26 Facts About Henri Bontenbal

Henri Bontenbal has been the leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal since 14 August 2023.

Henri Bontenbal participated in the 2021 general election but failed to be directly elected.

Henri Bontenbal became a permanent member of parliament in January 2022 after having replaced Harry van der Molen during his sick leave.

Henri Bontenbal was born in Vreewijk, Rotterdam as the fourth in a family of eight children and grew up in its southern borough of IJsselmonde.

Henri Bontenbal's father worked as a municipal cartographer in Rotterdam.

Henri Bontenbal became an independent consultant specialized in renewable energy generation in 2013 and served at the same time as a junior fellow of the CDA's scientific bureau.

Henri Bontenbal was placed 94th on the 2018 edition of the Duurzame 100, a yearly list published by newspaper Trouw with the one hundred most influential Dutch people in sustainability.

Henri Bontenbal had before criticized the list, calling it elitist and lacking of people who contribute behind the scenes.

Henri Bontenbal has supported an energy transition away from natural gas and has called it necessary to consider biomass and nuclear power for achieving climate goals.

Henri Bontenbal has decried political parties that have solely blamed corporations for climate change.

In 2019, when the third Rutte cabinet was struggling with reactive nitrogen emissions, Henri Bontenbal told Trouw that the CDA would not have a future if it would keep advertising itself as a party for the countryside.

Henri Bontenbal explained that farmers, while important, are just one group of people, and that the CDA should have a story that resonates with the whole of society.

Henri Bontenbal was the CDA's seventeenth candidate in the 2021 general election.

Henri Bontenbal received 1,345 preference votes, and he was not elected, because the CDA won fifteen seats in the House of Representatives.

Henri Bontenbal was appointed to the House on 1 June 2021 as the temporary replacement of Pieter Omtzigt, who went on sick leave.

Henri Bontenbal's focus in the House was on climate, energy, sustainable transport, and digital affairs.

Besides his position as parliamentary leader, Henri Bontenbal has since served as the CDA's spokesperson for European affairs, immigration, climate, and energy.

Henri Bontenbal revised the CDA's stance on consumer fireworks at New Year by supporting a nationwide ban, citing their use in violent acts against first responders.

Henri Bontenbal did not embrace the revised budget, declaring that they had made "a bad budget less bad".

Until he moved to Ridderkerk as a member of parliament, Henri Bontenbal had lived in the southern part of Rotterdam his entire life.

Henri Bontenbal met his wife Hanneke as a member of the Reformed student association CSFR.

Henri Bontenbal plays the piano and the saxophone, and he is a fan of Russian composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Henri Bontenbal was raised as a member of the Reformed Congregations but decided to move to the Dutch Reformed Church during adolescence; he is a member of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.

Henri Bontenbal attends the Rotterdam Pilgrim Church, but has referred to himself as Protestant with a Catholic heart.

Bishop Johannes Hendriks criticized him in 2024 for receiving Holy Communion when he visited an abbey as part of a television show, as Henri Bontenbal has not been initiated in the Catholic Church.

Henri Bontenbal is a descendant of Claes Michielsz Henri Bontenbal, who was beheaded for his role in a conspiracy against Maurice, Prince of Orange.