Bas van 't Wout

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van 't Wout, not Wout.

Bas van 't Wout
van 't Wout (2017)
Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 January 2021
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Acting)
State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment
In office 9 July 2020 – 20 January 2021
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Tamara van Ark
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 20 September 2012 – 2 July 2020
Personal details
Born	Bastiaan van 't Wout (1979-04-22) 22 April 1979 Amersfoort, Netherlands
Political party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Alma mater	Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Occupation	Politician

Bastiaan "Bas" van 't Wout (born 22 April 1979) is a Dutch politician who has served as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy since 20 January 2021 in the Third Rutte cabinet. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he was previously elected to the House of Representatives from 2012 to 2020, before he held the position of State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment from 2020 until 2021.

Early career

A native of Amersfoort, Van 't Wout worked as a political assistant to the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science and chairman of the VVD party in the House of Representatives Mark Rutte from 2005 to 2007.

Political career

Career in local politics

Van 't Wout became a municipal councillor of Amsterdam following the 2006 election.

Member of the Dutch Parliament, 2012–2020

Van 't Wout served as a member of the House of Representatives from September 20, 2012 to 2 July 2020. In the 2012 parliamentary elections, he was in 27th place, and was elected lower. He received 1,178 preferential votes. In the 2017 House of Representatives elections, he was in 13th place and was elected again. Until 26 October 2017, he was spokesperson for Long-term care, Social Support Act and Social Affairs and Employment. From 26 October 2017 he was vice-chairman of the VVD and spokesperson for the Ministry of General Affairs.

In addition to his work in parliament, Van 't Wout was a member of the Dutch delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from 2015 until 2016.

In July 2020 Tamara van Ark was promoted from State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment to Minister of another department. Van 't Wout replaced her as State Secretary.

Minister of Economic Affairs, 2021–present

After the departure of Eric Wiebes, Van 't Wout was appointed as his successor as Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy as of 20 January 2021 in her now-caretaker third cabinet of Prime Minister Rutte III cabinet. He was in 6th place on the VVD candidate list for the 2021 elections. On 31 March 2021, he was sworn in again as a member of parliament.

On 24 May 2021 it was reported that Van't Wout was suffering from a occupational burnout and would not be returning to the parliament for at least 3 months; fellow cabinet ministers Stef Blok and Sigrid Kaag took over and shared the economic affairs portfolio in his absence.