Job Cohen

Who is Job Cohen?

Marius Job Cohen is a Dutch social democratic politician and former legal scholar.

Cohen obtained his Master of Laws degree at the University of Groningen and his PhD at Leiden University. In 1983 he became a law professor of methods and techniques and in 1991 rector magnificus at Maastricht University.

As a member of the Labour Party, Cohen held several political positions and offices over the years. He was State Secretary for Education and Sciences in the third Lubbers cabinet, member of and parliamentary group leader in the Senate, State Secretary for Justice in the second Kok cabinet, and Mayor of Amsterdam.

He resigned as mayor in order to become the top candidate for the Labour Party in the 2010 general election. On 25 April 2010 Cohen was officially elected as lijsttrekker of the Labour Party.

From 2010 he served as the leader of the Labour Party and from 17 June 2010 he was a member of the House of Representatives, where he also was the Parliamentary group leader of the Labour Party. He resigned as Party leader and Member of the House of Representatives on 20 February 2012 after increasing criticism on his performance.