Appointed mayors in Skive 1869-1913
With a reform of local government, the title of mayor was restored in the market towns in 1868/9, where previously the title had simply been town bailiff. The mayors were “royally” appointed and were neither local nor elected by the citizens. Skive managed to have 6 of these appointed mayors before Skive got the first elected mayor in Denmark.
The appointed mayors in the period are:
1869-1877 Edvard Philip Smidth
1877-1883 Hans Frederik Christian Julius Lauritzen
1883-1886 Christopher Krabbe
1886-1895 Just Thiele
1895-1907 Frederik Leopold Holm
1907-1913 C.A.J. Hastrup
The first elected mayor
Until around the time of World War I, the mayor was a royally appointed official, called byfoged. he also served as police chief and judge. But that arrangement was about to change.
Skive Købstadskommune was one of Denmark’s first municipalities to go from royally elected mayors to popularly elected mayors. This happened when the incumbent mayor C.A.J. Hastrup chose to resign in October 1913. Instead of appointing a new official, the Ministry of the Interior offered Skive City Council the opportunity to nominate a candidate for the post. In December 1913, the city council decided by a vote of 7-6 that the voters should have the opportunity to choose this candidate by direct election.
In this election, 1680 of the 1905 eligible voters voted, a voting percentage of 88%. There were two candidates, Hjalmar Kjems from the Social Democratic Party and bank director V. Müller from the Right. Müller received 790 votes. Hjalmar Kjems received 880 votes. Hjalmar Kjems thus became Skive’s first elected mayor.
After this experiment with an elected mayor in Skive in 1913 and then Middelfart in 1918, it was decided that from 1919, all mayors in Denmark would be elected by the people.
List of elected mayors in Skive municipality 1914 – 2021
1914-1916: Teacher Hjalmar Kjems – Social Democratic Party
1916-1921: Savings bank director Harald Siboni – The Conservative People’s Party
1921-1927: Wholesaler Michael Nielsen – The Conservative People’s Party
1927-1929: Editor Carl Hansen – Radical Left Party
1929-1936: Director Valdemar Johansen – Social Democratic Party
1936-1967: Printer Woldhardt Madsen – Social Democratic Party
1967-1981: Tax Council Chairman Peter Kjærgaard – Social Democrat
1982-1989: School inspector Knud Olsen – Social Democrat
1990-1997: Kindergarten class leader Jonna Stavnsbjerg – Social Democrat
1998-2001: Major Søren E. Andersen – The Conservative People’s Party
2002-2007: Business manager Per B. Jeppesen – Social Democratic Party
2007-2013: Primary school teacher Flemming Eskildsen – Liberal Party
2014- : Farmer Peder Christian Kirkegaard – Liberal Party
See also
Municipal elections in Skive 1970-2001
Sources
- History of Skive Municipality 1880-1940, volume II, Skive Museums Forlag, p. 294-295
- History of Skive Municipality 1940-2003, volume III, Skive Museums Forlag, p. 410
- Skive Folkeblad 17/4-1909 p.2