Jetta Klijnsma

Jellejetta "Jetta" Klijnsma (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈjɛtaː ˈklɛinsmaː]; born 18 March 1957) is a Dutch politician serving as the King's Commissioner of Drenthe since 2017. She is a member of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Jetta Klijnsma
Klijnsma in 2015
King's Commissioner of Drenthe
Assumed office
1 December 2017
MonarchWillem-Alexander
Preceded byJozias van Aartsen (Acting)
State Secretary for Social Affairs
and Employment
In office
5 November 2012 – 26 October 2017
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byPaul de Krom
Succeeded byTamara van Ark
In office
18 December 2008 – 23 February 2010
Prime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende
Preceded byAhmed Aboutaleb
Succeeded byPaul de Krom
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
17 June 2010 – 5 November 2012
Mayor of The Hague
Ad interim
In office
1 January 2008 – 26 March 2008
Preceded byWim Deetman
Succeeded byJozias van Aartsen
Personal details
Born
Jellejetta Klijnsma

(1957-03-18) 18 March 1957
Hoogeveen, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
Political partyLabour Party
ResidenceAssen
Alma materUniversity of Groningen
(Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts)
OccupationPolitician · Historian · Political consultant · Nonprofit director

Elected to the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2012, she focused on matters of culture, senior citizens, disabled people and medical ethics. Previously she was State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment under the Fourth Balkenende cabinet (2008–2010) and an alderwoman of the municipality of The Hague (1998–2008). From 2012 to 2017 she was appointed again as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment, dealing with the matters of unemployment insurances, pay equality, long-term unemployment, poverty, health and safety at work under the Second Rutte cabinet.[1]

Early life

Klijnsma was born 18 March 1957 in Hoogeveen.[1] She studied history at the University of Groningen, with a specialization in social history and economic history. After graduating she began to work for the Labour Party's parliamentary group. She was assistant to MPs André van der Louw, Marcel van Dam and Thijs Wöltgens.

Klijnsma has a physical handicap. She was born with spastic legs and only learned how to walk at age thirteen. She has a Reformed background but turned non-religious and became a member of the Dutch Humanist League.[2]

Political career

In 1990 she was elected to the municipal council of The Hague. In 1998 she became alderwoman for welfare, health and emancipation.[3] After the 2006 municipal elections she became responsible for culture and finance and also became vice-mayor. After Wim Deetman stepped down, she was mayor ad interim of The Hague and so became the first woman in that function.

In December 2008 she succeeded fellow Labour Party politician Ahmed Aboutaleb as State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet.[4][5] She was State Secretary until February 2010, when the Labour Party withdrew its support for Balkenende's government. An MP from 2010 to 2012, she was appointed again as Social Affairs State Secretary in the Second Rutte cabinet in November 2012, serving until the inauguration on 26 October 2017 of the Third Rutte cabinet which the PvdA does not support. On 1 November 2017 she was appointed King's Commissioner of the province of Drenthe after former The Hague Mayor Jozias van Aartsen was appointed in March 2017 as Acting Commissioner; she took office on 1 December.

Decorations
Honours
Ribbon barHonourCountryDateComment
Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 14 February 2018

References
  1. "Jetta Klijnsma Jetta Klijnsma State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment". government.nl. Government of the Netherlands. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  2. (in Dutch) Humanist League website
  3. Alexandre Dessingué; Jay M. Winter (14 August 2015). Beyond Memory: Silence and the Aesthetics of Remembrance. Routledge. pp. 25–. ISBN 978-1-317-42134-4.
  4. Office for Official Publications Of The (2009). Official Directory of the European Union. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. ISBN 9789278406011.
  5. IBP, Inc. (11 September 2015). Netherlands Investment and Business Guide Volume 1 Strategic and Practical Information. Lulu.com. pp. 39–. ISBN 978-1-5145-3025-2.
Official
Political offices
Preceded by
Wim Deetman		 Mayor of The Hague
Ad interim
2008		 Succeeded by
Jozias van Aartsen
Preceded by
Ahmed Aboutaleb		 State Secretary for Social Affairs
and Employment
2008–2010
2012–2017		 Succeeded by
Paul de Krom
Preceded by
Paul de Krom		 Succeeded by
Tamara van Ark
Preceded by
Jozias van Aartsen
Acting		 King's Commissioner of Drenthe
2017–present		 Incumbent
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