Dilan Yeşilgöz

Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (; born 18 June 1977) is a Dutch politician who has been the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2026. She is the Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy since 2023. 

She was the Minister of Justice and Security from 2022 to 2024. She is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). She was a member of the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. In 2026, she became Minister of Defence.

Leader of the VVD
On 12 July 2023, two days after Mark Rutte's resignation, Yeşilgöz-Zegerius announced her candidacy to become the next Leader of the VVD. The next day, the party board formally nominated her for the position.

Yeşilgöz-Zegerius led the VVD in the 2023 and 2025 Dutch general elections, failing to win a majority of seats in the House of Representatives both times. After the 2023 election, she led the VVD in the political coalition that helped create the Dick Schoof cabinet.

Personal life
Yeşilgöz-Zegerius was born in Ankara, Turkey. She emigrated to the Netherlands as a child. Her mother and father are Kurds. Her parents sought asylum in the Netherlands in 1980, after the 1980 coup.

She is an atheist. She married René Zegerius, a Jewish Dutch man, in 2013.

References

Other websites


Category:1977 births
Category:Living people
Category:Politicians from Amsterdam
Category:Politicians from Ankara
Category:Naturalised citizens of the Netherlands
Category:Leaders of political parties in the Netherlands
Category:People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians