# Dick Benschop

Dirk Anne "Dick" Benschop (Dutch:; born 5 November 1957) is a former Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. He was the CEO and chairman of the Schiphol Group since 1 May 2018 until 1 November 2022 and chairman of the Orange Foundation since 1 June 2017.

## Early life and education

Benschop was born in Driebergen on 5 November 1957 as the youngest child in a Reformed Christian family. His father worked as a municipal secretary in Driebergen. He attended secondary education in Doorn, and he subsequently studied history at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He was chairman of the student council, and he was active in the Interchurch Peace Council [nl] (IKV). A book by Benschop about the preparation of a demonstration against nuclear weapons on 21 November 1981 was published in 1983. He had been a member of the Political Party of Radicals (PPR) since 1977, but he switched to the Labour Party (PvdA) in September 1981, serving as board secretary of its Amsterdam-Zuid chapter. Benschop graduated from university in 1984 with a master's degree.

## Career

Following his studies, he worked as a substitute history teacher in Den Helder for seven months, leaving the profession afterwards. He later called it the toughest job he ever had, and he was subsequently unemployed for a year.
In 1986, he was hired by former prime minister and Labour Party leader Joop den Uyl as personal assistant. Following Den Uyl's death in late 1987, Benschop founded a foundation that organizes lectures in his memory. He advised Wim Kok, the party's parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives, and he became secretary of Thijs Wöltgens, when he succeeded Kok in 1989. Benschop later headed the party office, and he led the Labour Party's campaign in the May 1994 general election. He was the party's 52nd candidate. He established a solo consulting practice, working for clients including financial services company Aegon and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. He advised the latter on public relations when it had plans for a new runway, and he also did political consulting work for environment minister Margreeth de Boer (PvdA). Benschop ended his practice in 1996 to work for the Dutch Media Authority [nl], overseeing financial and technical matters. He occasionally wrote opinion pieces for Niet Nix [nl], a youth movement connected to the Labour Party.
He joined the second Kok cabinet on 3 August 1998 as State Secretary for European Affairs. Benschop was aligned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and he was the youngest member of the cabinet after State Secretary Margo Vliegenthart. He was described as a confidant of Prime Minister Kok, and he helped the prime minister prepare for European Council meetings. Along with finance minister Gerrit Zalm, he campaigned to reduce the Dutch annual contribution to the European Union by ƒ1.3 billion. Their demand was met at the Berlin meeting in 1999. Benschop was involved in the Tampere meeting of the Council on asylum and justice, he headed the Dutch delegation at the 2000 United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in The Hague, and he played in a role in the establishment of the Treaty of Nice. He supported the continued European integration.
Benschop served as the Labour Party campaign manager for the 2002 Dutch general election, where the party lost 23 seats in the House of Representatives and was defeated. Benschop, who was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives, served from 23 May 2002 until his resignation on 1 September 2002.
Following his time as a politician, Benschop held several senior roles at Royal Dutch Shell, including President of Royal Dutch Shell Netherlands from May 2011 until January 2016. He served as CEO of the Schiphol airport group from May 2018 to September 2022, resigning after months of chaos and flight disruption.

## Ideology

Benschop is a supporter of the Third Way, a political position combining social democratic and liberal policies, which was championed internationally by British prime minister Tony Blair, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and US president Bill Clinton. He contrasted himself with more left-wing Labour Party members, saying in the late 1990s that "policies directed against the business community are not in the interest of the Netherlands." Following his party's significant seat loss in the 2002 general election, Benschop said that voters had expected improvements in government services such as education and healthcare. He added that the optimism of the 1990s had faded because of economic hardship and the September 11 attacks. According to Benschop, the Third Way had underdeveloped ideas concerning public sector reform, and it fell short in addressing new uncertainties, including migration, security, and national identity.
He is in favor of turning the mayoralty into an elected office. He added that the same idea appealed to him for the position of prime minister, but he said that the position is already indirectly filled through elections.

## Personal life

Benschop is married to Elisabeth Minnemann, a psychologist and chairwoman of The Hague University of Applied Sciences who was raised in Germany as the daughter of a Portuguese diplomat. They have three children, born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Benschop resided in Badhoevedorp as state secretary, and he moved with his family to Malaysia when he worked for Shell. He later lived in The Hague.

## Other activities

* Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group
* Mission Possible Partnership, Chair of the Board

## Electoral history

Electoral history of Dick Benschop :
| Year | Body | Party | Party | Pos. | Votes | Result | Result | Ref. |
| Year | Body | Party | Party | Pos. | Votes | Party seats | Individual | Ref. |
| 1989 | House of Representatives | | Labour Party | 7 | 122 | 49 / 150 | Lost | |
| 1994 | House of Representatives | | Labour Party | 52 | 260 | 37 / 150 | Lost | |
| 2002 | House of Representatives | | Labour Party | 7 | 5,768 | 23 / 150 | Won | |