Ellen Nauta has been the mayor of the municipality of Hof van Twente since 2013, having been reelected in 2019 and 2025. Since 2022, she is also chair of the P10, a partnership between the thirty-three biggest rural municipalities in the Netherlands. Ellen studied History at Leiden University and Public Management at Tilburg University. She worked as a regional manager Latin America and the Caribbean for the Dutch development organisation Cordaid and afterwards became council member of the municipality of Oegstgeest. For more than twelve years, Ellen was active as international secretary and later director for the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in the Netherlands. She also was a member of a.o. the supervisory board of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and the European Comittee of the Regions.