Ex housing minister candidate for Amsterdam mayor

Former housing and integration minister Eberhard van der Laan has put himself forward as a candidate for the job of Amsterdam mayor and will not appear on the Labour party’s list of prospective MPs.


Van der Laan, who was minister until the cabinet collapse earlier this year, had said earlier he was not interested in taking over from Job Cohen. Cohen, who led the city since 2001, resigned to become Labour leader after Wouter Bos quit to spend more time with his family.
Van der Laan, 54, said he thought it wrong to put himself forward as a prospective MP as well as the capital’s mayor.
A lawyer by profession, Van der Laan served on the city council for eight years in the 1990s.
Amsterdam’s mayor is traditionally from the Labour party. Mayors in the Netherlands are technically crown appointees.

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