Netherlands: Labour leader Job Cohen stands down and quits parliament

Labour leader Job Cohen is standing down as both head of the parliamentary party and as an MP with immediate effect, the PvdA announced on Monday afternoon.

Cohen, the former mayor of Amsterdam, took over the job before the 2010 general election, winning the party 30 seats in parliament, just one less than the ruling VVD. Since then, however, the party's fortunes have plummeted and last week there was renewed speculation about the direction of the party and Cohen's position

Cohen said in a statement on the PvdA website he wanted to contribute to a 'decent society' but had been unable to bring that message across sufficiently. Matters came to a head last week when Cohen and new party chairman Hans Spekman gave an interview to Trouw which seemed to indicate they planned a move to the left. The interview was criticised by a number of PvdA stalwarts and according to some reports, over half of the Labour MPs wanted Cohen to quit.

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