Thom de Graaf

Thomas ("Thom") Carolus de Graaf (born June 11, 1957) was a Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations. He is a member of D66, a Dutch social liberal party. He has been the mayor of the city Nijmegen since January 2007.

He was born in Amsterdam and studied law at the "Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen" where he obtained a degree in 1981. He was a representative in the Tweede Kamer (the Second Chamber or Lower House) in the period 1994-2003, where he also held the post of party leader and faction chairperson for D66 from 1997 onwards. He sat as vice-chairman in the parliamentary inquiry commission that looked into the investigative methods used by the Dutch interregional police force, leading to the resignation in 1994 of the Minister for Internal Affairs, Ed van Thijn.

De Graaf served in the second Balkenende cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Government Reform and Kingdom Relations from May 23, 2003 until March 23, 2005. In 2005 de Graaf resigned, after the introduction of the democratically-elected mayor had been rejected in the Eerste Kamer (the First Chamber or Upper House), with a deciding vote cast by the Labour Party faction under guidance by Ed van Thijn. Alexander Pechtold took his place in the cabinet.

In October 2006, the municipal council of Nijmegen put forth their recommendation for De Graaf becoming the next mayor of the city, as successor of Guusje ter Horst. Interior minister Johan Remkes approved of the appointment on November 3, 2006. De Graaf's father, Theo de Graaf, was also mayor of Nijmegen, this from 1968 to 1977.