Wouter Bos
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Wouter Bos (born July 14, 1963) is a Dutch politician who is currently leader of the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) and member of parliament.
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Personal
Bos was born in Vlaardingen. He finished two Master degrees, economics and politics, cum laude, at the Vrije Universiteit. From 1986 till 1998 he worked for Royal Dutch/Shell in various positions. In 1998 he became member of parliament.
Political career
Bos became party leader of the socialist PvdA after an interparty election (other candidates: Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven, Klaas de Vries en Jouke de Vries) in November 2002. Former party leader Ad Melkert resigned after dramatic outcome of the elections of May 2002 in the Netherlands. Melkert, the 'Crown Prince of the PvdA' (the then prime minister, Wim Kok was the 'King') became World Bank Executive Director.
When the first Balkenende cabinet disintegrated, Bos challenged Jan Peter Balkenende. In the new elections of January 2003, Bos nearly became leader of the biggest party, as the PvdA regained much of the seats lost in the May 2002 elections. Balkenende and the CDA got forty four seats and the PvdA got forty two seats, partly, it is claimed, to Bos's charisma. The elections were partly characterized by comments of a journalist about his "sexy ass."
But Bos did not succeed in forming a coalition government of CDA and PvdA. The CDA preferred a coalition with VVD and D66. Now Bos is opposition leader in the Dutch parliament, although his moderacy repeatedly gives lead to other parties claiming opposition leadership. Although still enjoying large public support, criticism about his "style over substance" approach to politics ensured that he was voted as the most overrated politician in the Netherlands.
At the 10 december party congress, Bos announced that he aspired to become Prime Minister of the Netherlands, should the PvdA succeed in becoming the biggest party after the next parliament elections.
Marriage and children
Bos is married to Barbara Bos. The match of their surnames is a coincidence, as the Bos family name is among the most common in the Netherlands. The couple has two daugthers. Iris Jessie was born on February 5th 2004; Jula Roos on January 3rd 2006. They live in Amsterdam-North.