Three people have come forward to compete for the job of chairman of the Labour party (PvdA), news agency ANP said on Monday.

MP Hans Spekman, 45, had been thought to be the only candidate, but two more emerged over the weekend to take over from Lilianne Ploumen, who steps down in January.
As an MP, Spekman focuses on immigration issues. On his official parliamentary biography Spekman states: ‘An MP should not put himself at the centre of things, but the people he represents.’
The second candidate is Piet Boekhoudt, chairman of the Labour party in Groningen, according to news agency ANP. Boekhoudt, 64, is one of the people behind a string of meetings to discuss the party’s identity. Local members are ‘the backbone of the party’, he is quoted as saying by the Volkskrant.
The third candidate is Rotterdammer Rene Kronenberg, 40, who is deputy leader of the PvdA in the port city.