Thom de Graaf

Thomas Carolus (Thom) de Graaf (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtoːmɑz də ˈɣraːf]; born 11 June 1957) is a Dutch jurist and politician. He is a member of social liberal party Democrats 66 (D66).

Since 7 June 2011 he has been a member of the Senate, and since 1 February 2012 he is President of the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (HBO-raad). Previously he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations, and mayor of the city of Nijmegen.

De Graaf was born in Amsterdam and studied law at the Catholic University Nijmegen where he obtained his LL.M. in 1981. He was a member of the House of Representatives in the period 1994-2003, where he also held the post of party leader and faction chairperson for D66 from 1997 onwards. He sat as vice-chairman in the parliamentary inquiry commission that looked into the investigative methods used by the Dutch interregional police force, leading to the resignation in 1994 of the Minister for Internal Affairs, Ed van Thijn.

De Graaf served in the second Balkenende cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations from 23 May 2003 until 23 March 2005. In 2005, de Graaf resigned, after the introduction of democratically elected mayors had been rejected in the Senate, with a deciding vote cast by the Labour Party faction under guidance by Ed van Thijn. The proposal was especially important as it had become a symbol of the government reform that D66 had wanted since its creation.Alexander Pechtold took his place in the cabinet.

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