Rotterdam council member resigns after heavily edited campaign photo controversy

Patricia Reichman, a member of the Blijdorp-Bergpolder-Liskwartier district council in Rotterdam, has stepped down from her seat following controversy over a heavily edited campaign photograph used during the election period. A spokesperson for the municipality of Rotterdam stated that Reichman has withdrawn as a member of the district council.

The issue emerged after reporting by the newspaper AD. Its editors noted that Reichman’s photo on the official candidate list on the Rotterdam municipal website did not resemble the image she had submitted to the district newspaper.

Reichman acknowledged that the image had been altered but said she was indeed the person in the photo. “That photo in the district newspaper had a too low resolution,” she said. “Then I ran it through an internet program to increase the pixels.”

Leefbaar Rotterdam had already removed Reichman from the party because of the matter. She had initially said she intended to keep her seat despite that decision.

During the district council elections in Blijdorp-Bergpolder-Liskwartier, a total of 11,811 votes were cast. Reichman, who was number one on the Leefbaar Rotterdam list, received 771 votes. She finished third overall, behind candidates from PRO and the Party for the Animals.