Between 6 and November 12, 2002 the 60,000 members of the Dutch social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) could vote for their preferred candidate for top candidate for the 2003 general election.
These elections were part of the reforms implemented by party chairperson Ruud Koole, after the 2002 elections. In addition to the top candidate for the elections to the House of Representatives, the top candidate for the Senate and leaders of the provincial councils were elected. All PvdA members could vote by mail or telephone.
The candidates for the election were Wouter Bos, former State Secretary for finance, the former President of the House of Representatives, Jeltsje van Nieuwenhoven, the former Minister of Home Affairs, Klaas de Vries and the Professor of public administration Jouke de Vries. The first three were member of the House of Representatives, while Jouke de Vries was an outsider candidate.
Wouter Bos was the first to announce his candidacy, just after the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. On September 29, 2002, Klaas de Vries announced his candidacy, claiming that the elections would be a sham if only Wouter Bos was a serious candidate. On October 22, interim party-leader Jeltsje van Nieuwenhoven announced finally her candidacy.
The elections were won by a landslide by Wouter Bos. He won by with 60% of the votes and a margin of 30%. 54% of the PvdA members voted.
Following the elections the PvdA made miraculous resurgence in the 2003 general elections, nearly doubling its seats and votes, this is partially credited to the charisma of Wouter Bos and the reform of the party under Ruud Koole
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Wouter Bos | 19,303 | 60,56% |
| Jeltsje van Nieuwenhoven | 10129 | 31,78% |
| Klaas de Vries | 1508 | 4,73% |
| Jouke de Vries | 935 | 2,93% |
| Total | 31,875 | 100.0 |
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