Alexander Pechtold

Alexander Pechtold
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office November 30, 2006
Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office November 23, 2006
Preceded by	Lousewies van der Laan
Party leader of the Democrats 66
Incumbent
Assumed office June 24, 2006
Preceded by	Lousewies van der Laan (Ad interim)
Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations
In office March 31, 2005 – July 3, 2006
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Thom de Graaf
Succeeded by	Atzo Nicolaï
Mayor of Wageningen
In office October 1, 2003 – March 31, 2005
Preceded by	Geke Faber
Succeeded by	Geert van Rumund
Party chair of the Democrats 66
In office November 16, 2002 – March 31, 2005
Leader	Thom de Graaf (2002-2003) Boris Dittrich (2003-2005)
Preceded by	Gerard Schouw
Succeeded by	Frank Dales
Personal details
Born	Alexander Pechtold (1965-12-16) December 16, 1965 Delft, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Democrats 66
Spouse(s)	Froukje Idema (m. 1997)
Children	1 son and 1 daughter
Residence	Wageningen, Netherlands
Alma mater	Leiden University (Master of Arts)
Occupation	Politician Auctioneer
Religion	Non-religious (Atheism)

Alexander Pechtold (born December 16, 1965) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 30 November 2006 as well as Parliamentary group leader since 23 November 2006. He has also been party leader since 24 June 2006. Pechtold served as Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations in the Cabinet Balkenende II from 31 March 2005 to 3 July 2006, following the resignation of D66 party leader Thom de Graaf. Before entering into national politics he was mayor of Wageningen from 1 October 2003 to 31 March 2005.

Biography

Early life

Born in the city of Delft, Pechtold grew up in the village of Rhoon. Pechtold studied art history and archaeology with a specialization in 17th-century painting at Leiden University, obtaining a Masters degree in 1996. He also obtained a certification as auctioneer and worked for the Van Stockum's Veilingen during his studies. He was elected chairman of D66 in 2002. At that time he was alderman of Leiden, where earlier he functioned as councillor. He was appointed mayor of Wageningen in 2003. In 2005 he became Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations in the second cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende.

Politics

Pechtold was the lijsttrekker for D66 in the Dutch elections of 2006, after he beat parliamentary leader Lousewies van der Laan and others in the 2006 D66 leadership election. Pechtold, as well as Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, resigned from his minister post after the second Balkenende cabinet came in crisis on 29 June 2006. The next day, Balkenende offered the resignation of the full cabinet to the Queen Beatrix. In 2007 the parliamentarian press chose Pechtold with 31% of the votes as the "Dutch Politician of the Year 2007".

During the Cabinet Balkenende IV administration Pechtold served as opposition leader against the cabinet. After the Dutch elections of 2010, the D66 won seven-seats in the House of Representatives which reporters claimed was due to Pechtolds leadership during the Balkenende IV time. After the 2010 Dutch cabinet formation the D66 again remained in opposition. In 2012, Pechtold published Henk, Ingrid, & Alexander, which ostensibly aimed to break through the populism that has dominated Dutch politics in the previous decade--"Henk" and "Ingrid" are the generic names proposed by Geert Wilders and other PVV politicians to represent the average Dutch couple—by engaging everyday people in conversation. The book was panned in de Volkskrant as a "cheap PR-stunt without any value to it."

During a debate with Mark Rutte in 2010, Pechtold championed the cause of social liberalism, noting that the government “needs to offer services where fairness is more important than efficiency, such as education and healthcare," while accusing Rutte of pursuing policies that hurt the most vulnerable in Dutch society.

External links

• (Dutch) Drs. A. (Alexander) Pechtold (Parlement & Politiek)
• (Dutch) Alexander Pechtold (Tweede Kamer)

Party political offices
Preceded by Gerard Schouw	Party chair of the Democrats 66 2002-2005	Succeeded by Frank Dales
Preceded by Lousewies van der Laan (Ad interim)	Party leader of the Democrats 66 2006-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Lousewies van der Laan	Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives 2006-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Government offices
Preceded by Thom de Graaf	Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations 2005-2006	Succeeded by Atzo Nicolaï
Political offices
Preceded by Geke Faber	Mayor of Wageningen 2003-2005	Succeeded by Geert van Rumund