Alexandra van Huffelen (53) will be the new State Secretary for Kingdom Relations in the Rutte IV cabinet. Van Huffelen will be succeeding Raymond Knops. Van Huffelen is currently the outgoing State Secretary for Finance. Her porfolio so far included Allowances and Customs.

D66 has now announced the official list of names for the new cabinet team. Of the four coalition parties, D66 brings the most people from outside politics to the Trêveszaal. The CDA supplies the Minister of the Interior Affairs. That will be former MP Hanke Bruin Slot. She is currently a member of the deputy in Utrecht.

Career

Van Huffelen studied public administration at Leiden University and Erasmus University Rotterdam. In the 1990s she worked at the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. From 2000 to 2010, she worked at energy company Essent, the last two years of which as Director Business Unit New Energy.

After the municipal elections of 2010, Van Huffelen was appointed alderman for Sustainability, Inner City and Outdoor Space of the Municipality of Rotterdam. Van Huffelen was also responsible for the redevelopment of the Rotterdam city centre. She was also responsible for the management, maintenance of the outdoor space and the greening in and around Rotterdam.

As of June 1, 2014, Van Huffelen became general manager of the transport company GVB in Amsterdam. For the 2019 Senate elections, Van Huffelen was in third place on the D66 candidate list and was installed as a member of the Senate on 11 June 2019. Since January 29, 2020, Van Huffelen has been State Secretary for Finance for surcharges and customs. In that role she was responsible for handling the ‘allowances affair’ (Toeslagenaffaire).

Other social functions

Van Huffelen held various board positions, including chairman of the international art center De Appel in Amsterdam, a member of the Supervisory Board of the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven, a member of the Formula E team to promote electric driving and a member of the ICLEI board. , the worldwide association of municipalities working together on sustainability.
She has been a member of D66 since 1989 and has held various positions during that period, including treasurer of the Rotterdam department.

On June 20, 2015, she was elected president of the Fietsersbond. She held this position for a year.