Thom de Graaf

Thomas Carolus "Thom" de Graaf (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtoːmɑz də ˈɣraːf]; born 11 June 1957) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. He is the Vice-President of the Council of State since 1 November 2018. De Graaf worked as a researcher at the Radboud University Nijmegen and the Centre for Parliamentary History from May 1981 until July 1985. De Graaf worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of the Interior from July 1985 until May 1994 as a senior administrative official for the department for Law Enforcement from July 1985 until February 1986 as Deputy Director-General of the department for Legislative Affairs from February 1986 until August 1988 as Deputy Director-General of the department for Legal Affairs from August 1988 until September 1991 and as Deputy Director-General of the department for Law Enforcement from September 1991 until May 1994. De Graaf was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives after election of 1994, taking office on 17 May 1994. After the Parliamentary leader of the Democrats 66 in the House of Representatives Gerrit Jan Wolffensperger announced he was stepping down following increasing criticism on his performance De Graaf was chosen to succeed him en became the Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, taking office on 21 November 1997. After the election of 1998 the new Leader of the Democrats 66 Els Borst was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and became the Parliamentary leader, taking office on 19 May 1998. Following the cabinet formation of 1998 Els Borst opted to remain Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Cabinet Kok II and unexpectedly announced that she was stepping down as Leader. De Graaf subsequently defeated Roger van Boxtel for the Democrats 66 leadership and succeeded Els Borst as Leader and Parliamentary leader, taking office on 30 May 1998. For the election of 2002 De Graaf served as the Lijsttrekker (top candidate) of the Democrats 66. Following