Bos semi-retired from national politics and became active in the private sector and public sector, in October 2010 Bos was named as a management consultant for KPMG. After the election of 2012 Bos was appointed as co-Informateur for the cabinet formation of 2012. In August 2013 Bos was nominated as chairman of the board of directors of the VU University Medical Center. In September 2018 Bos was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of the Netherlands Investment Agency, taking office on 1 October 2018. Bos also serves as an lobbyist for several economic delegations on behalf of the government. As of 2022 he is the chairman of health insurance company Menzis.[1][2]
Life
Youth
Bos was raised in a Doorbraaksocial-democratic family with a Protestant background in Vlaardingen. His father founded the ecumenical development cooperation fund ICCO, which he also led for many years. Between 1969 and 1974 Bos attended the Protestant elementary school de Beurthonk in Odijk. From 1974 he attended the Protestant high school Christelijk Lyceum in Zeist. In 1980 he graduated specializing in sciences and classics. In 1980–81 he was a Voluntary Instructor at the YMCA National Centre in Curdridge in the United Kingdom.
Life before politics
Bos became a member of the PvdA in 1981. In the same year he started studying Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In 1982 he also took up Economics. In 1988 he graduated cum laude in both subjects.
From 1988 till 1998 he worked for Royal Dutch Shell in various positions. With a background in Shell, he differs from other Dutch leftwing politicians, who rarely have a background in a major multinational corporation. Bos began to work for Shell because he thought that "the Dutch Left should not leave the business world to the Dutch Right".
Between 1988 and 1990 he worked at the Pernis Refinery as a management consultant, where he was a specialist on training and reorganisation. In 1990 he became policy advisor for the central board, specializing in labour relations and working conditions, he also served as representative of the central board in its dealings with the central works council. In 1992–93 he was stationed as general affairs manager for Shell Romania Exploration, where he was responsible for setting up the Romanian branch of Shell. In 1993 he was stationed in Hong Kong, to work as staff planning and development manager for Shell Companies in Greater China, responsible for the recruitment and selection of new manager for Shell in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. In 1996 he returned to Europe, and worked as a consultant for new markets for Shell International Oil Products in London, focusing on acquisition in developing LPG markets in South America and Asia. In 1998 he left Shell to enter Dutch politics. For a short while he was policy advisor for the PvdA parliamentary party in the lower house and a personal assistant of the party's financial spokesperson, Rick van der Ploeg.
In 1998 he was elected into the lower house of parliament for the PvdA as finance specialist. He campaigned together with Rick van der Ploeg and Willem Vermeend as "the Polderboys" and gave lectures in economics at universities. In 2000, due to a cabinet reshuffle, he succeeded Willem Vermeend as staatssecretaris for Finance, and became responsible for taxation, monetary policy and finances of lower-level government. Together with Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm he was able to get parliamentary support for a radical reform of the tax system. After the May 2002 elections he returned to parliament, as a specialist on income policy and health affairs.
In the January 2003 election, Bos entered a head-to-head race with incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Christian Democratic CDA, Jan Peter Balkenende. Under Bos the vote and seats of the PvdA nearly doubled from 15% (23 seats) in 2002 to 27% (42 seats) in 2003. This resurgence was partially credited to Bos' charisma and youthful appearance (and according to some journalists Bos' "sexy touch"). Balkenende's CDA however remained largest the party by a margin of two seats. The ensuing coalition formation talks between Balkenende and Bos failed after several months. The CDA went on to form a government with the conservative liberal VVD, and the progressive liberal D66.
At that time Bos was the leader of the largest opposition party.[3] He spent considerable time reforming the PvdA's internal organisation and public image, together with the party's chairman Ruud Koole. He was criticized for his silence on important reforms and issues, and his moderacy which resulted in other parties claiming opposition leadership, among them most notably the Socialist Party. Although still enjoying large public support, criticism about his "style over substance" approach to politics was voiced in this period. At the December 2005 party congress, Bos announced that he aspired to become Prime Minister of the Netherlands, should the PvdA succeed in becoming the biggest party after the next parliament elections. And in the 2006 municipal elections, a few months later, the PvdA performed particularly well, becoming the largest party in local government.
However, in the election campaign for the Dutch general elections of 2006 the PvdA – for the second time campaigning under his leadership – didn't manage to maintain this position as biggest party. Some considered pension reforms proposed by him to embattle the consequences of an aging population as a reason for this decline in popularity.[4] Others emphasized a declining confidence in Bos among parts of the electorate that perceived him as "unreliable", as reason for this.[5] Bos lost nine seats in the elections, which saw large gains for the main rival of Labour on the left side of the political spectrum, the more radical Socialist Party. Nonetheless, after these elections (and this time successful coalition talks with Prime Minister Balkenende), Bos became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in the Fourth Balkenende cabinet, thereby breaking a campaign promise to only join a cabinet when he could hold the office of Prime Minister.[citation needed]
As part of the leadership of the PvdA he revoked his confidence in fellow party member Ella Vogelaar as Minister of Integration and Housing. She subsequently resigned her post on 13 November 2008. The Dutch parliamentary press chose him as politician of the year 2008, largely due to his crisis management of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 that included nationalization of the Fortis bank.[6]
In December 2002 Bos married Barbara Bos (the surname is a coincidence). The master of ceremonies of his marriage was Joop Wijn, the former State Secretary of finance for the CDA. Wouter and Barbara Bos have two daughters, Iris (5 February 2004) and Jula (3 January 2006) and a son Joppe (18 April 2009).
^"Balkenende wijst uitnodiging Bos af", De Telegraaf (1 October 2006) "Volgens Balkenende heeft Bos problemen omdat hij „vervelende" boodschappen als de beperking van de hypotheekrenteaftrek en de fiscalisering van de AOW aan de kiezer moet verkopen."
^"Kiezer is links, stemt rechts", Trouw (11-11-2006) "Het verlies voor de PvdA zit vooral in de geringe waardering voor de persoon van lijsttrekker Wouter Bos. De PvdA-leider scoort laag op punten als betrouwbaarheid en bekwaamheid. Zijn grote concurrent Balkenende scoort op betrouwbaarheid stukken beter en op bekwaamheid heeft hij zijn eerdere achterstand goedgemaakt."
^"Wouter Bos gekozen tot politicus van het jaar" (in Dutch). Trouw. 14 December 2008. dutch original "PvdA-leider Wouter Bos is door de parlementaire pers gekozen tot politicus van het jaar 2008. De Haagse burgemeester Jozias van Aartsen (VVD), die de uitslag op Radio 1 bekendmaakte, noemde Bos een 'comeback kid' in de politiek en 'onze nationale crisismanager', refererend aan het optreden van Bos als minister van Financiën tijdens de financiële crisis. " English translation:"PvdA-leader Wouter Bos has been chosen as politician of the year 2008 by the parliamentary press. The mayor of the Hague, Jozias van Aartsen (VVD), who announced the result on Radio 1, called Bos a 'comeback kid' in politics and 'our national crisis manager', referring to Bos' measures as Finance Minister during the financial crisis.
Underline signifies the parliamentary leader (first mentioned) and the Speaker Angle brackets signify a replacement member or a member who prematurely left this House of Representatives
