the first Rutte cabinet in 2010. After the second Rutte cabinet succeeded the first one, Schippers remained in her position.

Personal life

Schippers was born in Utrecht,[1] but spent her years attending primary school in Dordrecht.[2] At the age of 12, she moved to Wachtum in Drenthe.[2]

Edith Schipper's alma mater is Leiden University, where she studied political science from 1985 till 1991.[1] She also spent half a year studying at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India in 1990.[1]

Schippers is married to Sander Speijker.[3] Sander Speijker is a project manager for P5COM. He's specialised in profit improvement and cost reduction in the healthcare industry.[4]

In 1993, Schippers became personal assistant to member of parliament Dick Dees.[1] She served in this position until 1994, after which she became a staff member of the VVD parliamentary fraction dealing with healthcare, welfare and sports.

After that, Schippers found employment at Employers' organization VNO-NCW. From 1997 until 2001, her portfolio as secretary for VNO-CNW included healthcare and the labor market and from 2001 until 2003 spatial planning.[1]

Political career

Schippers became a member of parliament in June 2003. Geert Wilders became her mentor.[5] In 2006 was elected as vice chairman of the VVD parliamentary party. Schippers considered this a great honor, but not her greatest success.[5] In 2010 she became a minister.

Criticism

Schippers was repeatedly accused of being a tobacco industry lobbyist, and was labeled "minister Tobacco", because she had ties to the tobacco industry and because she tried to revert the ban on smoking in bars and cafes.[6][7][8] She also overcame three motions of no confidence in the parliament. One was issued in 2012, for not adequately informing the parliament about the costs of bringing the Olympics to the Netherlands.[9] In the same year another motion of no confidence was issued against her and minister Henk Bleker, for the way they treated the issues surrounding Q-fever.[10] In 2013 a motion was issued regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector.[11] In 2016 this issue regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector was investigated on a Dutch talkshow [12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Drs. E.I. (Edith) Schippers - Parlement & Politiek". Parlement.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  2. 1 2 Archived May 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Sander Speijker". LinkedIn. 2016-09-15.
  4. ↑ "P5COM". P5COM. 2016-09-15.
  5. 1 2 "SER". Ser.nl. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  6. ↑ "Zembla: Minister of Tobacco". YouTube. 2004-11-02. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  7. ↑ Minister of Tabacco Zembla October 21, 2011
  8. ↑ Felle aanval artsen tabakslobby NOS March 11, 2013
  9. ↑ "Motion against Schippers regarding costs of Dutch Olympics". zorgvisie. 2012-03-28.
  10. ↑ "Motion of no confidence against Schippers regarding Q-fever". nu.nl. 2012-07-05.
  11. ↑ "Motion of no confidence against Schippers regarding fraud handling". nationalezorggids. 2013-05-23.
  12. ↑ "Investigation Schippers regarding fraud handling in the healthcare sector". VPRO. 2016-09-04.
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