Edith Schippers | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Schippers in 2015 | |
| Leader of theVVD in theSenate | |
| In office 4 July 2023 – 31 December 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Annemarie Jorritsma |
| Succeeded by | Tanja Klip-Martin [nl] |
| Member of the Senate | |
| In office 4 July 2023 – 13 January 2025 | |
| Succeeded by | Marjolein van der Linden |
| Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport | |
| In office 14 October 2010 – 26 October 2017 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Ab Klink |
| Succeeded by | Hugo de Jonge |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 20 September 2012 – 5 November 2012 | |
| In office 3 June 2003 – 14 October 2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edith Ingeborg Schippers (1964-08-25)25 August 1964 (age 61) Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Political party | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (from 1991) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 daughter |
| Residence(s) | Baarn, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | Leiden University (Bachelor of Social Science,Master of Social Science) |
| Occupation | Politician ·Businesswoman ·Political consultant ·Corporate director ·Nonprofit director |
Edith Ingeborg Schippers (born 25 August 1964) is a Dutch politician of thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman who served asPresident ofDSM Netherlands between 2019 and 2023.
Schippers, apolitical consultant by occupation, worked for theIndustry and Employers Confederation from 1997 until 2003. Schippers became a member of theHouse of Representatives shortly after the2003 general election taking office on 3 June 2003, serving as afrontbencher andspokesperson for health, deputy spokesperson for employment and as deputyparliamentary leader. After the2010 general election, Schippers was appointed asMinister of Health, Welfare and Sport in theRutte I cabinet taking office on 14 October 2010. Following the2012 general election, she returned to the House of Representatives serving from 20 September 2012 until 5 November 2012, when she continued as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in theRutte II cabinet. In May 2017, Schippers announced her retirement from national politics and did not stand for the2017 general election; she left office upon the installation of theRutte III cabinet on 26 October 2017.
Schippers retired after spending 14 years in national politics and became active in theprivate sector, as a corporate director for DSM Netherlands. For the2023 Senate election, she returned to politics asVVD lead candidate. She was elected, but she left the Senate in January 2025 to become CEO of pharmaceutical wholesalerMosadex.
Schippers was born inUtrecht,[1] but spent her years attendingprimary school inDordrecht.[2] At the age of 12, she moved toWachtum inDrenthe.[2]
Edith Schippers' alma mater isLeiden University, where she studiedpolitical science from 1985 till 1991.[1] She also spent half a year studying atJawaharlal Nehru University inNew Delhi, India in 1990.[1]
In 1993, Schippers became personal assistant to member of parliamentDick Dees.[1] She served in this position until 1994, after which she became a staff member of theVVD parliamentary fraction dealing with healthcare, welfare and sports. After that, Schippers found employment atemployers' organisationVNO-NCW. From 1997 until 2001, her portfolio as secretary for VNO-CNW includedhealthcare and thelabour market and from 2001 until 2003spatial planning.[1]
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Schippers was elected into theHouse of Representatives in the2003 general election and was sworn in on 3 June of that year.Geert Wilders became her mentor.[3] In 2006, she was elected as vice chairman of the VVD parliamentary party. Schippers considered this a great honour, but not her greatest success.[3]
In 2010, she succeededAb Klink in becomingMinister of Health, Welfare and Sport in thefirst Rutte cabinet. She briefly returned to the House of Representatives after the2012 general election, but left again when the continuation of her ministership in thesecond Rutte cabinet was confirmed.
As Minister of Health, 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.[4][5][6] She also overcame threemotions of no confidence in the House of Representatives.
One was issued in 2012, for not adequately informing the States General about the costs of bringing the Olympics to the Netherlands.[7] In the same year another motion of no confidence was issued against her and ministerHenk Bleker, for the way they treated the issues surroundingQ-fever.[8] In 2013 a motion was issued regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector.[9] In 2016 this issue regarding her actions with regards to fraud in the healthcare sector was investigated on a Dutch talkshow[10]
In March 2017, she announced she would not return in a new cabinet.[11] On 26 October 2017, she was succeeded byHugo de Jonge.[12]
Schippers briefly returned to the political scene following the2017 general election, when SpeakerKhadija Arib appointed Schippers as the so-calledinformateur, whose role is to explore possible governing alliances.[13] In February 2018, she was speculated as a possible successor to the recently resigned Minister of Foreign AffairsHalbe Zijlstra, but she expressed that she was not available for another ministership, wanting instead to spend more time with her daughter.[14]
Schippers was her party'slead candidate in the2023 Senate election, and she won a seat. Under her leadership, theparliamentary group announced it would support theDispersal Act, a bill intended to more fairly distribute asylum seekers across the Netherlands.[15] Her party had voted against the bill in the House of Representatives, and party leaderDilan Yeşilgöz had tried to prevent its treatment in the Senate.[16] Schippers stated that the political landscape had shifted since the House vote, citing a new majority supportive of measures to simultaneously reduce refugee arrivals.[17] She was appointed CEO of pharmaceutical wholesaler Mosadex, effective 1 January 2025. Schippers stepped down from the Senate on 13 January, unable to combine both roles, and she was succeeded as parliamentary leader byTanja Klip-Martin [nl].[18][19]
Schippers is married to Sander Spijker,[20] a project manager for P5COM who is specialised in profit improvement and cost reduction in the healthcare industry.[21] They have one child, a daughter.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport 2010–2017 | Succeeded by |
Senate 13 June 2023 – present | ||
| GroenLinks–Labour Party 14 seats |  | |
| Farmer–Citizen Movement 13 seats | ||
| People's Party for Freedom and Dem. 9 seats |
| |
| Christian Democratic Appeal 6 seats | ||
| Democrats 66 6 seats | ||
| Party for Freedom 4 seats | ||
| JA21 2 seats | ||
| Socialist Party 3 seats | ||
| Christian Union 3 seats | ||
| Forum for Democracy 3 seats | ||
| Party for the Animals (de jure) 2 seats | ||
| Volt 2 seats | ||
| Reformed Political Party 2 seats | ||
| 50Plus 1 seat | ||
| Independent Politics Netherlands 1 seat | ||
| Beukering Group 1 seat | ||
| Van de Sanden Group 1 seat | ||
| Visseren-Hamakers Group 1 seat | ||
| Walenkamp Group 1 seat | ||
Bold indicates theparliamentary leader (first mentioned) and thePresident; (Brackets) indicate a temporarily absent member; Italics indicate a temporary member; ‹Guillemets› indicate a member who has left the Senate | ||
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| International | |
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| National | |
