Ruth Peetoom

Gerhardine Ruth Peetoom (born 25 July 1967) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). She was the party chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal between 2 April 2011 and 9 February 2019.

Ruth Peetoom
Party chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal
In office 2 April 2011 – 9 February 2019
Preceded by	Liesbeth Spies
Personal details
Born	Gerhardine Ruth Peetoom (1967-07-25) 25 July 1967 (age 57) Breda, Netherlands
Political party	Christian Democratic Appeal
Spouse	René Paas
Residence(s)	Utrecht, Netherlands
Alma mater	Vrije Universiteit (M.A., Theology, Ethics)
Occupation	Politician Minister

Biography

Peetoom is born in the province of North Brabant and grew up in the eastern part of the province of Groningen. She studied theology and ethics at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Being a preacher of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN),^[1] she has been employed at the St. Nicholaschurch (Nicolaïkerk) in Utrecht since 2006.^[2]

From 1999 to 2005 she was a CDA member of the States-Provincial of Groningen. In 2010 she was vice-chair of the Frissen Commission,^[3] which investigated the CDA's huge loss in the 2010 Dutch general election. In April 2011 she was elected Party Chair of the Christian Democratic Appeal with over 60% of votes.^[4]