Gert-Jan Segers
Gert Jan Maarten "Gert-Jan" Segers (born 9 July 1969) is a Dutch politician serving as Leader of the Christian Union since 2015. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2012 and parliamentary leader since 2015. Early career. A native of Lisse, Segers studied political science at Leiden University and obtained a master's degree in Western–Islamic relations and the Middle East at Johns Hopkins University. From 2000 to 2007 he was a Christian missionary in Egypt. From 2008 to 2012, he was the chairman of the Christian Union think tank Mr.  G. Groen van Prinsterer Stichting. He is also a columnist for the Dutch newspaper "Nederlands Dagblad"; he wrote two books criticising political Islam, as well as two novels. Politics. Segers entered the House of Representatives following the 2012 general election. In 2015, he succeeded Arie Slob as party leader and parliamentary leader. In the 2017 general election, the Christian Union remained stable with five seats. Prime Minister Mark Rutte first turned toward GroenLinks to form his third cabinet, but the policy disagreements prevented participation. Rutte then turned toward the Christian Union, who accepted the offer to govern: two Christian Union  members were appointed (Carola Schouten and Arie Slob). Private life. Gert-Jan Segers is married and has three children. Theo Segers, the former Mayor of Staphorst and current Mayor of Molenlanden, is his cousin.