Ad Melkert

Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus "Ad" Melkert (born 12 February 1956) is a Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) who has served as a Member of the Council of State since 20 January 2016.

Melkert studied Political science at the University of Amsterdam obtaining a Master of Social Science degree.

Melkert attended a Roman Catholic primary school in Moordrecht until 1968, after which he continued his studies at the Coornhert Gymnasium in Gouda, a state school specialising in the arts.

In the final year of his secondary education, he worked for a greengrocer at the local market.

Melkert graduated in 1974 and went on to study political science at the University of Amsterdam.

During this period he became active within the radical left-wing Christian Political Party of Radicals (PPR) party and served as a member of the board of the youth organisation of the PPR between 1978 and 1980.

He went on to become a member of the general board of the Dutch branch of the European Movement, the chairperson of the Council of European National Youth Committees and the chairperson of the Dutch Platform for International Youth Work.

In 1979 he was elected into the party board of the PPR, and was 3rd candidate on the PPR's list for the 1979 European Parliament elections.

Melkert worked as a political activist for the youth branch of the European Community in Brussels from July 1981 until March 1984 and as a nonprofit director for the charity Oxfam Novib from March 1984 until June 1986.

He graduated in 1981 and received the Dutch Society for International Relations prize for best Master's thesis of 1981, the subject of which dealt with the foreign policy of the Den Uyl cabinet.

In 1981 he became general secretary of the youth forum of the European Community in Brussels.

In this capacity he attended an illegal youth conference in Chile, then ruled by Pinochet.

Meanwhile, tensions within the PPR had escalated.

Melkert was a member of the so-called, 'Blues' or 'Godebald' group of radicals, which favoured closer cooperation with the social-democrat Labour Party (PvdA) and the social-liberal Democrats 66 (D66) party.

The conflict came to an end in 1981.

The 'Reds', who favoured closer cooperation with the left-wing socialist Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP) party and the communist Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN) party, and the 'Greens', who favoured an independent Green Party, joined forces.

Many 'Blues', including Melkert, left the PPR for the PvdA.

In 1984 he became director of international affairs at Oxfam Novib, the Dutch branch of Oxfam, and moved to The Hague.

He also became a member of the board of the local PvdA branch.

After the election of 1986 Melkert was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Development Cooperation and the Environment.

In 1986 he published a book on international development in the Netherlands titled: The Next Minister: Development Cooperation with the Cabinet, 1965 – 19?

After the 1989 elections he took the post of financial spokesperson of the PvdA, becoming the party's primary spokesperson in the debates on the national budget.

Between 1990 and 1994 he was vice-chairman of the parliament's committee on finance.

As an MP, Melkert also participated in several boards of civil society organisations.

He was a member of the board of advisers of the Foundation for Communication on Development Cooperation, chairman of the Foundation for Development Cooperation Almere-Port Sudan, and vice-chairman of the Atlantic Committee.

Also, he wrote a column in the region newspaper, De Gooi- en Eemlander, that covered Hilversum and the Almere region.

After the election of 1994 Melkert was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Cabinet Kok I taking office on 22 August 1994.

In 1994 Melkert became the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the first cabinet of prime minister, Wim Kok.

He held responsibility for one of its main goals, which, in the words of those who shaped the cabinet was: Employment, Employment, Employment.

As minister, Melkert was known for his work ethic.

In 1996 Melkert was elected into the House of Representatives.

In the early years, he was the party's spokesperson on foreign affairs, development cooperation and environmental affairs.

After the election of 1998 Melkert returned to the House of Representatives on 19 May 1998 and declined to serve in the new cabinet and was selected as Parliamentary leader on 13 July 1998.

Shortly before an upcoming election Party Leader Wim Kok announced his retirement and Melkert announced his candidacy to succeed him as Leader and was selected as his successor on 15 December 2001.

For the election of 2002 Melkert served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) but suffered a large defeat and stepped down as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 16 May 2002 but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher.

In October 2002 Melkert was nominated as an executive director of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund serving until March 2006 when he was nominated as an Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) serving until July 2009 when he was appointed as the Special Representative for the United Nations in Iraq serving until his resignation in October 2011.

Melkert continued to be active in politics and in December 2015 was nominated as a Member of the Council of State on 20 January 2016.

Melkert also became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and works as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Dutch Hospitals association since December 2018 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) in April 2019.

Adrianus Petrus Wilhelmus Melkert was born into a Roman Catholic middle-class family in Gouderak, a small village situated in the province of South Holland.

His father was a barber.