In 1998, she was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, becoming the first woman to have this function. In 2002 she did not stand for reelection and instead became chairperson ad interim of her own parliamentary party, which was a considerable crisis, after losing the elections. In November 2002 she stood for election of chairperson and top candidate for her own party, but was convincingly beaten by Wouter Bos. Van Nieuwenhoven came second (with a 30% margin) and was second candidate and first woman on the PvdA list. She became the vice-chair of the parliamentary party, responsible for internal affairs.
