33 Facts About Diederik Samsom

Diederik Samsom was the first leader in the 70-year history of the PvdA to have been voted out of his position by party members.

Diederik Samsom later served as head of cabinet for First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans and his successor Wopke Hoekstra.

Diederik Samsom lost the Labour Party leadership election to Lodewijk Asscher in December 2016.

Diederik Maarten Samsom was born on 10 July 1971 in Groningen in the Netherlands.

Diederik Samsom's father worked as an internist and his mother as a physiotherapist.

Diederik Samsom graduated in May 1997, obtaining a Dutch engineer's degree.

Diederik Samsom was on the board of the national students' union LSVb and edited a yearly edition of the Poenboek, a students' guide relating to monetary issues.

Diederik Samsom had been involved in environmental issues long before entering politics.

Diederik Samsom joined environmental organisation Greenpeace Netherlands in September 1995 as a volunteer.

Diederik Samsom led several campaigns and projects until he resigned in December 2001, after the PvdA offered him a career in politics.

Diederik Samsom worked as the CEO of Echte Energie, a small green energy trading company, from August 2002 until January 2003.

Diederik Samsom became a member of the social democratic Labour party while a student in Delft.

Diederik Samsom left the party but rejoined in February 2001.

Diederik Samsom stood as a candidate in the 2002 Dutch general election, but was not elected due to the PvdA receiving insufficient votes in the election.

The party regained most of its seats in the 2003 election and this time Diederik Samsom had a higher position on the list of candidates.

Diederik Samsom was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives on 30 January 2003.

Diederik Samsom was nineteenth on the list of candidates in the 2006 Dutch general elections receiving a relative high number of 6248 preferential votes.

Diederik Samsom underwent a septuple bypass surgery and this took him three months to recuperate.

Three days later, Diederik Samsom officially announced that he would compete in the race.

On 22 February 2012, following Job Cohen's resignation as party leader, Diederik Samsom stood as candidate in the party's leadership ballot which was held among the party members.

Diederik Samsom stated he would like to become prime minister should the PvdA become the largest party, or otherwise continue his role of chairman of his party in the House of Representatives.

Diederik Samsom remained chairman of the PvdA in the Tweede Kamer and Lodewijk Asscher became vicepremier and minister for Social Affairs and Employment on behalf of the PvdA.

Polls suggest that the Labour party lost most of its electoral base while Diederik Samsom was in charge.

In November 2019, Diederik Samsom became head of cabinet for Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Climate Action.

Diederik Samsom became chair of the supervisory board of state-owned natural gas infrastructure and transportation company Gasunie in July 2024, saying that he wanted to help execute the renewable energy transition.

Diederik Samsom failed to inform the European Commission of his new position as is required to prevent conflicts of interest, but the body finally allowed the appointment of Samson under certain conditions.

NRC newspaper referred to Diederik Samsom as quizking after he won his fifth televised game show.

Diederik Samsom won the popular National News Quiz in 2005 and 2006 and in May 2008 he was crowned winner of the Big History Quiz.

Diederik Samsom was raised in a non-religious family and considers himself an atheist.

Diederik Samsom is a non smoker and observes a vegetarian diet.

Diederik Samsom mentioned them in several political debates and interviews in a for the Netherlands unprecedented and criticized way, including drawing attention to his daughter's disability.

Diederik Samsom involved his private life and family in his 2012 electoral campaign, most notably by featuring his two children in an official party TV advertisement.

Diederik Samsom lived on a houseboat in Broek in Waterland with his ex-wife and daughter before moving to Leiden, where he still resides as of 2012.