Wim Kok

Wim Kok

Willem "Wim" Kok (born September 29, 1938) is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 22, 1994 until July 22, 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. The Labour Party leader and parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives Joop den Uyl announced that he was stepping down after serving twenty years as party leader. Kok was elected to succeed him and became party leader and the parliamentary leader 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 3 seats but the following cabinet formation resulted in a coalition agreement with the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which formed the Cabinet Lubbers II. Kok became Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, serving from November 7, 1989, until August 22, 1994.

For the Dutch general election of 1994 Kok again as lijsttrekker lost 12 seats but the Christian Democratic Appeal, and new party leader Elco Brinkman losing 20 seats. The Labour Party became the largest party in the House of Representatives and after an arduous coalition formation with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Democrats 66 (D66) resulted in the Cabinet Kok I, which, to date, is the last Dutch cabinet to have served a full term. With the following Dutch general election of 1998, Kok again as lijsttrekker won 8 seats and the coalition retained its majority and a formation resulted in a continuation of the policies with a Cabinet Kok II. Kok was highly praised for his Third Way and polder model philosophies and his success in leading his Purple Coalitions; and he obtained the status of a statesman by his fellow European leaders.

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 many posts in industry and seats on numerous supervisory boards (ING Group, Koninklijke TNT Post, Royal Dutch Shell, KLM, Stork B.V., the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Crisis Group, and the Anne Frank Foundation). Kok is the current president of the Club of Madrid, a organization promotes democracy and change in the global community. On April 11, 2003, he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.