Henk Kamp

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Henk Kamp" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Henk Kamp
Henk Kamp in 2011
Minister of Defence
In office 24 September 2021 – 10 January 2022
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Ferdinand Grapperhaus (Acting)
Succeeded by	Kajsa Ollongren
In office 12 December 2002 – 22 February 2007
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Benk Korthals
Succeeded by	Eimert van Middelkoop
Minister of Economic Affairs
In office 5 November 2012 – 26 October 2017
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Maxime Verhagen Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation
Succeeded by	Eric Wiebes Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
In office 14 October 2010 – 5 November 2012
Prime Minister	Mark Rutte
Preceded by	Piet Hein Donner
Succeeded by	Lodewijk Asscher
Governor of the Caribbean Netherlands
In office 1 January 2009 – 10 October 2010
Monarch	Beatrix
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Hans Gerritsen
Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
In office 22 July 2002 – 27 May 2003
Prime Minister	Jan Peter Balkenende
Preceded by	Jan Pronk
Succeeded by	Sybilla Dekker
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 30 November 2006 – 18 December 2008
In office 30 January 2003 – 27 May 2003
In office 17 May 1994 – 22 July 2002
Parliamentary group	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Personal details
Born	Henricus Gregorius Jozeph Kamp (1952-07-23) 23 July 1952 (age 71) Hengelo, Netherlands
Political party	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (from 1972)
Spouse	Linda Kamp ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	1 son and 1 daughter
Residence(s)	Diepenheim, Netherlands
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Trade association executive · Salesman · Tax collector

Henricus Gregorius Jozeph "Henk" Kamp (Dutch pronunciation: [ɦɛnˈrikʏs xreːˈɣoːrijəˈʃoːzəf ˈɦɛŋˈkɑmp];^[a] born 23 July 1952) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who was Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Rutte III from 24 September 2021 to 10 January 2022. He previously was Minister of Defence in the Cabinets Balkenende I, II and III from 12 December 2002 until 22 February 2007.

Kamp studied Customs at the Civil Service Academy in Utrecht. Kamp worked as a tax collector for the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) of the Tax and Customs Administration from April 1980 until May 1994. After the election of 1994 Kamp was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives on 17 May 1994 and was a frontbencher and spokesperson for Integration. After the election of 2002 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Cabinet Balkenende I taking office on 22 July 2002. The Cabinet Balkenende I fell just 87 days into its term and shortly thereafter was appointed as Minister of Defence following the resignation of Benk Korthals taking office on 12 December 2002. After the election of 2003 Kamp continued as Minister of Defence in the Cabinet Balkenende II. The Cabinet Balkenende fell on 30 June 2006 was replaced with the caretaker Cabinet Balkenende III with Kamp retaining his position. After the election of 2006 Kamp returned to the House of Representatives on 30 November 2006 and was a frontbencher and spokesperson for Kingdom Relations. In December 2008 Kamp was nominated as the first Governor of the Caribbean Netherlands serving from 1 January 2009 until 10 October 2010.

After the election of 2010 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Cabinet Rutte I taking office 14 October 2010. The Cabinet Rutte I fell 18 months into its term and shortly thereafter announced that he would not stand for the election of 2012 but accept to serve in a new cabinet position. After the election Kamp was appointed as Minister of Economic Affairs in the Cabinet Rutte II taking office on 5 November 2012. In February 2016 Kamp announced his retirement and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 2017 and declined to serve in new cabinet.

Kamp retired from active politics at 65 and became active in the private sector, and as a trade association executive serving as Chairman of the Healthcare Providers association since January 2018 and became a Member of the Social and Economic Council for the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO-NCW) in February 2018.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).