Former Dutch minister and CDA leader Elco Brinkman has died at the age of 78.
His family said he died in Leiden on Monday, August 31, 2026, following a short illness.
The family did not reveal the illness that caused his death.
Brinkman became minister of welfare, health and culture in 1982 when he was 34.
He served in the governments of Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers for seven years.
As minister, Brinkman promoted the idea of a “caring society.” He argued that citizens had become too dependent on the welfare system and should take more responsibility for supporting one another.
He introduced cuts affecting welfare and the arts. He also helped establish a media law that opened the Dutch television market to commercial broadcasters.
Brinkman became the CDA’s parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives in 1989.
Many people expected him to succeed Lubbers as prime minister.
However, the CDA suffered a major defeat in the 1994 general election. The party fell from 54 seats to 34 after Lubbers publicly withdrew his support for Brinkman during the campaign.
The result pushed the CDA into opposition for the first time in decades.
Brinkman stepped down as party leader and left national politics in 1995.
He later became chairman of Bouwend Nederland, the Dutch construction industry association.
Brinkman returned to politics in 2011 as a member of the Senate. He led the CDA group in the upper house until 2019.
The Dutch Senate has confirmed his death and said it will remember him during a future meeting.
