Mariëlle Paul | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Paul in 2023 | |
| Minister of Social Affairs and Employment | |
| Assumed office 5 September 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Preceded by | Eddy van Hijum |
| State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Emancipation | |
| In office 2 July 2024 – 5 September 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Minister | Eppo Bruins |
| Preceded by | Herself(as Minister for Primary and Secondary Education) |
| Succeeded by | Koen Becking |
| Minister for Primary and Secondary Education | |
| In office 21 July 2023 – 2 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Dennis Wiersma |
| Succeeded by | Herself(as State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Emancipation) |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 6 December 2023 – 2 July 2024 | |
| Succeeded by | Rosemarijn Dral |
| In office 31 March 2021 – 21 July 2023 | |
| Succeeded by | Simone Richardson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1966-11-05)5 November 1966 (age 59) Geldrop, Netherlands |
| Political party | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) |
| Alma mater | Leiden University |
| Occupation |
|
Mariëlle Lucienne Josepha Paul[1] (born 5 November 1966) is a Dutch politician. A member of the conservative liberalPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), she was elected to theHouse of Representatives in the2021 general election, and she became Minister for Primary and Secondary Education as part of thefourth Rutte cabinet in July 2023. She continued with the same portfolio in theSchoof cabinet as State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Equal Opportunities between July 2024 and September 2025. She has been serving asMinister of Social Affairs and Employment since September 2025. Paul previously worked as a communications director for several multinational corporations.
Paul was born in 1966 in theNorth Brabant town ofGeldrop toPakistani parents.[2][3] Her father wasAnglo-Indian, and her parents had moved fromKarachi to the Netherlands the year before Paul's birth, when her father – a mechanical engineer – took a job atDAF.[4][5][6] Paul grew up with a sister and moved from Geldrop to the nearby village ofHeeze in 1973.[4][7] She played the piano and attended the secondary schoolAugustinianum atgymnasium level starting in 1979.[8][9] She studied international law atLeiden 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 companyBP. She became a corporate communications director at public relations companyHill & Knowlton six years later.[2][10] Between 2000 and 2004, she co-owned aHaarlem communication consultancy called Principal Communications, and Paul subsequently started working for the bankABN AMRO.[2][11] She was employed there for almost nine years and filled positions in marketing, communication, andHR.[2][10] Paul became corporate and sales communications director at media groupSanoma in 2013.[10] She left that company in 2015 and worked for theNGO Porticus as its interim communications director. Paul wasRoyal BAM Group's communications director between 2017 and her election to the House of Representatives in 2021.[2]
In the2021 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 2,633preference votes and was sworn into theHouse 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 thechildcare 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'slijstduwers in Amsterdam in the2022 municipal elections.[17]
WhenKhadija Arib left the House in late 2022, Paul took over as chair of a committee to pepare aparliamentary inquiry into theCOVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands in an acting capacity. NewspaperNRC reported in February 2023 that some members of the committee had demanded the departure of fellow membersPepijn 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]
On 18 July 2023, it was announced Paul would become Minister for Primary and Secondary Education as part of thefourth 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 acaretaker government.[23] Paul was sworn in byKing Willem-Alexander at palaceHuis 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 ScienceRobbert Dijkgraaf, who leads the ministry, Paul's responsibilities were 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]
After thePVV, VVD,NSC, andBBB formed theSchoof cabinet, Paul was sworn in as State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Equal Opportunities on 2 July 2024.[26][27] Her portfolio was nearly unchanged.[28] Thecoalition agreement included plans to refocus primary education on reading, writing, and arithmetic and to significantly reduce the number of core learning objectives. After a new set of more specific objectives was presented following years of discussions, the cabinet postponed their implementation to make a stricter selection.[29] Paul continued work on a bill of her predecessor to broaden the scope of theInspectorate of Education [nl] to includeinformal education in order to take action against lessons that incite hatred, discrimination, or violence.[30]
In acabinet reshuffle, Paul succeededEddy van Hijum asMinister of Social Affairs and Employment on 5 September 2025.[31]
Paul is a resident ofAmsterdam, where she had been living for thirty years at the time of her swearing in asMP.[2][12] She is single.[32]
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| 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 | [33] | |
| 2023 | House of Representatives | People's Party for Freedom and Democracy | 10 | 2,704 | 24 | Won | [34] | |
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister for Primary and Secondary Education 2023–2024 | Succeeded by Herself as State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Emancipation |
| Preceded by Herself as Minister for Primary and Secondary Education | State Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education and Emancipation 2024–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Social Affairs and Employment 2025–present | Incumbent |
| Interior |  | |
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| Foreign Affairs | ||
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| Economic Affairs | ||
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| Social Affairs | ||
| Education | ||
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| Colonial Affairs | ||
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