European Women Mayors News

Women Mayors reporting from Europe

> Holiday money for young Parisians

> Amsterdam mayor issues Holocaust apology

> British women elected mayor

> Vienna remains in the hands of the Left

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo believes young people deserve a holiday

PARIS / HOLIDAYS FOR THE YOUNG

Paris offers young people a helping hand to go on holiday

May 2025: To help young Parisians go on holiday, the Paris City government has set up the ‘Paris Jeunes Vacances’ scheme, providing €200 (US$225) in assistance to teenagers and people in their twenties.

Young people aged between 16 and 30 who live in Paris simply need to submit an application form by 2 June 2025. The Paris Department of Youth and Sport will then examine the applications and inform the Paris mayor’s office of the list of beneficiaries. Beneficiaries will then be able to collect their holiday vouchers within three months. Proof of tourist accommodation (hotel, campsite, hostel, etc.) for a minimum of two nights and three days will be required in addition to proof of identity and address details.

The scheme is also available for other holiday periods throughout the year: the deadline for the autumn holidays is 22 September, while for the Christmas holidays, people will need to apply before 24 November.

Not all young people qualify for the holiday money. Excluded are those who earn above €17,000 a year or receive social security benefits or education grants.

Source: Ville de Paris (Paris City Hall)

AMSTERDAM / HOLOCAUST

Amsterdam Mayor apologises for the city’s role in the Holocaust

“The Amsterdam government, when it came down to it, was not heroic, not determined and not merciful. And it let its Jewish residents down terribly.”

May 2025: The Mayor of the Dutch capital Femke Halsema issued a formal apology for the city’s involvement in the persecution and deportation of Jews during World War II. She was speaking from the Jewish Cultural Quarter during a commemoration service on the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in April 2025.

The mayor acknowledged the municipality’s failure to protect its Jewish citizens during the event for Yom HaShoah, acknowledging that “when it truly mattered, the Amsterdam government was not brave, not resolute, and not compassionate enough. It gravely failed its Jewish residents”.

On behalf of the city government, she offered her “sincere apologies” and stated that there is a responsibility to remember and honour the victims of the Holocaust. She detailed how the city government actively collaborated with the occupying Nazi forces — from mapping out Jewish residences and enforcing registration requirements to making public transport available for deportations. She also described the mandatory registration of Jews as a critical step in their systemic dehumanisation and extermination, resulting in the murder of 60,000 Jewish Amsterdammers.

By early 1941, Jews were required by the German forces to register with the authorities. In total, about 160,000 people registered throughout the whole of the Netherlands, including thousands of refugees and individuals of mixed heritage and some 25,000 Jewish refugees from the German Reich, like the family of the diary author and Amsterdam resident Anne Frank.

The Dutch Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies will soon complete an investigation into the role of all municipal services that were involved in the exclusion and persecution of Jewish Amsterdammers during World War II.

The Netherlands, which had maintained neutrality for a century before the outbreak of WWII, was invaded by Nazi Germany on 10 May 1940. Between 1942 and 1945, over 107,000 Jews from the Netherlands were deported, mostly to concentration camps in Auschwitz and Sobibor, where the majority were killed.

Four years ago, Mayor Halsema apologized for Amsterdam’s role in another dark moment in history, the global slave trade.

Report by Nazrin Sadigova

BRITAIN / LOCAL ELECTIONS

Women feature strongly in English mayoral elections

May 2025: On 1 May, voters in many parts of England elected new local councils as well as four metro mayors and two city mayors.

Greater Lincolnshire’s first metro mayor will be Andrea Jenkyns from the Reform Party. She received 40 per cent of the vote, some 14 percentage points ahead of the Conservative candidate. The new mayor, who switched from the Conservative Party to Reform, was a Tory member of Parliament from 2015 to 2024. For a few months in 2022, she was a junior member of Boris Johnson’s government.

Labour successfully defended its hold on the West of England metro region. Helen Godwin fended off a challenge from Reform, with the Green Party candidate in a strong third place. The new mayor will be replacing Dan Norris, who led the region from 2021 to 2025.

Ros Jones, England’s longest-serving female mayor, was re-elected in Doncaster with a wafer-thin majority of 700 votes. In the weeks leading up to the election, the Labour mayor faced an increasingly strong challenge from her Reform opponent.

The Labour Party also managed to hold on to the mayorship of North Tyneside. The newly elected mayor, Karen Clark, will be replacing Norma Redfearn, who decided to step down after 12 years in office.

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough delivered a consolation prize for the Conservatives. The party’s successful candidate, Paul Bristow, benefited from former Labour voters switching to the right-wing Reform Party and the centre-left Liberal Democrats. Bristow was a conservative Member of Parliament for Peterborough from 2019 to 2024. In last year’s general election, he was defeated by his Labour opponent.

Further reading: Full elections results and background |

AUSTRIA / VIENNA ELECTIONS

Vienna remains firmly in the hands of the Social Democrats

April 2025: Despite slight losses, Austria’s Social Democrats (SPÖ) resoundingly won yesterday’s (27 April) municipal elections in Vienna. The centre-left party, which has governed the Austrian capital since 1945, captured close to 40 per cent of the votes cast and now has the choice of three coalition partners. The right-wing Freedom Party (FPÖ) made strong gains and achieved almost 21 per cent. The Greens maintained their share of the vote with 14 per cent, while the centre-left Liberals (NEOS) were supported by ten per cent of voters. The big loser of the night was the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), whose share of the vote dropped from more than 20 per cent to less than 10 per cent. The main beneficiary of the Conservatives’ losses was the FPÖ. The Communist Party (KPÖ) doubled its share of the vote since the 2020 elections.

Results of Vienna's local elections, held on 27 April 2025

SPÖ (centre-left) 39.1% (41.6%). A good result for a party that has been in power for some 80 years

FPÖ (right-wing) 20.7% (7.1%). The right-wing, anti-immigrant party has overcome the scandals under its former leader, Heinz-Christian Strache.

ÖVP (conservative) 9.7% (20.4%). A disastrous result for the party that leads the Austrian government. It is thought that the FPÖ largely benefited from the unpopularity of the Conservatives.

Greens (ecological) 14.2% (14.8%)

NEOS (centre-left liberal) 9.8% (7.5%)

KPÖ (communist) 4.0% (2.1%). The Austrian communists have developed into a progressive, pro-women party that appeals to many young leftist voters.

While Vienna’s SPÔ Mayor Michael Ludwig has said that he will hold talks with the Liberals, Greens and Conservatives, it is thought that the Austrian capital’s new government will again be a coalition between the SPÖ and the NEOS.

POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis, a man of peace, who was despised by warmongers

April 2025; Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died, the Vatican announced on Monday, 21 April, He was 88, and had suffered a serious bout of double pneumonia earlier this year, but his death came as a shock after he had been driven around St. Peter's Square in an open-air popemobile to greet cheering crowds on Easter Sunday. Within hours of the formal announcement of Pope Francis’ death, mayors from across Italy recalled the Pope’s visits to their communities and his support for the least well off in urban societies.

Further reading: Mayors from across the world mourn the death of Pope Francis

Britain’s Supreme Court has narrowed the definition of who is a woman under the law

April 2025: Britain’s Supreme Court ruled on 16 April 2025 that only ‘biological’ women and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under equality laws. The three judges did so unanimously but without defining the term ‘biological’. A biological woman is generally understood to be a person born with female reproductive organs. However, many in the trans community argue that this definition is too narrow and does not take into account a person’s psychological state.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, authorities in Britain will now be allowed to exclude trans women from single-sex services for women, such as refuges, hospital wards, and sports. Transgender campaigners now believe that the decision could lead to discrimination, especially over employment issues.

The judgment follows legal action by the campaign group, For Women Scotland (FWS), against guidance issued by the Scottish government that said a trans woman with a gender recognition certificate (GRC)* was legally a woman. FWS lost its case in the Scottish courts, but the Supreme Court has now ruled in its favour.

While the British Court warned against using its ruling “as a triumph for one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”, members of FWS were jubilant, saying that “the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex, that sex is real and that women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women.”

Not just in Britain, transgender rights have become a political issue. In the US, legal challenges have mushroomed since President Trump issued an executive order barring transgender people from military service.

Globally, transgender rights vary significantly from country to country. They range from legal recognition of gender identity and protection against discrimination to criminalisation and even death penalties in some cases. Some countries have made considerable strides in protecting transgender rights, while others continue to lag, highlighting the global disparity in legal and social acceptance.

* The GRC is a formal document giving legal recognition of someone's new gender

HUNGARY

Budapest Mayor assures LGBT community that this year’s Pride will take place

April 2025: In 1997, Hungary was the first former Eastern Bloc country to hold a Pride festival and march in Budapest. It has been an annual event ever since, celebrating diversity and harmony between the country’s LGBT community and the wider population. Now, the authoritarian government of Prime Minister Victor Orbán and his right-wing Fidesz party passed a constitutional amendment in parliament that would allow the government to ban LGBT events, including this year’s Pride march scheduled for 28 June.

Government supporters declared that the amendment was necessary to “protect children’s rights to moral, physical and spiritual development.” Hungary’s controversial ‘child protection law’ prohibits the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors aged under 18.

Opposition lawmakers accused the Prime Minister’s Fidesz party of hiding behind children to promote their right-wing agenda. “Fidesz acted disgracefully and cowardly.”

The amendment codifies a law that was passed by parliament in March 2025 that bans public events held by LGBT communities. That law also allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify people who attend prohibited events.

Outside parliament, the most outspoken opponent of Victor Orbán is Budapest’s Mayor Gergely Karácsony, In a defiant statement, he assured the organisers of this year’s Pride that the festival and parade will take place. “It may even be bigger than ever before.”

Gergely Karácsony sees the government's narrative of banning Pride as a smear campaign triggered by what he says are mounting problems in the country. “In Budapest, we know that when everyone is treated equally, when everyone's human dignity, faith, religion, beliefs and orientation are respected, then we can talk about freedom.”

The European Union (EU) also condemned the legislative changes in Hungary. Speaking in the European Parliament on “Recent legislative changes in Hungary and their impact on fundamental rights”, the EU Commissioner for the Rule of Law, Michael McGrath, said there was no room for discrimination in the European Union. He was referring to the amendment of the assembly law, effectively banning the Pride parade in Budapest.

UKRAINE

Russian missiles killed 32 people, including children, on Palm Sunday

13 April 2025: A Russian ballistic missile strike on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 32 people on Palm Sunday morning (13 April). Writing on Telegram, Mayor Artem Kobzar said, "The enemy struck the civilian population again," Ukraine's State Emergency Service added that at least 32 people -- including two children -- were confirmed killed, with 84 others injured. Two missiles struck the centre of the city, authorities said. The Sumy City Council said the strike hit multiple buildings, including residential ones. "On this bright day of Palm Sunday, our community suffered a tragedy," Kobzar wrote.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office, said the missiles used cluster munitions, which spray smaller sub-munitions over the target area. "A cluster munition missile is something the Russians do to kill as many civilians as possible," Yermak wrote on Telegram. "The strike on the city of Sumy is a deliberate shelling of civilians."

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram that the "terrible strike" hit "an ordinary city street, ordinary life: houses, educational institutions, cars on the street." "And this is on a day when people go to church: Palm Sunday, the feast of the lord's entry into Jerusalem," he added. "Only a scoundrel can act like this. Taking the lives of ordinary people. My condolences to the relatives and friends. A rescue operation is underway now. All necessary services are working." "A tough reaction from the world is needed," Zelenskyy wrote. "The United States, Europe, everyone in the world who wants an end to this war and murders. Russia wants exactly this kind of terror and is dragging out this war. Without pressure on the aggressor, peace is impossible." (Sources: Sumi City Council; Ukraine Ermergency Services)

SPAIN

Spaniards protested in their hundreds of thousands against holiday rentals, but new restrictions are on their way

April 2025: Last weekend (5/6 April), hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of 40 Spanish cities to protest against skyrocketing housing costs and the proliferation of homes converted to short-term holiday rentals for internet platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com. Protest organisers have accused property owners and the government of turning housing into a ‘business model’. But as of 1 July 2025, new regulations will come into force, which, among other restrictions, require landlords and online platforms to obtain short-term rental licenses from local authorities.

According to Spanish tenants' associations, the country’s housing situation has reached critical levels, with long-term rents reported to have increased by more than 18 per cent in the last two years. In some tourist areas, such as Ibiza, rental prices now exceed 100 per cent of average salaries, while in others, such as in the city of Cáceres, rents rose last year by 17 per cent.

Across the country, rents have doubled in the last ten years while salaries only rose by 20 per cent. Spain's Central Bank recently reported that almost half of renters spend around 40 per cent of their total income on housing. According to the Spanish government, at least 600,000 more apartments are needed to address the situation, which it describes as ‘a social emergency’.

In January 2025, Spain became the first country in the European Union (EU) to implement new regulations governing short-term rentals. These regulations are aimed at creating a more transparent and organised framework for short-term accommodation offerings, ensuring both property owners and online rental providers adhere to the rules set forth. A centralised digital platform will collect and manage this data, making it easier for the government to track short-term rental activity. The new regulations apply to all types of short-term accommodation that involve payments.

Online platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and others will also be required to comply with these regulations. They must ensure that only registered properties are listed on their platforms. At the beginning of 2025, Spain had some 450,000 active Airbnb listings.

TURKEY / ISTANBUL

Istanbul city council elects Imamoglu confidant as interim mayor

March 2025: Following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the CHP-led city council elected an interim mayor on Wednesday. CHP candidate Nuri Aslan stood against Zeynel Abidin Okul, a candidate supported by the Turkish President’s AKP party. Both Ekrem Imamoglu and Nuri Aslan are members of the centre-left CHP party.

After three rounds of voting, the 314-member council elected the CHP's Aslan with 177 votes. The AKP's Okul received 125 votes. Istanbul's parliament hopes that this step will avert the danger of forced administration.

The 56-year-old Nuri Aslan will temporarily replace the imprisoned Ekrem Imamoglu as mayor while he is in prison and therefore unable to carry out his duties at City Hall. The two CHP politicians have been close friends for many years and worked together before Imamoglu became mayor.

Further reading: German mayors support Ekrem İmamoglu