Copenhagen City Council Explained

Background Color:	000c2e
Structure1 Alt:	Seat allotment (last updated 12 May 2020)
Structure1 Res:	260px
Structure1:	Københavns Borgerrepræsentation (2022-2025).svg
Seats:	55
Website:	https://www.kk.dk
Meeting Place:	Copenhagen City Hall, Copenhagen
Session Res:	257px
Session Room:	Kopenhagen stadhuis.jpg
Last Election1:	16 November 2021
Text Color:	f9f9f9
House Type:	Municipal council
Coa Res:	75px
Native Name Lang:	da
Native Name:	Københavns Borgerrepræsentation
Copenhagen City Council
Members:	55
Election1:	1 January 2022
Party1:	Social Democrats
Leader1:	Sophie Hæstorp Andersen
Leader1 Type:	Lord Mayor

The Copenhagen City Council (Danish: ) is the municipal government of Copenhagen, Denmark, and has its seat at Copenhagen City Hall.

The city council is Copenhagen's highest political authority and sets the framework for the committees' tasks. The City of Copenhagen's government consists of an economic committee and six standing committees, each working in its own field.

The city council has 55 members (abbreviated MBs), and is chaired by the lord mayor, who chairs the Economic Affairs Committee. The chairpersons of the six standing committees have the title of mayor . The lord mayor, together with the six mayors and six members of the city council, make up the Economic Affairs Committee.^[1] Unlike other Danish municipalities, the City of Copenhagen does not have deputy mayors, but a first and second vice-chair of the city council.

History

The forerunner of the Copenhagen City Council, the Council of 32 Men, was established in 1660. The assembly primarily consisted of high-ranking citizens. In 1840, the city council was established by royal decree, consisting of 36 democratically elected members. This number was increased to 42 members in 1903. Later, in 1913, the city council was expanded to 55 members.^[2]

Committees

The seven committees are:^[3]

Economic Affairs committee (Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, Social Democrats)
Culture and Leisure Committee (Mayor, Social Liberal Party)
Technical and Environmental Committee (Mayor Line Barfod, Red–Green Alliance)
Children and Youth Committee (Mayor, The Conservative People's Party)
Social Affairs Committee (Mayor, Red–Green Alliance)
Health and Care Committee (Mayor, Green Left)
Employment and Integration Committee (Mayor, Venstre)

Composition of the city council

Below are the municipal councils elected since 1909.

Election	Party																			Total seats	Elected mayor
Election																				Total seats	Elected mayor
1909	20	5	16																	42
1912	21	4	16																	42
1913	27	5	22																	55
1917	30	6	17
1921	33	4	16												2
1925	31	6	17												1
1929	35	4	16
1933	35	4	15							1
1937	37	5	11							2											Viggo Christensen (A)
1943	32	6	15									1									Viggo Christensen (A)
1946	27	3	11							11					2						Hans Peter Sørensen (A)
1950	28	3	12			6				6
1954	32	2	13			1				6					1
1958	29	3	14			1				5					3						Sigvard Munk (A)
1962	27	2	15				9			1					1						Urban Hansen (A)
1966	23	2	15				13			1					1
1970	31	5	11				5			1					1	1
1974	22	3	6	1		1	7			7	1				1	2	3
1978	26	1	8	1		1	3			5					1	5	3				Egon Weidekamp (A)
1981	22	3	8	1			7			2					2	8	2
1985	18	1	9	1			15	2		1					1	7
1989	20	1	6	2			13	2		1				2	2	4	2				Jens Kramer Mikkelsen (A)
1993	18	3	6				10	1						1	8		3	4
1997	17	3	5	1			8						6	1	6			7
2001	16	5	4	1			9						4		11			5
2005	21	7	3				7						3		8			6			Ritt Bjerregaard (A)
2009	17	5	4				13						4		6			6			Frank Jensen (A)
2013	16	6	3				6		2				4		7			11
2017	15	5	3				5		2				3		5			11	6
2021	10	6	8		1		6		1				1		5			15	2		Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (A)
Election																				Total seats	Elected mayor
Election	Party																			Total seats	Elected mayor
Data from Kmdvalg.dk, Dst.dk and Sa.dk

City council chairs

1840–1840
1841–1853 Lauritz Nicolai Hvidt (National Liberal Party)
1853–1858 Hans Peter Hansen (again)
1858–1860
1860–1863 (National Liberal Party)
1863–1873 (Højre [1848 party])
1873–1883 (Højre [1881 party])
1883–1885 (again) (Højre)
1885–1895 Peter Frederik Koch (Højre)
1895–1898 (Højre)
1898–1907 Herman Trier (from 1905: Danish Social Liberal Party)
1907–1909 (independent)
1909–1910 (Social Democrats)
1910–1912 (Danish: Antisocialistisk Borgerliste)
1912–1913 (again)
1913–1917 (Social Democrats)
1917–1919 Anthon Andersen (Social Democrats)
1919–1924 Thorvald Stauning (Social Democrats)
1924–1925 (Social Democrats)
1925–1926 (Social Democrats)
1926–1937 (Social Democrats)
1937–1938 Julius C. Hansen (Social Democrats)
1938–1942 (Social Democrats)
1942–1946 (Social Democrats)
1946–1962 (Social Democrats)
1962–1970 (Social Democrats)
1970–1976 Egon Weidekamp (Social Democrats)
1976–1981 (Social Democrats)
1982–1986 (Social Democrats)
1986–1989 (The Conservative People's Party)
1990–1993 (Socialist People's Party)
1994–1997 (Social Democrats)
Since 1998, the incumbent mayor has been the permanent chair of the city council.^[4]

External links

Københavns Borgerrepræsentation – the official website
City Hall Library: City Council – overview of all mayors and members of the Copenhagen City Council

Notes and References

Web site: Borgerrepræsentationen. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20211201132824/https://www.starbas.net/arkivskaber.php?id=1&laes_mere=ja. 2021-12-01. 2021-12-01. www.starbas.net. da.
Web site: Stadens 32 mænd. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20211201132834/https://www.starbas.net/arkivskaber.php?id=3654&laes_mere=ja. 2021-12-01. 2021-12-01. www.starbas.net. da.
Web site: Borgmestre i Københavns kommune. https://web.archive.org/web/20220103144456/https://www.kk.dk/politik/borgmestre/borgmesteroversigt. 2022-01-03. 2021-12-01. Københavns Kommune. da.
Web site: Formanden. 2021-12-01. raadhus.kk.dk. da.