Sophie Hermans

Sophia Theodora Monique Hermans (born 1 May 1981) is a Dutch politician currently serving as the minister of health, welfare and sport since 2026 in the Jetten cabinet. She previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Climate and Green Growth in the Schoof cabinet from 2024 to 2026. Hermans also previously served as a member of the House of Representatives representing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy between 2017 and 2024.

Early life and education Hermans is the daughter of former politician Loek Hermans.

Hermans entered on the House of Representatives on 23 March 2017, and she was her party's spokesperson for healthcare. She served as deputy parliamentary leader of the VVD.

In July 2023, in the aftermath of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's resignation from national politics and as leader of the VVD, Hermans declined to run to become the next Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. Following the November 2023 general election, she served as spokesperson for AIVD, medical ethics, and long-term care and as acting parliamentary leader of the VVD, while party leader Dilan Yeşilgöz was still demissionary Minister of Justice and Security. Alongside Eelco Heinen, Hermans assisted Yeşilgöz in talks to form a new governing coalition in 2023–24.

After the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB formed the Schoof cabinet, Hermans was sworn in as Second Deputy Prime Minister and as Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth on 2 July 2024. The Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth was established simultaneously, and its responsibilities had previously been part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy with Rob Jetten as minister without portfolio. When past climate change denial by members of the fellow coalition party PVV was raised during her confirmation hearing, Hermans declared that she was committed to climate change mitigation and that she wanted to promote an optimistic message of green growth.

The governing agreement, presented in September 2024, included a continuation of existing plans to increase wind power and the construction of four nuclear power plants . Hermans later warned that it would not be possible to finish the first nuclear plant by 2035, as had been targeted by the preceding cabinet. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) concluded the following month that the likelihood of the Netherlands meeting its 2030 target – reducing emissions by 55% compared to 1990 levels – had fallen from 15% to less than 5%, partly due to the cabinet's reversal of its predecessor's measures. Hermans responded that she was working on additional initiatives.

She chaired the 2026 IEA Ministerial and 297th Governing Board session in Paris. She secured commitments to strengthen supply chain resilience, expand recycling initiatives, and enhance market transparency for critical minerals essential to clean energy technologies. She also guided international consensus on modernizing global power grids to ensure stability and resilience while meeting surging energy demands driven by artificial intelligence and data centers.

Political positions She opposed government efforts to ban laughing gas for recreational use, comparing it to "shooting a mosquito with a cannon". In 2024, Hermans re-introduced a proposal of her party to ban unvaccinated children from attending day care in response to declining vaccination rates and recent cases of the measles and whooping cough.

Personal life Hermans is in a relationship.

Her sister Caroliene was the political assistant of Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte for various years.

House of Representatives

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

House of Representatives

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy