D66 MP Vera Bergkamp has won the vote to become the new chairwoman of the lower house of the Dutch parliament, beating sitting chairwoman Khadija Arib (PvdA) and deputy chairman Martin Bosma from the anti-Islam PVV.

Bergkamp took 74 out of 139 votes in the first round, with Arib on 38 and Bosma on 27.

In her acceptance speech, Bergkamp stressed that she would chair parliament on behalf of all parties.

‘We face an enormous task,’ she said, before going on to refer to the tax benefit scandal, the planned move of the lower house to a new location while the current building is renovated and the fact there are now 17 parties in parliament.