Labour party chairman Michiel van Hulten wants party leader Wouter Bos to be part of the new cabinet, reports NOS. Van Hulten made his feelings clear at a meeting of Labour MPs today. During the election campaign Bos said that the party leader should remain on the back benches if he did not become prime minister.

Labour, the ChristenUnie and the Christian Democrats (CDA) are currently finalising a new government with CDA leader Jan Pieter Balkenende set to continue as prime minister. But NOS said political sources have known for weeks that Bos will take the post of deputy prime minister and finance minister.