Leader of the Democrats 66

Democrats 66

The Leader of the Democrats 66 is the most senior politician within the Democrats 66 (Dutch: Democraten 66, D66) in the Netherlands. The post is currently held by Alexander Pechtold, who succeeded Boris Dittrich after the leadership election of 2006.

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 Lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the party list. In the Democrats 66 the Leader is often the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. Some Democrats 66 leaders became a Minister in a Cabinet.

Leader			Term of office	Age as Leader	Position(s) as Leader	Further position(s)
	Hans van Mierlo	Hans van Mierlo (1931–2010)	14 September 1966 – 1 September 1973 ()	35–42	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Member of the Senate Minister of Foreign Affairs Deputy Prime Minister	Minister of Defence Minister of State
		Jan Terlouw (born 1931)	1 September 1973 – 8 September 1982 ()	41–50	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Minister of Economic Affairs Deputy Prime Minister Queen's Commissioner of Gelderland Member of the Senate
		Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born 1937)	8 September 1982 – 10 November 1982 ()	45	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Ambassador of the European Union to Japan Member of the European Parliament Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries Minister of Economic Affairs Deputy Prime Minister
	Maarten Engwirda	Maarten Engwirda (born 1943)	10 November 1982 – 25 January 1986 ()	39–42	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Member of the European Parliament
		Hans van Mierlo (1931–2010)	25 January 1986 – 15 February 1998 ()	54–66	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives Member of the Senate Minister of Foreign Affairs Deputy Prime Minister	Minister of Defence Minister of State
		Els Borst (1932–2014)	15 February 1998 – 30 May 1998 ()	65–66	Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Deputy Prime Minister Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Minister of State
		Thom de Graaf (born 1957)	30 May 1998 – 22 January 2003 ()	40–45	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations Deputy Prime Minister Mayor of Nijmegen Member of the Senate Parliamentary leader in the Senate
	Boris Dittrich	Boris Dittrich (born 1955)	22 January 2003 – 3 February 2006 ()	47–50	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives
		Alexander Pechtold (born 1965)	24 June 2006 – Incumbent ()	40–	Member of the House of Representatives Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives	Mayor of Wageningen Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations

See also

• Democrats 66

External links

Official

• (Dutch) Official website