Wouter Jacob Bos (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈʋʌutərˈbɔs]; born 14 July 1963) is a retiredDutch politician of theLabour Party (PvdA) and businessman.
Bos attended theChristian Gymnasium inZeist from June 1975 until July 1980 and applied at theVrije Universiteit Amsterdam in June 1981majoring inPolitical science and Economics obtaining aBachelor of Social Science degree and aBachelor of Economics degree in June 1984 before graduating with aMaster of Social Science degree and aMaster of Economics degree in July 1988. Bos worked as ahuman resource manager forRoyal Dutch Shell from August 1988 until May 1998 inPernis from August 1988 until September 1989 inRotterdam from September 1989 until July 1991 inBucharest,Romania from July 1991 until April 1993 inHong Kong from April 1993 until November 1995 and inLondon, England from November 1995 until May 1998.
Bos was elected as aMember of the House of Representatives after theelection of 1998, taking office on 19 May 1998 serving as afrontbencher and spokesperson forFinances. Bos was appointed asState Secretary for Finance in theCabinet Kok II following the appointment ofWillem Vermeend asMinister of Social Affairs and Employment, taking office on 24 March 2000. After theelection of 2002 Bos returned as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 23 May 2002 serving again as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Finances. The Cabinet Kok II was replaced by theCabinet Balkenende I following thecabinet formation of 2002 on 22 July 2002. After theLeader of the Labour Party andParliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of RepresentativesAd Melkert announced he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following the defeat in theelection, Bos announced his candidacy to succeed him. Bos won theleadership election defeating formerSpeaker of the House of RepresentativesJeltje van Nieuwenhoven and formerMinister of the Interior and Kingdom RelationsKlaas de Vries and was elected as Leader and Parliamentary leader andLijsttrekker (top candidate) for theelection of 2003, taking office on 19 November 2002. The Labour Party made a large win, gaining 19 seats and became the second largest party and now had 42 in the House of Representatives. For theDutch general election of 2006 Bos again served asLijsttrekker. The Labour Party suffered a loss, losing 9 seats and now had 33 seats in the House of Representatives. The followingcabinet formation of 2006 resulted in a coalition agreement between the Labour Party, theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and theChristian Union (CU) which formed theCabinet Balkenende IV with Bos appointed asDeputy Prime Minister andMinister of Finance, taking office on 22 February 2007. The Cabinet Balkenende IV fell on 20 February 2010 after tensions in the coalition over the extension of the Dutch involvement in theTask Force Uruzgan of theInternational Security Assistance Force (ISAF) inAfghanistan and continued to serve in ademissionary capacity until the Labour Party cabinets members resigned on 23 February 2010. On 12 March 2010 Bos unexpectedly announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for theelection of 2010 and approachedJob Cohen as his successor.
Bos semi-retired from national politics and became active in theprivate sector andpublic sector, in October 2010 Bos became a partner at the financial services firmKPMG. After theelection of 2012 Bos was appointed as co-Informateur for thecabinet formation of 2012. In August 2013 Bos was nominated as chairman of the board of directors of theVU University Medical Center. In September 2018 Bos was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of the Netherlands Investment Agency, taking office on 1 October 2018. Bos also serves as a lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government. As of 2022 he is the chairman of health insurance company Menzis.[1][2]
Bos was raised in aDoorbraaksocial-democratic family with a Protestant background inVlaardingen. His father founded the ecumenical development cooperation fundICCO, which he also led for many years. Between 1969 and 1974 Bos attended the Protestantelementary school de Beurthonk inOdijk. From 1974 he attended the Protestanthigh school Christelijk Lyceum inZeist. In 1980 he graduated specializing in sciences and classics. In 1980–81 he was a Voluntary Instructor at theYMCA National Centre inCurdridge in the United Kingdom.
Bos became a member of the PvdA in 1981. In the same year he started studyingPolitical Science at theVrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In 1982 he also took up Economics. In 1988 he graduatedcum laude in both subjects.
From 1988 till 1998 he worked forRoyal Dutch Shell in various positions. With a background in Shell, he differs from other Dutch leftwing politicians, who rarely have a background in a majormultinational corporation. Bos began to work for Shell because he thought that "the DutchLeft should not leave the business world to the DutchRight".
Between 1988 and 1990 he worked at thePernis Refinery as a management consultant, where he was a specialist on training and reorganisation. In 1990 he became policy advisor for the central board, specializing in labour relations and working conditions, he also served as representative of the central board in its dealings with the centralworks council. In 1992–93 he was stationed as general affairs manager for Shell Romania Exploration, where he was responsible for setting up the Romanian branch of Shell. In 1993 he was stationed in Hong Kong, to work as staff planning and development manager for Shell Companies in Greater China, responsible for the recruitment and selection of new manager for Shell inSouth Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. In 1996 he returned to Europe, and worked as a consultant for new markets for Shell International Oil Products in London, focusing on acquisition in developing LPG markets in South America and Asia. In 1998 he left Shell to enter Dutch politics. For a short while he was policy advisor for the PvdAparliamentary party in the lower house and a personal assistant of the party's financial spokesperson,Rick van der Ploeg.
In 1998 he was elected into the lower house of parliament for the PvdA as finance specialist. He campaigned together with Rick van der Ploeg and Willem Vermeend as "the Polderboys" and gave lectures in economics at universities. In 2000, due to a cabinet reshuffle, he succeededWillem Vermeend asstaatssecretaris for Finance, and became responsible for taxation, monetary policy and finances of lower-level government. Together with Finance MinisterGerrit Zalm he was able to get parliamentary support for a radical reform of the tax system. After the May 2002 elections he returned to parliament, as a specialist on income policy and health affairs.
After the fall of thefirst Balkenende cabinet Bos was electedtop candidate for the following elections andde facto leader of the PvdA in the2002 PvdA leadership election by 60% of the voting party members. He immediately became thechairman of the parliamentary party, succeedingJeltje van Nieuwenhoven, and leaving her,Klaas de Vries andJouke de Vries behind him by a 30% margin.
In the January2003 election, Bos entered a head-to-head race with incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Christian DemocraticCDA,Jan Peter Balkenende. Under Bos the vote and seats of the PvdA nearly doubled from 15% (23 seats) in 2002 to 27% (42 seats) in 2003. This resurgence was partially credited to Bos' charisma and youthful appearance (and according to some journalists Bos' "sexy touch"). Balkenende's CDA however remained largest the party by a margin of two seats. The ensuing coalition formation talks between Balkenende and Bos failed after several months. The CDA went on to form agovernment with the conservative liberalVVD, and the progressive liberalD66.
At that time Bos was the leader of the largest opposition party.[3] He spent considerable time reforming the PvdA's internal organisation and public image, together with the party's chairmanRuud Koole. He was criticized for his silence on important reforms and issues, and his moderacy which resulted in other parties claiming opposition leadership, among them most notably theSocialist Party. Although still enjoying large public support, criticism about his "style over substance" approach to politics was voiced in this period. At the December 2005 party congress, Bos announced that he aspired to becomePrime Minister of the Netherlands, should the PvdA succeed in becoming the biggest party after the next parliament elections. And in the2006 municipal elections, a few months later, the PvdA performed particularly well, becoming the largest party in local government.
However, in the election campaign for theDutch general elections of 2006 the PvdA – for the second time campaigning under his leadership – didn't manage to maintain this position as biggest party. Some considered pension reforms proposed by him to embattle the consequences of an aging population as a reason for this decline in popularity.[4] Others emphasized a declining confidence in Bos among parts of the electorate that perceived him as "unreliable", as reason for this.[5] Bos lost nine seats in the elections, which saw large gains for the main rival of Labour on the left side of the political spectrum, the more radical Socialist Party. Nonetheless, after these elections (and this time successful coalition talks with Prime Minister Balkenende), Bos became Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Finance in theFourth Balkenende cabinet, thereby breaking a campaign promise to only join a cabinet when he could hold the office of Prime Minister.[citation needed]
As part of the leadership of the PvdA he revoked his confidence in fellow party memberElla Vogelaar as Minister of Integration and Housing. She subsequently resigned her post on 13 November 2008. The Dutch parliamentary press chose him as politician of the year 2008, largely due to his management of the2008 financial crisis that includednationalization of theFortis bank.[6]
In December 2002 Bos married Barbara Bos (the surname is a coincidence). The master of ceremonies of his marriage wasJoop Wijn, the former State Secretary of finance for the CDA. Wouter and Barbara Bos have two daughters, Iris (5 February 2004) and Jula (3 January 2006) and a son Joppe (18 April 2009).
| Honours | ||||
| Ribbon bar | Honour | Country | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Officer of theOrder of Orange-Nassau | Netherlands | 3 December 2010 | Elevated from Knight (10 December 2002) |
dutch original "PvdA-leider Wouter Bos is door de parlementaire pers gekozen tot politicus van het jaar 2008.
De Haagse burgemeester Jozias van Aartsen (VVD), die de uitslag op Radio 1 bekendmaakte, noemde Bos een 'comeback kid' in de politiek en 'onze nationale crisismanager', refererend aan het optreden van Bos als minister van Financiën tijdens de financiële crisis. "
English translation:"PvdA-leader Wouter Bos has been chosen as politician of the year 2008 by the parliamentary press.
The mayor of the Hague,Jozias van Aartsen (VVD), who announced the result onRadio 1, called Bos a 'comeback kid' in politics and 'our national crisis manager', referring to Bos' measures as Finance Minister during the financial crisis.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives 2002–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party 2002–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Ad Melkert 2002 | Lijsttrekker of the Labour Party 2003 • 2006 | Succeeded by Job Cohen 2010 |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | State Secretary for Finance 2000–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Prime Minister 2007–2010 Served alongside:André Rouvoet | Succeeded by |
| Minister of Finance 2007–2010 | Succeeded by | |
| Civic offices | ||
| Preceded by Office established | Chairman of the Board of directors of the Dutch Invest Agency 2018–present | Incumbent |
| Business positions | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Board of directors of the VU University Medical Center 2013–2018 | Succeeded by Chris Polman |
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
