Wim Kok

His Excellency Wim Kok
Wim Kok in 1994
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 22 August 1994 – 22 July 2002
Monarch	Beatrix
Deputy	show See list Hans Dijkstal (1994–1998) Hans van Mierlo (1994–1998) Annemarie Jorritsma (1998–2002) Els Borst (1998–2002)
Preceded by	Ruud Lubbers
Succeeded by	Jan Peter Balkenende
Deputy Prime Minister
In office 7 November 1989 – 22 August 1994
Prime Minister	Ruud Lubbers
Preceded by	Rudolf de Korte
Succeeded by	Hans Dijkstal Hans van Mierlo
Minister of Finance
In office 7 November 1989 – 22 August 1994
Prime Minister	Ruud Lubbers
Preceded by	Onno Ruding
Succeeded by	Gerrit Zalm
Leader of the Labour Party
In office 21 July 1986 – 15 December 2001
Deputy	Wim Meijer Thijs Wöltgens Jacques Wallage Ad Melkert
Preceded by	Joop den Uyl
Succeeded by	Ad Melkert
Leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives
In office 19 May 1998 – 30 May 1998
Preceded by	Jacques Wallage
Succeeded by	Jacques Wallage
In office 17 May 1994 – 22 August 1994
Preceded by	Thijs Wöltgens
Succeeded by	Jacques Wallage
In office 21 July 1986 – 5 November 1989
Preceded by	Joop den Uyl
Succeeded by	Thijs Wöltgens
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 19 May 1998 – 22 August 1998
In office 17 May 1994 – 22 August 1994
In office 3 June 1986 – 7 November 1989
Personal details
Born	Willem Kok (1938-09-29)29 September 1938 Bergambacht, Netherlands
Died	20 October 2018(2018-10-20) (aged 80) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Labour Party (from 1961)
Alma mater	Nyenrode Business School (BBA)
Occupation	Politician Trade union leader Businessperson Corporate director Nonprofit director Lobbyist Activist
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Netherlands
Branch/service	Royal Netherlands Army
Years of service	1958–1959 (Conscription) 1959–1961 (Reserve
Rank	Private first class

Willem "Wim" Kok (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɪm ˈkɔk] (listen); 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.^[1][2]

Kok studied business administration at the Nyenrode Business School obtaining a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and worked as a trade union leader for the Trade Unions Association from 1961 until 1976 and serving as chairman from 1972. In 1976 it merged to form the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions, with Kok serving as its first chairman until 1986. After the election of 1986, Kok was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 3 June 1986. Shortly after the election incumbent Leader Joop den Uyl announced he was stepping down and endorsed Kok as his successor taking office on 21 July 1986. For the election of 1989, Kok served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and made a coalition accord with incumbent Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which formed the Cabinet Lubbers III and became deputy prime minister and minister of finance taking office on 7 November 1989.

For the election of 1994, Kok again served as Lijsttrekker and following a cabinet formation, formed the Cabinet Kok I and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands taking office on 22 August 1994. For the election of 1998 Kok once more served as Lijsttrekker and after another successful cabinet formation, formed the Cabinet Kok II and continued as prime minister for a second term. In December 2001, Kok announced he was stepping down as Leader and that he would not stand for the election of 2002 or serve another term as prime minister. Kok left office following the installation of the Cabinet Balkenende I on 22 July 2002.

Kok retired from active politics at 63 and became active in the private and public sectors as a corporate and non-profit director, served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and continued to be active as a lobbyist for the European Union, advocating for more European integration. Kok was known for his abilities as a manager and negotiator. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for several major social reforms legalizing same-sex marriage, euthanasia and further reducing the deficit. Kok was granted the honourary title of Minister of State on 11 April 2003 and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death at the age of 80. He holds the distinction of leading the first purple coalitions as Prime Minister and is consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as one of the best prime ministers after World War II.^[2][3][4][5]

Early life[]

Willem Kok was born on 29 September 1938, in Bergambacht in the Netherlands Province of South Holland, the son of Willem Kok (29 March 1910 – 10 January 1981) a carpenter, and Neeltje de Jager (17 October 1913 – 5 May 2005).^[6] He had one younger brother, who was born in 1945.^[7]

After completing his studies in business at the Nyenrode Business Universiteit, he started his career in 1961 at the socialist Netherlands Association of Trade Unions (NVV), where he was chairman from 1973 until 1982. In 1982, the NVV merged with Nederlands Katholiek Vakverbond (NKV), the Catholic trade union, to form the Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV), of which he served as chair until 1986.^[8]

Political career[]

Parliamentary leader and Minister of Finance[]

Trade union leader Wim Kok and Prime Minister Dries van Agt during a meeting of the Social and Economic Council in The Hague on 20 December 1979.

Prime Minister Wim Kok and President of Russia Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 19 January 2001.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Wim Kok in Het Torentje on 4 April 2011.

Kok was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 3 June 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 Party and Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives on 21 July 1986 and served as Opposition leader during the parliamentary period of the Cabinet Lubbers II.^[9]

Kok lead his party in the Dutch general election of 1989. 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 entered government for the first time and became both Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Finance, serving from 7 November 1989 until 22 August 1994.^[10]

Prime minister[]

First term (1994–1998)[]

In the 1994 general election, the Labour Party lost twelve seats but the CDA 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 conservative liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the social liberal Democrats 66 (D66) a deal was struck that resulted in the Cabinet Kok I, with Kok as prime minister. It was considered groundbreaking in Dutch politics this was the first Cabinet of the Netherlands since 1908 without a Christian democratic party.^[9]

The main aim of the Cabinet Kok I was to create employment. The Dutch economy had been in a deep recession for years. The market was allowed more influence in the economy. This led to a policy of tax reduction, economizing, and trying to keep people out of social care by supporting employment; large infrastructure projects were set in motion. Another aim was to put an end to the enormous debt of the Dutch government.^[9] The Treaty of Amsterdam was signed during this cabinet. The Srebrenica massacre occurred under the responsibility of this government, which eventually led to the fall of the second Kok cabinet.

In the 1998 general election, the Labour party gained eight seats; the coalition retained its majority, and cabinet formation resulted in a continuation of policies with the Cabinet Kok II.^{[citation needed]}

Second term (1998–2002)[]

The second cabinet was the successor of the first cabinet was formed from the same coalition of PvdA, VVD and D66. It was also known as the "second purple cabinet" called such because it contained both the social-democratic PvdA (red) and the liberal VVD (blue). The aim of the cabinet was to continue the policy of cabinet Kok I, which was concerned with economizing, tax reduction, and making an end to unemployment. Kok was the prime minister, Annemarie Jorritsma as the deputy prime minister for the VVD, and Els Borst for D66. The cabinet had both left-wing and right-wing political parties as a part of it. There was no strong opposition in the House of Representatives. This did not mean that Kok did not face any problems. In May 1999, D66 stepped out of the coalition when proposed legislation on referenda, entered by this party, was blocked; through negotiations the crisis was solved and the cabinet stayed together. Moreover, allegations of expenses abuse were made against Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Bram Peper from the time he was mayor of Rotterdam. On 13 March 2000 Peper resigned as minister, according to himself to no longer bring problems to the public government, and to be better able to defend himself.^[11] On the other hand, Kok's second term is known for legalizing same-sex marriage and euthanasia.^[9]

On 15 December 2001, Kok announced he would retire from national politics after the elections of May 2002. He stood down as Leader of the Labour Party that same day, in favour of Ad Melkert. Unfortunately, Melkert did not appeal to the voter. Moreover, the "polder model" went out of fashion in early 2002, which saw the rise of Pim Fortuyn, a political newcomer.

On 16 April 2002, close to the natural end of term for the cabinet, prime minister Kok wished to resign early after being harshly criticised in a government-commissioned report by the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies regarding the fall of Srebrenica in 1995^[12] and the other ministers had no choice but to follow him. The second Kok cabinet remained in place as a caretaker cabinet, which had to cope with the murder of Fortuyn, and the CDA with leader Jan Peter Balkenende winning the elections. The caretaker cabinet stepped down on 22 July 2002, when the Cabinet Balkenende I was installed.^[2]

Legacy[]

Kok was highly praised for his Third Way and polder model philosophies and for the success of leading his Purple Coalitions. During his premiership, his cabinets were responsible for implementing several social reforms, legalizing same-sex marriage and euthanasia,^[12] stimulating the economy resulting in more employment and privatization and further reducing the deficit. As a result of this, and because of his skills as manager and negotiator, Kok was praised by his fellow European leaders.^[12]

After politics[]

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 and served as president of the Club of Madrid from 2009 until December 2013).^[13] On 11 April 2003, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.^[14]

Lisbon Strategy[]

Between April and November 2004, Kok headed up a review of the Lisbon Strategy and presented a report containing suggestions on how to give new impetus to the Lisbon process.^[15] The European Commission used this report to declare that the social and environmental parts are no longer a priority and declared a return to the Lisbon Agenda under economic terms only. Kok lobbied for the Lisbon Strategy of the European Commission and was appointed to the Honorary Board of the European Association of History Educators.^[16]

Between 2006 and 2007, Kok served as member of the Amato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty of Lisbon following its rejection by French and Dutch voters.^[17]

Personal[]

In 1965, after four years of dating, Kok married Margrietha "Rita" Roukema (born 3 November 1939).^[18] He adopted her two children from a previous marriage, daughter Carla (born 1959) and son André (born 1961), who is mentally and physically disabled, and together they had a third child, son Marcel (born 1966).^[19]

Death[]

Kok died on 20 October 2018 in Amsterdam, aged 80.^[20]

Decorations[]

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic	Spain	19 October 2001	[21]
	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	10 December 2002	[22]
	Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Three Stars	Latvia	15 November 2004	[citation needed]
Honorific Titles
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Minister of State	Netherlands	11 April 2003	Style of Excellency

Honorary degrees[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Wim Kok

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wim Kok.

Official

• (in Dutch) W. (Wim) Kok Parlement & Politiek
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Kok I Rijksoverheid
• (in Dutch) Kabinet-Kok II Rijksoverheid

Other

• Collectie Interviews Wim Kok at the International Institute of Social History