Marja van Bijsterveldt

Marja van Bijsterveldt
Marja van Bijsterveldt
	Van Bijsterveldt in 2010
Mayor of Delft
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 2 September 2016
Preceded by	Bas Verkerk
Minister of Education, ; Culture and Science
	In office; 14 October 2010 – 5 November 2012
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	André Rouvoet
Succeeded by	Jet Bussemaker
Member of the House of Representatives
	In office; 17 June 2010 – 14 October 2010
Parliamentary group	Christian Democratic Appeal
State Secretary for Education, ; Culture and Science
	In office; 22 February 2007 – 14 October 2010 Serving with Sharon Dijksma
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Bruno Bruins
Succeeded by	Halbe Zijlstra
Chairwoman of the Christian ; Democratic Appeal
	In office; 2 November 2002 – 22 February 2007
Leader	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Bert de Vries
Succeeded by	Peter van Heeswijk
Mayor of Schipluiden
	In office; 16 September 1994 – 1 January 2003
Preceded by	Jan Waaijer
Succeeded by	John de Prieëlle
Personal details
Born	Janneke Marlene Vliegenthart; 27 June 1961 (age 63); Rotterdam, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse	Antoine van Bijsterveldt (m. 1992)
Children	2 children
Relatives	Arjan Vliegenthart (cousin)
Residence(s)	Delft, Netherlands
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Nonprofit director · Academic administrator · Nurse

Janneke Marlene "Marja" van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart (born 27 June 1961) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). She has been mayor of Delft since 2 September 2016.

Early life

Van Bijsterveldt attended nursing school and worked in healthcare.

Politics

In 1990 she became politically active for the Christian Democratic Appeal. She was an alderwoman (member) of the Almere municipal council but left her post after the mayor of Almere's expenses were investigated. Van Bijsterveldt disagreed with the way the other aldermen of the social-democratic PvdA and the liberal VVD had dealt with the matter, and following a motion of no-confidence she resigned.

In 1994 she was appointed to be Mayor of Schipluiden and at age 33, she became the youngest Mayor in Dutch history. She also was active within the CDA, first as chair of the Christian Democratic Youth Appeal (CDJA), the CDA's youth organization and later as chair of the CDA-women's council. In November 2002 van Bijsterveldt became party chair of the CDA. She was the first chair directly elected by the CDA membership. She beat the other candidate with 26.542 against 9.574 votes. She was reelected for a period of four years in 2006.

On 22 February 2007 Van Bijsterveldt was appointed State secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the fourth Fourth Balkenende cabinet. In August 2009 she made a speech in the States General about Laura Dekker, a thirteen-year-old Dutch citizen whose plans to circumnavigate the world solo caused international controversy. Van Bijsterveldt spoke against Dekker and agreed with the decision to make her a ward of court.^[1]

Decorations

Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
Honours
	Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	10 December 2012

References

^ (in Dutch) Van Bijsterveldt ziet solozeiltocht 13-jarige niet zitten Inhetnieuws.nl.

External links

Official

(in Dutch) J.M. (Marja) van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart Parlement & Politiek

Party political offices
Preceded by Bert de Vries	Chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Appeal 2002–2007	Succeeded by Peter van Heeswijk
Political offices
Preceded by Jan Waaijer	Mayor of Schipluiden 1994–2003	Succeeded by John de Prieëlle
Preceded by Bruno Bruins	State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science 2007–2010 Served alongside: Sharon Dijksma	Succeeded by Halbe Zijlstra
Preceded by André Rouvoet	Minister of Education, Culture and Science 2010–2012	Succeeded by Jet Bussemaker
Preceded by Bas Verkerk	Mayor of Delft 2016–present	Incumbent
Academic offices
Preceded by Unknown	President of the Protestant Theological University 2013–2016	Succeeded by Unknown
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by Unknown	Chairwoman of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Netherlands 2013–2016	Succeeded by Unknown