Jacques Tichelaar became the leader of the parliamentary party shortly after the 2006 general election in February 2007 but fell ill in January 2008. He underwent a septuple bypass surgery and this took him three months to recuperate. On 16 April, he announced he had decided to resign from office for health reasons. Tichelaar planned to return as a parliamentarian on 1 July 2008. As vice parliamentary leader Hamer had led the party in Tichelaar's absence. The next day she decided to run for office. Three days later, Samsom officially announced that he would also compete in the race. Other names were mentioned, but only Samsom and Hamer decided to vie for the position. All 33 PvdA parliamentarians gathered two days later to discuss the position and cast their votes, resulting in a victory for Hamer.