Wouter Bos

His Excellency Wouter Bos
Wouter Bos in 2007
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 17 November 2002 – 25 April 2010
Preceded by	Ad Melkert
Succeeded by	Job Cohen
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010 Serving with André Rouvoet
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Gerrit Zalm
Succeeded by	André Rouvoet
Minister of Finance of the Netherlands
In office 22 February 2007 – 23 February 2010
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Gerrit Zalm
Succeeded by	Jan Kees de Jager
Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
In office 19 November 2002 – 22 February 2007
Preceded by	Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven
Succeeded by	Jacques Tichelaar
Undersecretary for Finance of the Netherlands
In office 24 March 2000 – 22 July 2002
Prime Minister	Wim Kok
Preceded by	Willem Vermeend
Succeeded by	Steven van Eijk
Member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
In office 23 May 2002 – 22 February 2007
In office 19 May 1998 – 24 March 2000
Personal details
Born	Wouter Jacob Bos (1963-07-14) 14 July 1963 Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Labour Party (from 1981)
Spouse(s)	Barbara Bos (m. 2002)
Children	Iris Jessie (born 2004) Julia Roos (born 2006) Joppe (born 2009)
Residence	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alma mater	VU University Amsterdam (Bachelor of Social Science, Master of Social Science, Bachelor of Economics, Master of Economics)
Occupation	Politician Management consultant Corporate director
Religion	Protestantism

Wouter Jacob Bos (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋʌutər ˈbɔs]; (born 14 July 1963) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA).

He served as a Member of the House of Representatives from May 19, 1998 until March 24, 2000 when he became State Secretary for Finance in the Cabinet Kok II following the resignation of Willem Vermeend who became Minister of Social Affairs and Employment. He returned to the House of Representatives on May 23, 2002 following the Dutch general election of 2002. The Labour Party suffered a landslide defeat in the election losing 23 seats, then Party leader Ad Melkert was blamed for the defeat and resigned. Bos announced his candidacy for the Labour Party leadership election and won by a landslide with 60% of the votes. Bos became the Labour Party party leader on November 19, 2002 and the Parliamentary leader of Labour Party in the House of Representatives on November 19, 2002 and became the lijsttrekker for the Dutch general election of 2003. The Labour Party was the largest winner of the election, gaining 19 seats (from 23 to 42) and became the second largest party in the House of Representatives. After a failed cabinet formation a new cabinet was formed with out the Labour Party. Bos served as opposition leader during the parliamentary period of the Cabinets Balkenende II and III. For the Dutch general election of 2006 Bos again as lijsttrekker lost 9 seats but the Labour Party remained the second largest party with 33 seats. The following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement which formed the Cabinet Balkenende IV, comprising the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), Labour Party (PvdA) and the ChristianUnion (CU). Bos became Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, the cabinet took office on February 22, 2007. The cabinet fell on February 20, 2010 as the result of disagreement between CDA and Labour Party over the extension of ISAF mission in Afghanistan. Bos resigned his position as Party leader to spend more time with his family and retired from active politics.

Since his retirement from politics, Bos became a partner at the professional services firm KPMG and is also a consultant for the financial sector. On June 21, 2013 Bos was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of VU University Medical Center.

Life

Youth

Bos was raised in a Doorbraak social-democratic family with a Protestant background in Vlaardingen. His father founded the ecumenical development cooperation fund ICCO, which he also led for many years. Between 1969 and 1974 Bos attended the Protestant elementary school de Beurthonk in Odijk. From 1974 he attended the Protestant high school Christelijk Lyceum in Zeist. In 1980 he graduated specializing in sciences and classics. In 1980–81 he was a Voluntary Instructor at the YMCA National Centre in Curdridge in the United Kingdom.

Life before politics

He became a member of the PvdA in 1981. In the same year Bos started studying Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In 1982 he also took up Economics. In 1988 he graduated cum laude in both subjects.

From 1988 till 1998 he worked for Royal Dutch Shell in various positions. With a background in Shell, he differs from other Dutch leftwing politicians, who rarely have a background in a major multinational corporation. Bos began to work for Shell because he thought that "the Dutch Left should not leave the business world to the Dutch Right".

Between 1988 and 1990 he worked at the Pernis 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 central works 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 in South 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 PvdA parliamentary party in the lower house and a personal assistant of the party's financial spokesperson, Rick van der Ploeg.

Political life

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 succeeded Willem Vermeend as staatssecretaris for Finance, and became responsible for taxation, monetary policy and finances of lower-level government. Together with Finance Minister Gerrit 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 the first Balkenende cabinet Bos was elected top candidate for the following elections and de facto leader of the PvdA in the 2002 PvdA leadership election by 60% of the voting party members. He immediately became the chairman of the parliamentary party, succeeding Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven, and leaving her, Klaas de Vries and Jouke de Vries behind him by a 30% margin.

Wouter Bos meets with then United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2007.

In the January 2003 election, Bos entered a head to head race with incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Christian Democratic CDA, 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 a government with the conservative liberal VVD, and the progressive liberal D66.

At that time Bos was the leader of the largest opposition party. He spent considerable time reforming the PvdA's internal organisation and public image, together with the party's chairman Ruud 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 the Socialist 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 become Prime Minister of the Netherlands, should the PvdA succeed in becoming the biggest party after the next parliament elections. And in the 2006 municipal elections, a few months lather, the PvdA performed particularly well, becoming the largest party in local government.

However, in the election campaign for the Dutch 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. Others emphasized a declining confidence in Bos among parts of the electorate that perceived him as "unreliable", as reason for this. Bos lost eight 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 and Minister of Finance in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet, thereby breaking a campaign promise to only join a cabinet when he could hold the office of Prime Minister.

As part of the leadership of the PvdA he revoked his confidence in fellow party member Ella Vogelaar as Minister of Integration and Housing. She subsequently resigned her post on November 13, 2008. The Dutch parliamentary press chose him as politician of the year 2008, largely due to his crisis management of 2008/2009 world financial crisis that included nationalization of the Fortis bank.

Personal life

In December 2002 Bos married Barbara Bos (the surname is a coincidence). The master of ceremonies of his marriage was Joop Wijn, the former State Secretary of finance for the CDA. Wouter and Barbara Bos have two daughters, Iris Jessie (February 5, 2004) and Julia Roos (January 3, 2006) and a son Joppe (April 18, 2009)

References

• (Dutch) Parlement.com biography

Political offices
Preceded by Willem Vermeend	State Secretary for Finance 2000–2002	Succeeded by Steven van Eijk
Preceded by Gerrit Zalm	Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands 2007–2010 Served alongside: André Rouvoet	Succeeded by André Rouvoet
	Minister of Finance 2007–2010	Succeeded by Jan Kees de Jager
Party political offices
Preceded by Ad Melkert	Leader of the Labour Party 2002–2010	Succeeded by Job Cohen
Preceded by Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven	Leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives 2002–2007	Succeeded by Jacques Tichelaar