2012 Labour Party (Netherlands) leadership election

The 2012 Labour Party leadership election was called to elect the new Leader of the Labour Party after incumbent Job Cohen announced his retirement from national politics. Cohen had been the leader of the party since 25 April 2010 after the resignation of Wouter Bos. Diederik Samsom a Member of the House of Representatives beat former Minister of Education, Culture and Science Ronald Plasterk, former Undersecretary for Justice Nebahat Albayrak, Member of the House of Representatives Martijn van Dam, and backbencher Member of the House of Representatives Lutz Jacobi with 54.0% of the votes.

2012 Labour Party leadership election

16 March 2012 (2012-03-16)

Candidate Diederik Samsom Ronald Plasterk Nebahat Albayrak Popular vote 19,524 11,427 2,968 Percentage 54.0% 31.6% 8.2%   Candidate Martijn van Dam Lutz Jacobi Popular vote 1,410 815 Percentage 3.9% 2.3%

Leader before election Job Cohen Leader-elect Diederik Samsom