Alexandra van Huffelen

Alexandra Carla van Huffelen (born 21 July 1968) is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party. She served in the third and fourth Rutte cabinets, and she became party chair in November 2024.

Early life and career

Van Huffelen was born in 1968, and her father was a clinical neurophysiology professor. She studied public administration at Leiden University and Erasmus University Rotterdam, and she began her career at the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. She started working for energy company Essent in 2000, eventually serving as sustainable energy director. Following a drop in employee rationale, an internal evaluation pointed to her leadership style as the cause. Van Huffelen later stated that she had learned from the experience, and she acknowledged having exerted excessive pressure to achieve cost reductions.

In 2010, she was appointed alderwoman in Rotterdam, responsible for sustainability. She served on behalf of D66, which she had joined in 1989. Van Huffelen was a proponent of urban agriculture, and she advocated for green roofs and narrow strips of plants along façades. She ran for party chair of D66 in 2013, but she narrowly lost the member election. She has served as chair of the D66's fundraising committee and as treasurer of the party's Rotterdam chapter. In 2014, she became managing director of GVB, Amsterdam's public transport operator, where she was tasked with absorbing a €65 million reduction in government subsidies over ten years. The organization prioritized its busiest and most profitable lines, with the newly opened North–South Line playing an important role. Less busy stops and bus and tram lines were discontinued. Alongside her role at GVB, Van Huffelen started serving as a member of the Senate in June 2019.