{{Short description|Dutch lawyer and politician}} {{BLP sources|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Bob Ruers |image = RS1193 Portret Bob Ruers.JPG |office = [[Senate (Netherlands)|Member of the Senate]] |term = 5 February 2019 – 11 June 2019<br />7 June 2011 – 20 June 2018<br />12 December 2006 – 12 June 2007 |office1 = [[Parliamentary leader|Leader]] of the [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]] in the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]] |term_start1 = 19 May 1998 |term_end1 = 10 June 2003 |predecessor1 = [[Jan de Wit]] |successor1 = [[Tiny Kox]] |birth_name = Robert Frank Ruers |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|05|24|df=y}} |birth_place = [[Sittard]], the [[Netherlands]] |occupation = [[Attorney at law|Attorney]] · [[politician]] }} '''Robert Frank Ruers''' (born 24 May 1947) is a Dutch [[politician]] and [[Attorney at law|attorney]]. On behalf of the [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]] (SP) he was a [[Senate (Netherlands)|member of the Senate]] four times and briefly a [[Deputy (legislator)|deputy]] of the [[provincial executive]] of [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]].
==Career== Ruers grew up in [[Sittard]], Limburg, where he attended [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] at the [[Bisschoppelijk College Sittard|Bisschoppelijk College]]. Initially he wanted to become a [[priest]]. During his studies in [[Utrecht]] he became a member of the SP in 1972. Educated in [[private law]], Ruers worked successively at the [[w:nl:Gemeenschappelijk Administratiekantoor|GAK]] and the [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting|NOS]]. From 1980 he was a [[lawyer]] and [[attorney at law]].
In 1986, Ruers became the first [[Municipal council (Netherlands)|municipal councilor]] for the SP in Utrecht. He was a councilor and [[parliamentary leader]] until 2001. He was also associated with the national party apparatus of the SP, especially in legal matters. In 1995 he was the initiator of the ''[[Comité Asbestslachtoffers]]'' (CAS; 'Asbestos Victims Committee') affiliated with the SP. He conducted, among other things, compensation claims for former employees of [[Etex Group|Eternit]], who had contracted [[cancer]] as a result of [[Asbestosis|exposure to asbestos]].<ref name=tribune>{{cite web|url=https://www.sp.nl/tribune/2005/sp-tribune-01-2005-advocaat-bob-ruers-vastberaden-strijd-tegen-asbestepidemie|title=Advocaat Bob Ruers: Vastberaden strijd tegen asbestepidemie|author=Tribune|date=2005-01-21|website=[[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialistische Partij]]|language=Dutch|access-date=2021-08-02}}</ref>
On 19 May 1998, Ruers first became a member of the Senate, as interim successor to [[Jan de Wit]], who left for the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]]. As a one-man faction and from 1999 a member of a two-man faction, he was involved in very diverse matters in the Senate. In 2003 he retired from politics to focus more on legal support for the CAS. From January 2000, Ruers was a member of the supervisory board of the ''{{ill|Instituut voor Asbestslachtoffers|nl}}'' (IAS).<ref name=tribune/>
On 12 December 2006, he was sworn in again as a member of the Senate, succeeding [[Ronald van Raak]], who was elected to the House of Representatives in the [[2006 Dutch general election|2006 general election]]. In the [[2007 Dutch Senate election|2007 Senate election]], Ruers was not in an eligible position. In the [[2011 Dutch Senate election|2011 Senate election]], Ruers was in an eligible position and was re-elected to the Senate.
In March 2012, he obtained his [[doctorate]] at [[Erasmus University Rotterdam]] with a thesis entitled "Power and Countervailing Power in Dutch Asbestos Regulations". On 20 June 2018, Ruers left the Senate after he was sworn in as a member of the [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]] [[provincial executive]] on 15 June.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vkpbd08bj7hm/nieuws/sp_senator_bob_ruers_verlaat_eerste|title=SP-senator Bob Ruers verlaat Eerste Kamer|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=2018-06-18|website=Parlement.com|language=Dutch|access-date=2021-08-02}}</ref> He remained active in the provincial government for only a few months. After speaking out against a [[wind turbine]] plan that the coalition in Limburg was in favor of, [[GroenLinks]] submitted a motion of censure in September 2018. Because the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] and [[Democrats 66]] appeared to support the motion, the SP withdrew Ruers and SP deputy [[Marleen van Rijnsbergen]] from the board.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2252507-sp-stapt-uit-gedeputeerde-staten-limburg-na-debat-over-windmolens|title=SP stapt uit Gedeputeerde Staten Limburg na debat over windmolens|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018-09-28|website=[[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]]|language=Dutch|access-date=2021-08-02}}</ref>
On 5 February 2019, he was again installed as a member of the Senate as successor to {{ill|Anneke Wezel|nl}}. In the [[2019 Dutch Senate election|2019 Senate election]], he was in an ineligible place on the list of candidates and was not re-elected.
==Electoral history== {{Incomplete list|date=August 2024}} {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="font-size: 90%; text-align:center;" |+ {{sronly|Electoral history of Bob Ruers}} ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |Year ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |Body ! scope="col" colspan=2 rowspan=2 |Party ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |{{abbr|2=Position on the party list|Pos.}} ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |Votes ! scope="colgroup" colspan=2 |Result ! scope="col" rowspan=2 |{{abbr|2=References|Ref}}. |- ! scope="col" |Party seats ! scope="col" |Individual |- ! scope="row" | [[2024 European Parliament election in the Netherlands|2024]] | [[European Parliament]] | style="background-color:{{party color|Socialist Party (Netherlands)}};”| | [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]] | style=text-align:right | [[Party lists in the 2024 European Parliament election in the Netherlands#SP (Socialist Party)|25]] | style=text-align:right | 997 | style=text-align:right | 0 | {{no2|Lost}} | <ref name="eu24">{{Cite web |url = https://www.kiesraad.nl/adviezen-en-publicaties/proces-verbalen/2024/06/19/proces-verbaal-van-de-uitslag-van-de-europees-parlementsverkiezing-6-juni-2024 |website = Dutch Electoral Council |language = nl |access-date = 18 August 2024 |format = PDF |date = 19 June 2024 |title = Proces-verbaal centraal stembureau uitslag verkiezing Europees Parlement Model P22-1 |trans-title = Central electoral council report of the results of the election of the European Parliament Model P22-1 |pages = 8, 62–63 }}</ref> |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{in lang|nl}} [https://www.sp.nl/node/154 Socialist Party biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420195252/https://www.sp.nl/node/154 |date=2021-04-20 }} * {{in lang|nl}} [https://www.parlement.com/id/vg09llpsgcwk/r_f_bob_ruers Parlement.com biography]
{{Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2015–2019}} {{Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2011–2015}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruers, Bob}} [[Category:1947 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch lawyers]] [[Category:Members of the Senate (Netherlands)]] [[Category:Members of the Provincial-Executive of Limburg]] [[Category:People from Sittard]] [[Category:Socialist Party (Netherlands) senators]] [[Category:Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni]] [[Category:21st-century Dutch politicians]] [[Category:Dutch senators 1995–1999]]