Gerda Verburg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gerritje (Gerda) Verburgs | |
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| In office 2007 – present |
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| Preceded by | Cees Veerman |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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Member of Parliament
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| In office 1998 – 2006 |
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| Born | 19 August 1957 Zwammerdam, Netherlands |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) |
| Residence | Woerden, Netherlands |
| Religion | Protestant (Reformed) |
Gerritje (Gerda) Verburg (Zwammerdam, 19 August 1957) is a Dutch politician for the Christian Democratic Appeal. She is minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the Fourth cabinet Balkenende.
Verburg comes from a family of farmers. She attended MAVO and HAVO at the protestant schools in Bodegraven and Alphen aan de Rijn. In 1976 she began to study human resources in Kampen, but dropped out after four years. Verburg began to work for Christian Rural Youth as general-secretary. In 1982 she began to work for the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands. Between 1982 and 1986 as youth worker of the construction trade union and between 1986 and 1990 as chair of the CNV-younth labour union. Between 1990 and 1997 she was on the union's board and she represented the union in the Social Economic Council and the European Trade Union Confederation. Between 1997 and 1998 she worked as a businesswoman in communication and projects.
In 1998 election she entered the Tweede Kamer for the CDA. She was one of the only CDA-members to vote in favour of the legalisation of gay marriages. Verburg herself is openly lesbian. In 2003 she was candidate-chair for the Tweede Kamer, but she was defeated by Frans Weisglas. Since 2003 Verburg has been vice-chair of the parliamentary party. She is the chair of the CDA-parliamentary commission on social affairs.
On February 13, 2007 it was announced that Verburg will become minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the Fourth cabinet Balkenende. She was criticized by the Volkskrant for not having any experience with the field [1].
Prime Minister: Jan Peter Balkenende (General Affairs)
Deputy Prime Ministers: Wouter Bos (Finance) • André Rouvoet (Youth and Family)
Ministers: Guusje ter Horst (Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations) • Maxime Verhagen (Foreign Affairs) • Eimert van Middelkoop (Defense) • Maria van der Hoeven (Economic Affairs) • Ernst Hirsch Ballin (Justice) • Gerda Verburg (Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality) • Ronald Plasterk (Education, Culture and Science) • Piet Hein Donner (Social Affairs and Employment) • Camiel Eurlings (Transportation and Water Management) • Ab Klink (Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports) • Jacqueline Cramer (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) • Ella Vogelaar (Minister of Housing and Integration) • Bert Koenders (International Development)
State Secretaries: Jan Kees de Jager (Finance) • Frans Timmermans (European Affairs) • Nebahat Albayrak (Justice) • Ank Bijleveld-Schouten (Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations) • Marja van Bijsterveldt (Education, Culture and Science) • Sharon Dijksma (Education, Culture and Science) • Cees van der Knaap (Defense) • Tineke Huizinga (Transport and Water Management) • Frank Heemskerk (Economic Affairs) • Ahmed Aboutaleb (Social Affairs and Employment) •Jet Bussemaker (Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports)
