Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal explained

The Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal is the most senior politician within the Christian Democratic Appeal (Dutch; Flemish: Christen-Democratisch Appèl, CDA) in the Netherlands.The current leader has been Henri Bontenbal since 14 August 2023.^[1]

History

The leaders outwardly act as the figurehead and the main representative of the party. Within the party, they must ensure political consensus. At election time the leader is always the lead candidate of the party list. Outside election time the officeholder can serve as the Leader of the Opposition. In the Christian Democratic Appeal the leader is often the parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. Some Christian Democratic Appeal leaders became a Minister in a cabinet.

Leader			Term of office	Age as leader	Position(s) as leader	Further position(s)	Former affiliation	Religion	Lead candidate
		Dries van Agt	10 December 1976 – 25 October 1982	45–51	Minister of Justice Deputy Prime Minister Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Prime Minister President of the European Council Minister of Foreign Affairs	Member of the House of Representatives Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant Ambassador of the European Union to Japan Ambassador of the European Union to the United States	KVP	Catholic	1977 1981 1982
		Ruud Lubbers	25 October 1982 – 29 January 1994	43–54	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Prime Minister President of the European Council Minister for Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Affairs	Minister of Economic Affairs (KVP) Member of the House of Representatives Minister of State United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees	KVP	Catholic	1986 1989
		Elco Brinkman	29 January 1994 – 16 August 1994	45–46	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Minister of Welfare, Health and Culture Member of the House of Representatives Member of the Social and Economic Council Member of the Senate Parliamentary leader in the Senate		Protestant	1994
		Enneüs Heerma	16 August 1994 – 27 March 1997	49–52	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	State Secretary for Economic Affairs State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Member of the House of Representatives	ARP	Protestant
		Jaap de Hoop Scheffer	27 March 1997 – 1 October 2001	48–53	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Minister of Foreign Affairs Secretary General of NATO Minister of State	D66	Catholic	1998
		Jan Peter Balkenende	1 October 2001 – 9 June 2010	46–54	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Prime Minister President of the European Council			Protestant	2002 2003 2006 2010
		Maxime Verhagen	9 June 2010 – 30 June 2012	53–55	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation Deputy Prime Minister	Member of the European Parliament Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister for Development Cooperation Member of the Social and Economic Council		Catholic
		Sybrand van Haersma Buma	30 June 2012 – 22 May 2019	46–53	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Mayor of Leeuwarden		Protestant	2012 2017
		Hugo de Jonge	15 July 2020 – 10 December 2020	42–43	Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Deputy Prime Minister	Minister for Housing and Spatial Planning		Protestant
Vacant
		Wopke Hoekstra (born 1975)	11 December 2020 – 14 August 2023	45–47	Minister of Finance Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Minister of Foreign Affairs Deputy Prime Minister	Member of the Senate		Remonstrant	2021
		Henri Bontenbal (born 1982)	14 August 2023 – Incumbent	40–	Member of the House of Representatives	Member of the House of Representatives		Protestant	2023

External links

Official

Notes and References

1. News: Politiek leider van een partij. 3 November 2012. Parlement&Politiek.