Jan Peter Balkenende

Jan Peter Balkenende
Balkenende in 2022
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 22 July 2002 – 14 October 2010
Monarch	Beatrix
Deputy	See list Eduard Bomhoff (2002) Johan Remkes (2002–2003) Roelf de Boer (2002–2003) Gerrit Zalm (2003–2007) Thom de Graaf (2003–2005) Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (2005–2006) Wouter Bos (2007–2010) André Rouvoet (2007–2010)
Preceded by	Wim Kok
Succeeded by	Mark Rutte
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal
In office 1 October 2001 – 9 June 2010
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the House of Representatives
In office 30 November 2006 – 9 February 2007
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
In office 30 January 2003 – 21 May 2003
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
In office 1 October 2001 – 11 July 2002
Preceded by	Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Succeeded by	Maxime Verhagen
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 30 November 2006 – 22 February 2007
In office 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
In office 19 May 1998 – 22 July 2002
Personal details
Born	Jan Pieter Balkenende Jr. (1956-05-07) 7 May 1956 (age 68) Biezelinge, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal (1980–present)
Spouse	Bianca Hoogendijk ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	1
Education	Free University Amsterdam (LLB, BA, LLM, MA, PhD)
Signature

Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɑn ˈpeːtər ˈbɑlkənˌɛndə] ^ⓘ, [-ˈbɑlkəˌʔɛndə]; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010.

Balkenende studied History and Law at the Free University Amsterdam obtaining Master of Arts and law degrees and worked as a legal counsel for the academic council of his alma mater before finishing his thesis and graduated as a PhD in governmental studies and worked as a professor of Christian theology at his alma mater from April 1993 until May 2002. After the election of 1998, Balkenende was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Finances and as deputy parliamentary leader. After Party Leader and Parliamentary leader, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stepped down before an upcoming election Balkenende announced his candidacy and was selected as his successor on 1 October 2001. For the election of 2002, Balkenende served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and after a cabinet formation with the Pim Fortuyn List and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy formed the Cabinet Balkenende I and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands taking office 22 July 2002.

The cabinet Balkenende I fell just 87 days into its term. For the election of 2003, Balkenende again served as Lijsttrekker and following a cabinet formation with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and Democrats 66, they formed the Cabinet Balkenende II and continued as Prime Minister. This second cabinet fell on 30 June 2006 and was replaced with the caretaker Cabinet Balkenende III on 7 July 2006. For the election of 2006, Balkenende once again served as Lijsttrekker and following a cabinet formation with Labour Leader Wouter Bos and fellow Christian-democrats, formed the Cabinet Balkenende IV and continued as prime minister for another term. This fourth cabinet fell exactly 3 years into its term. For the election of 2010, Balkenende once again served as Lijsttrekker but suffered a large defeat and announced his retirement and stepped down as Leader on 9 June 2010. Balkenende left office following the installation of the Cabinet Rutte I on 14 October 2010.

Balkenende retired from active politics at 54 and became active in the private sector as a corporate director and also works as a professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalization at the Erasmus University Rotterdam since December 2010. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major reforms to the education system, immigration laws and reducing the deficit following the financial crisis of 2008. He is the fourth longest-serving Prime Minister after World War II and his premiership is consistently regarded both by scholars and the public to have been above average.^[1][2][3] Balkenende was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 14 October 2022 exactly twelve years after leaving office.