Mark RuttePrime Minister, Minister of General Affairs
Born on 14 February 1967 in The Hague, single
Party: People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)
The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet and is also Minister of General Affairs. He is accountable for the actions of members of the Royal House. He also has an active role in international affairs.
The Cabinet rules of procedure give the Prime Minister various powers. He sets the Cabinet agenda, chairs its meetings and monitors implementation of its decisions.
The prime minister may be represented in Cabinet meetings by the Deputy Prime Minister. Any minister serving as deputy prime minister does so in addition to their other duties and is generally a member of another political party in the governing coalition.
A press conference is held after the weekly Cabinet meeting, during which the Prime Minister explains government policy and discusses current political events.
The Prime Minister also heads the Ministry of General Affairs. The 1947 Constituent Instrument states that the Ministry is in charge of matters relating to general government policy in the Kingdom, where these are not expressly dealt with by other ministries. The Ministry's duties as described are hard to specify in detail but amount to responsibility for coordinating overall government policy.
The Prime Minister’s office is in the ‘Torentje’ (the ‘turret’), which is part of the Binnenhof complex in The Hague. The Prime Minister’s official residence is known as the Catshuis.
The Prime Minister is the minister primarily accountable for the Royal House. He meets with the King once a week to discuss government policy.
The Prime Minister attends several international conferences each year and handles a wide range of bilateral international relations.
The European Council is a regular meeting bringing together the heads of government of the European Union member states, plus the Finnish and French heads of state and the President of the European Commission. Important European and international issues are discussed at European Council meetings, at which the Prime Minister is accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has specific responsibility for European policy. The Prime Minister is accountable to Parliament for his actions as a member of the European Council.
- 1984
Completed secondary education, The Hague - 1984-1992
Dutch history, Leiden University
- 1992-1997
Human resources manager at Unilever, responsible for staff training and several reorganisations - 1997-2002
Personnel manager and head of reorganisation at Van den Bergh Nederland (Calvé), part of Unilever - 2002
Director of human resources at the IGLOMora Group BV, a Unilever subsidiary - 22 July 2002 – 17 June 2004
State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in the first and second Balkenende governments - 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
Member of the House of Representatives for the VVD - 17 June 2004 – 27 June 2006
State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the second Balkenende government - 29 June 2006 – 8 October 2010
Leader of the VVD parliamentary party - 14 October 2010 – 5 November 2012
Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte-Verhagen government - 5 November 2012 – 26 October 2017
Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte-Asscher government - 26 October 2017 – 10 January 2022
Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the third Rutte government - 10 January 2022
Appointed Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs in the fourth Rutte government
- 1988-1991
National chair of the JOVD, the youth organisation of the VVD - 1993-1997
Member of the VVD party executive - 2006
VVD campaign leader for the March municipal elections - September 2008 – present
Guest teacher at the Johan de Witt group of schools in The Hague - Member of the High Level Panel on Water and of the Secretary General’s Circle of Leadership on the prevention of and response to sexual exploitation and abuse in UN operations