Leader of the Labour Party (Netherlands)

Labour Party logo

Then incumbent Leader Joop den Uyl and future Leader Wim Kok in the House of Representatives on 3 June 1986.

Future Leader Lilianne Ploumen, former Leaders Wouter Bos, Wim Kok and then incumbent Leader Job Cohen at a party conference on 1 May 2011.

Newly elected Leader Diederik Samsom and former Leader Job Cohen at a party conference on 21 March 2012.

The Leader of the Labour Party is the most senior politician within the Labour Party (Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid, PvdA) in the Netherlands.

The leaders outwardly act as the 'figurehead' and the main representative of the party. Within the party, they must ensure political consensus. At election time the leader is always the lead candidate of the party list. Outside election time the leader can serve as the Leader of the Opposition. In the Labour Party the party leader is often the parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives. Some leaders became a minister in the cabinet.

List

Leader			Term of office	Age as leader	Position(s) as leader	Further position(s)	Former affiliation	Professional background	Lead candidate
		Willem Drees (1886–1988)	9 February 1946 – 22 December 1958 (12 years, 316 days) [Retired]	59–72	Minister of Social Affairs Deputy Prime Minister (1945–1948) Member of the House of Representatives (1946, 1948, 1952, 1956) Prime Minister (1948–1958) Minister of Colonial Affairs (1951) Minister of Finance (1952)	Member of the House of Representatives (1933–1945) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1939–1945) Leader of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (1940–1946) Chairman of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (1943–1945) Minister of State (1958–1988)	Social Democratic Workers' Party	Accountant civil servant Historian Author	1946 1948 1952 1956
		Jaap Burger (1904–1986)	22 December 1958 – 16 September 1962 (3 years, 268 days) [Resigned]	54–58	Member of the House of Representatives (1945–1962) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1952–1962)	Minister for Return Policy (1943–1944) Minister of the Interior (1944–1945) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1951) Member of the Senate (1963–1970) Member of the European Parliament (1966–1970) Member of the Council of State (1970–1979) Minister of State (1975–1986)	Social Democratic Workers' Party	Lawyer	1959
		Dr. Anne Vondeling (1916–1979)	16 September 1962 – 13 September 1966 (3 years, 362 days) [Resigned]	46–50	Member of the House of Representatives (1959–1965) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1962–1965) Minister of Finance Deputy Prime Minister (1965–1966)	Member of the House of Representatives (1946–1958, 1967–1979) Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Supplies (1958) Chairman of the Labour Party (1969–1971) Speaker of the House of Representatives (1972–1979) Member of the European Parliament (1979)	Free-thinking Democratic League	Agronomist Agricultural engineer Civil servant professor	1963
		Joop den Uyl (1919–1987)	13 September 1966 – 21 July 1986 (19 years, 311 days) [Retired]	47–66	Member of the House of Representatives (1967–1973, 1977, 1978–1981, 1982–1987) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1967–1973, 1977, 1978–1981, 1982–1986) Prime Minister (1973–1977) President of the European Council (1976) President of the Party of European Socialists (1980–1987) Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (1981–1982) Minister for Netherlands Antilles Affairs Deputy Prime Minister (1981–1982)	Member of the House of Representatives (1956–1963) Minister of Economic Affairs (1965–1966)	Anti-Revolutionary Party	Economist Civil servant Journalist	1967 1971 1972 1977 1981 1982 1986
		Wim Kok (1938–2018)	21 July 1986 – 15 December 2001 (15 years, 147 days) [Retired]	47–63	Member of the House of Representatives (1986–1989, 1994, 1998) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1986–1989, 1994, 1998) Minister of Finance Deputy Prime Minister (1989–1994) Prime Minister (1994–2002) President of the European Council (1997)	Minister of State (2003–2018) President of the Club of Madrid (2009–2014)		Trade union leader	1989 1994 1998
		Ad Melkert (born 1956)	15 December 2001 – 16 May 2002 (155 days) [Resigned]	45–46	Member of the House of Representatives (1998–2002) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (1998–2002)	Member of the House of Representatives (1986–1994) Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (1994–1998) Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (2006–2009) Special Representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (2009–2011) Member of the Council of State (since 2016)	Political Party of Radicals	Nonprofit director Activist	2002
Vacant (16 May 2002 – 12 November 2002)
		Wouter Bos (born 1963)	12 November 2002 – 25 April 2010 (7 years, 164 days) [Retired]	39–46	Member of the House of Representatives (2002–2007) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2002–2007) Minister of Finance Deputy Prime Minister (2007–2010)	Member of the House of Representatives (1998–2000) State Secretary for Finance (2000–2002)		Businessman Economist Management consultant	2003 2006
		Dr. Job Cohen (born 1947)	25 April 2010 – 20 February 2012 (1 year, 301 days) [Resigned]	62–64	Member of the House of Representatives (2010–2012) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2010–2012)	State Secretary for Education and Sciences (1993–1994) Member of the Senate (1995–1998) Parliamentary leader in the Senate (1996–1998) State Secretary for Justice (1998–2001) Mayor of Amsterdam (2001–2010)		Jurist Researcher Author Professor	2010
Vacant (20 February 2012 – 16 March 2012)
		Diederik Samsom (born 1971)	16 March 2012 – 10 December 2016 (4 years, 269 days) [Defeated]	40–45	Member of the House of Representatives (2003–2016) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2012–2016)			Nonprofit director Activist Environmentalist Political consultant	2012
		Dr. Lodewijk Asscher (born 1974)	10 December 2016 – 14 January 2021 (4 years, 35 days) [Resigned]	42–46	Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Deputy Prime Minister (2012–2017) Member of the House of Representatives (2017–2021) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2017–2012)	Ad interim Mayor of Amsterdam (2010)		Jurist Researcher Professor	2017
Vacant (14 January 2021 – 18 January 2021)
		Lilianne Ploumen (born 1962)	23 January 2021 – 12 April 2022 (1 year, 79 days) [Resigned]	58–59	Member of the House of Representatives (2017–2022) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2021–2022)	Chair of the Labour Party (2007–2012) Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (2012–2017)	GreenLeft	Nonprofit director Activist Social worker	2021
Vacant (12 April 2022 – 11 June 2022)
		Attje Kuiken (born 1977)	11 June 2022 – 22 August 2023 [Retired]	44	Member of the House of Representatives (2010-2023) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2022-2023)	Member of the House of Representatives (2006–2010) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2016–2017)		Civil servant
		Frans Timmermans (born 1961)	22 August 2023 – Incumbent	62	Member of the House of Representatives (since 2023) Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives (2023 since)	European Commissioner for Climate Action (2019–2023) Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012–2014) Member of the House of Representatives (1998–2007, 2010–2012)		Diplomat	2023

^Resigned

^Retired

^{Defeated for reelection}

See also

• Leadership elections
  • 2002
  • 2012
  • 2016

External links

• (in Dutch) Official website