After the election of 2002 Kamp was appointed as Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Cabinet Balkenende I taking office on 22 July 2002.

The Cabinet Balkenende I fell just 87 days into its term and shortly thereafter was appointed as Minister of Defence following the resignation of Benk Korthals taking office on 12 December 2002.

Henricus Gregorius Jozeph Kamp was born on 23 July 1952 in Hengelo in the Netherlands Province of Overijssel in a Roman Catholic family.

As part of his "farewell tour" as Minister of Defence, Henk Kamp visited the Dutch troops in Afghanistan and paid his respects to president Hamid Karzai.

President Karzai awarded Henk Kamp the High State Medal of Ghazi Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan.

[2] Kamp left the House of Representatives on 1 January 2009 to head the transformation of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius to special municipalities within the Netherlands.

On 13 September 2012, the day after the parliamentary elections, Kamp was asked to prepare for the formation of a new cabinet and had exploratory conversations with several parties.

The formation resulted in the forming of the Cabinet Rutte II and Kamp became Minister of Economic Affairs and took office on 5 November 2012.