Mona Keijzer | |
|---|---|
 Keijzer in 2025 | |
| Second Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands | |
| Assumed office 22 August 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Preceded by | Eddy van Hijum |
| Third Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands | |
| In office 3 June 2025 – 22 August 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Preceded by | Eddy van Hijum |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Fourth Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands | |
| In office 2 July 2024 – 3 June 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning | |
| Assumed office 2 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Dick Schoof |
| Preceded by | Hugo de Jonge[a] |
| State Secretary forEconomic Affairs and Climate Policy | |
| In office 26 October 2017 – 25 September 2021 Serving with Dilan Yeşilgöz (2021) | |
| Prime Minister | Mark Rutte |
| Preceded by | Martijn van Dam |
| Succeeded by | Hans Vijlbrief |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 12 November 2025 | |
| In office 6 December 2023 – 2 July 2024 | |
| In office 31 March 2021 – 27 September 2021 | |
| In office 20 September 2012 – 26 October 2017 | |
| Alderwoman inPurmerend | |
| In office 7 March 2006 – 19 September 2012 | |
| Alderwoman inWaterland | |
| In office 18 November 1998 – 7 March 2006 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Maria Cornelia Gezina Keijzer (1968-10-09)9 October 1968 (age 57) |
| Political party | BBB (2023–present) |
| Other political affiliations | CDA (1989–2023) |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | University of Amsterdam (LLM,MA) |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer, mediator, civil servant |
Maria Cornelia Gezina "Mona"Keijzer (born 9 October 1968) is a Dutch politician and former civil servant who is theminister of housing and spatial planning in theSchoof cabinet since 2024.[1] A member of theFarmer–Citizen Movement (BoerBurgerBeweging, BBB), she won a seat in the House of Representatives in the2023 Dutch general election.
Formerly a member of theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA), she served in thethird Rutte cabinet asState Secretary forEconomic Affairs and Climate Policy alongsideDilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius from 26 October 2017 until 25 September 2021. Keijzer served in theHouse of Representatives between 2012 and 2017, and again for six months from 31 March 2021 until 27 September 2021. She focused on matters ofnursing,home care andculture. Before becoming a full-time politician, she worked as anenvironmentaljurist for the municipalities ofWaterland andAlmere, as well as for the province ofGelderland.
Keijzer was born in a Catholic family inEdam, and she has an older brother and a younger sister.[2] Her father had several jobs, including as fisher and construction worker.[3] She attended the Werenfridus secondary school inHoorn atVWO level, and she studied juridicalpublic administration andpublic law at theUniversity of Amsterdam.[2]
Keijzer started her political career as a member of themunicipal council ofWaterland from 1996 to 2002 and was later analderwoman from 1998 to 2006. Subsequently, she worked as alawyer andmediator in 2005 and 2006. Afterwards she was an alderwoman of neighbouring municipality ofPurmerend from 2007 to 2012.
In 2012, Keijzer contested theCDA leadership election in an attempt to become the party'slijsttrekker for the2012 general election. Although performing unexpectedly well in the elections, she letSybrand van Haersma Buma go first. Placed second on thelist of candidates, Keijzer was elected to the House of Representatives, receiving 127,446 votes, and she served as her party's spokesperson forcurative care, asylum, and integration.[4] She was reelected in the2017 general election with 165,384 votes.
On 26 October 2017, Keijzer was appointedState Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy in thethird Rutte cabinet. In this capacity, she was responsible for consumer policy, small and medium-sized enterprises, telecom, post and market regulation.[5]
In a joint statement in October 2020, Keijzer and her French counterpartCédric O called for a European Union authority to regulate large technology companies and argued that such an authority should be able to prevent digital platforms from blocking access to their services "unless they have an objective justification."[6]
In 2020, she again contested theCDA leadership election, but came third, afterHugo de Jonge andPieter Omtzigt. Placed seventh on the party's candidate list for the2021 general election, Keijzer was reelected, obtaining 18,031 votes.
On 25 September 2021 Keijzer was dismissed from her cabinet position after publicly criticising the cabinet's position onCOVID-19 measures.[7] While forced resignations are not unheard of, being removed from a cabinet position has little precedent. The last time a cabinet member was fired was in 1975, although in that instanceJan Glastra van Loon was allowed to resign. Before Keijzer's discharge, no other cabinet member had actually been fired since World War II.[8] Media outlets reported that Keijzer refused to resign.[9] Keijzer also resigned from the House of Representatives two days later.[10]
On 1 September 2023, Keijzer joinedFarmer–Citizen Movement and it was announced that she would be the party's candidate in position two, for theNovember 2023 election, and also theBBB candidate for the position ofPrime Minister.[11] She assisted her party insubsequent cabinet formation talks.[12] In the House, Keijzer served as the BBB's spokesperson for the interior, digital affairs, migration, social affairs, and media.[13] She raised the possibility of declaring certain parts of Ukraine safe duringRussia's invasion of the country such thatrefugees could return. She also suggested refugees would have to contribute more financially towards their sheltering to discourage an influx.[14]
Defending strict asylum rules in May 2024, Keijzer calledantisemitism "almost part ofIslamic culture" in reference to the origin of many asylum seekers. Criminal complaints were subsequently filed against her forgroup defamation, but thePublic Prosecution Service decided in July not to bring charges.[15] It stated that her statements were illegal and constituted group insult, but it argued that they had been made by a politician as part of political discourse on migration. Filers of the criminal complaints tried to compel the agency to prosecute her through a legal procedure, while Keijzer started a similar procedure to compel the agency to withdraw its opinion on the illegality of her statements. Keijzer's lawyer called the reasoning of the Public Prosecution Service stigmatizing.[16]
After thePVV,VVD,NSC, and BBB formed theSchoof cabinet, Keijzer was sworn in as Fourth Deputy Prime Minister and as Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning on 2 July 2024. TheMinistry of Housing and Spatial Planning was simultaneously re-established after its responsibilities had been handled by different ministries since 2010. Keijzer succeededHugo de Jonge, who served as aminister without portfolio.[4][17]
She was tasked with overseeing the construction of 100,000 homes per year in response to a housing shortage, the same target set for her predecessor. Thecoalition agreement included €1 billion in yearly funding for that purpose for the next five years.[18][19] In December 2024, Keijzer organized a housing summit at which an agreement was struck with organizations representing lower governments,housing corporations, investors, developers, and the construction industry. It included expedited construction of 75,000 housing units in several locations. The signatories committed to cooperating more closely, while the government would reduce regulations. The agreement reaffirmed the requirement of Keijzer's predecessor that two thirds of new construction should be affordable, despite opposition from the private sector. However, the restriction would be enforced regionally instead of for every project.[20][21]
Keijzer is married to a urologist and has five sons.[4] She lives inIlpendam and belongs to theCatholic Church. Her father-in-law is a former alderman of Waterland for the CDA.
 |
| Year | Body | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party seats | Individual | |||||||
| 2010 | House of Representatives | Christian Democratic Appeal | 67 | 442 | 21 | Lost | [22] | |
| 2012 | House of Representatives | 2 | 127,446 | 13 | Won | [23] | ||
| 2017 | House of Representatives | 2 | 165,384 | 19 | Won | [24] | ||
| 2021 | House of Representatives | 7 | 18,031 | 15 | Won | [25] | ||
| 2023 | House of Representatives | Farmer–Citizen Movement | 2 | 43,005 | 7 | Won | [26] | |
| 2025 | House of Representatives | Farmer–Citizen Movement | 2 | 111,839 | 4 | Won | [27] | |
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy 2017–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Deputy Prime Minister 2024–present Served alongside:Fleur Agema,Sophie Hermans, andEddy van Hijum | |
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