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Wim Kok Politician

Willem "Wim" Kok, Jr. (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪm ˈkɔk] (13px )) (born 29 September 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.A trade union leader by occupation, Kok served as chairman of the Netherlands Association of Trade Unions from 1972 until 1976, when it merged to form the Federation Netherlands Labour Movement, Kok served as its first chairman from 1976 until 1986 when he left to enter politics. He was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on June 3, 1986, after the Dutch general election of 1986. Soon after the election Joop den Uyl the Leader of the Labour Party and Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives announced that he was stepping down after serving twenty years as Leader of the Labour Party. Kok was elected to succeed him and became Leader of the Labour Party and the Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives on July 21, 1986 and served as Opposition leader during the parliamentary period of the Cabinet Lubbers II. For the Dutch general election of 1989 Kok became the Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and the Labour Party lost three seats but the following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which formed the Cabinet Lubbers III, Kok became Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Finance, serving from November 7, 1989, until August 22, 1994.For the Dutch general election of 1994, Kok again as Lijsttrekker lost twelve seats but the Christian Democratic Appeal with new Leader Elco Brinkman lost twenty seats. The Labour Party became the largest party in the House of Representatives, after an arduous cabinet formation with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Democrats 66 (D66) a deal was struck that resulted in the Cabinet Kok I, considered groundbreaking in Dutch politics the Cabinet Kok I was the first Cabinet of the Netherlands since 1908 without a Christian democratic party. With the following Dutch general election of 1998, Kok again as Lijsttrekker won eight seats and the coalition retained its majority and a cabinet formation resulted in a continuation of the policies with a Cabinet Kok II. On December 15, 2001, Kok announced his retirement from politics and stood down as Leader of the Labour Party that same day. Kok remain as Prime Minister of the Netherlands until the Cabinet Balkenende I was installed on July 22, 2002.After his premiership, Kok retired from active politics at the age of sixty-three and became a lobbyist for the European Union and presided over several "high-level groups". He also occupied numerous seats on supervisory boards in the business and industry world (ING Group, Koninklijke TNT Post, Royal Dutch Shell, KLM, Stork B.V., International Commission on Missing Persons, International Crisis Group, Anne Frank Foundation). Kok was highly praised for his Third Way and Polder model philosophies and for the success of leading his Purple Coalitions. Kok during that time obtained the status of a statesman by his fellow European leaders. The Cabinet Kok I is to date the last Cabinet of the Netherlands to have completed a full term. Kok was the President of the Club of Madrid from 2009 to the end of 2013. Club de Madrid is an organization promoting democracy and change in the global community. On April 11, 2003, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.

Personal facts

Alias (AKA)	Kok Willem
Birth date	September 29, 1938
Birth name	Willem Kok Jr.
Birth place	Netherlands , Bergambacht
Nationality	Netherlands
Religion	Irreligion
Residence	Amsterdam , Netherlands
Education	University of Münster Nyenrode Business University

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