Background
Manders was born on 14 March 1956 in Stiphout.
Manders was born on 14 March 1956 in Stiphout.
He attended the Academy for Industrial Design in Tilburg, graduating in 1982.
He served for the People"s Party for Freedom and Democracy from 20 July 1999 until 17 October 2013 as part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). He is now an independent Member of the European Parliament, while still part of the ALDE. He proceeded to study law Maastricht University, earning his degree in 1993. In 1999 he resigned from both positions to run for the European Parliament.
He served for the People"s Party for Freedom and Democracy in the European Parliament from 20 July 1999 until 17 October 2013 as part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
He got enough preferences votes during each of the three elections to be chosen independent of his list position. Manders felt that his former party had switched too much toward the political right, he also agreed that the People"s Party for Freedom and Democracy"s decision to limit their Member of the European Parliament terms to three might have influenced his decision.
As Manders already served three terms he would not be eligible anymore.
Manders started his political career in the municipal council of Asten, of which he was a member between 1994 and 1999. He left the People"s Party for Freedom and Democracy to become the party leader for the 50PLUS party in the European Parliament election, 2014.
He concurrently served as a member of the States-Provincial of North Brabant since 1995.