Labour (PvdA) supporters Aleid Wolfsen and Ralph Pans have been selected to battle it out in the referendum for the new mayor of Utrecht. The Socialist Party and local party Liveable Utrecht have criticised the council’s short list, saying a choice between two PvdA candidates is a ‘vote about nothing’.

Earlier this week, former sports minister and Liberal VVD politician Erica Terpstra emerged as the people’s favourite to succeed Wim Deetman as the new mayor of The Hague.
Terpstra, a former Olympic swimmer, said she was honoured at the support but did not think her candidacy was realistic.
Mayors in the Netherlands are technically crown-appointees but efforts are being made to democratise the process by allowing councils to draw up short lists and to give locals a ‘consultative vote’.