Edith Schippers

Edith Schippers
Schippers in 2015
Leader of the VVD in the Senate
Assumed office
4 July 2023
Preceded byAnnemarie Jorritsma
Member of the Senate
Assumed office
4 July 2023
Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport
In office
14 October 2010 – 26 October 2017
Prime MinisterMark Rutte
Preceded byAb Klink
Succeeded byHugo de Jonge
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
20 September 2012 – 5 November 2012
In office
3 June 2003 – 14 October 2010
Personal details
Born
Edith Ingeborg Schippers

(1964-08-25) 25 August 1964 (age 60)
Utrecht, Netherlands
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (from 1991)
Spouse
Sander Speijker
(m. 1995)
Children1 daughter
Residence(s)Baarn, Netherlands
Alma materLeiden University
(Bachelor of Social Science, Master of Social Science)
OccupationPolitician · Businesswoman · Political consultant · Corporate director · Nonprofit director

Edith Ingeborg Schippers (born 25 August 1964) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman who served as President of DSM Netherlands between 2019 and 2023.

Schippers, a political consultant by occupation, worked for the Industry and Employers Confederation from 1997 until 2003. Schippers became a member of the House of Representatives shortly after the 2003 general election taking office on 3 June 2003, serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for health, deputy spokesperson for employment and as deputy parliamentary leader. After the 2010 general election, Schippers was appointed as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Rutte I cabinet taking office on 14 October 2010. Following the 2012 general election, she returned to the House of Representatives serving from 20 September 2012 until 5 November 2012, when she continued as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Rutte II cabinet. In May 2017, Schippers announced her retirement from national politics and did not stand for the 2017 general election; she left office upon the installation of the Rutte III cabinet on 26 October 2017.

Schippers retired after spending 14 years in national politics and became active in the private sector, as a corporate director for DSM Netherlands. For the 2023 Senate election, she returned to politics as VVD lead candidate. She was elected, but she has announced that she would leave the Senate in January 2025 to become CEO of pharmaceutical wholesaler Mosadex.