Willem Scholten (1 June 1927 – 1 January 2005) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) party and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and economist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 1 July 1997. Scholten was known for his abilities as a negotiator and consensus builder. Scholten continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death at the age of 77 and holds the distinction as the second longest-serving Vice-President of the Council of State after World War II with 16 years, 273 days.