Carola Schouten nominated for mayor of Rotterdam; Third female mayor of large Dutch city
The Rotterdam city council has nominated former Minister Carola Schouten to succeed Ahmed Aboutaleb as mayor. She will be Rotterdam’s first female mayor and the third female mayor of a large Dutch city, after Femke Halsema in Amsterdam and Sharon Dijksma in Utrecht.
Schouten (ChristenUnie) was a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation, and Pension in the previous Cabinet. She has lived in Rotterdam’s Spangen neighborhood for 30 years and studied at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
The city council called Schouten the candidate “who suits this city.” They were looking for “a mayor who is approachable, who stands among the people, a mayor who Rotterdam residents can identify with,” the city council said, NOS reports. The city council wanted Aboutaleb’s successor to be a person who “is open to everyone and also dares to be vulnerable and dares to ask questions.”
“Who connects by ensuring that everyone feels safe and heard so that mutual conversation is given space. Even when there is great tension in our city. And that is precisely a talent that Schouten has,” the city council said. According to the council, Schouten has “a clear vision for the city, its needs, and its future” and “a good eye for her own relationship with the city.” It called Scouten “a candidate who really belongs to the city. Not born here, but for a long time, and with soul and peace, connected to Rotterdam.”
The city council will nominate Schouten as Rotterdam mayor to the King and the Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations. If she passes her interview and background screening, she will be sworn in on October 10.
Former Housing Minister Hugo de Jonge (CDA) was also mentioned as a candidate to succeed Aboutaleb (PvdA), who has been mayor of Rotterdam for 15 years. De Jonge congratulated Schouten when the news came out. “To be honest, I would have liked to be the one. But the city is in good hands with Carola,” he said on X.
