Joshua Livestro

Joshua Livestro studied Political Sciences at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, before he left for Engeland in 1996, where he completed a postgraduate taught course in the History of Political Thinking. Early 1998, he exchanged political theory for the harsh reality of Westminster.

He became a clerk at the Conservative Party headquarters and advised members of the British Shadow cabinet on pension reforms, employment issues, children's care and education standards. In October 1999 he re-located to Brussels, where he became a personal assistant to Frits Bolkestein, the Dutch member of the European Commission. He wrote speeches and, as a jack of all trades, could see Bolkestein, one of the Netherlands' most important political masterchefs, in action.

After five years of writing for others, he finally got the chance to stand on his own two feet. In 2002, the Algemeen Dagblad, a national newspaper, asked him to write a weekly column. It was the start of a brandnew career as a columnist and publicist. He wrote for various regional and national newspapers and magazines before he was hired by De Telegraaf, the national paper he grew up with, to write a column on foreign issues. Livestro also writes essays, comments, and book reviews. His book 'The breath of greatness, a history of the Netherlands in the fifties' was published recently.

The spoken word is also very important to Joshua Livestro. In 2007, he replaced Ronald Plasterk, who became minister of Culture and Education, as a columnist for the weekly television news show 'Buitenhof'. After the editor of the programme refused to broadcast one his columns, Livestro left. Today he is a regular guest commentator on Radio 1.

Joshua Livestro is available as a chairman, discussion leader or speaker on internal and external affairs.