She is excited and humble, she says. Dorte West is aware of the great legacy she inherits from Lars Krarup, but she does not intend to try to imitate him.
– I really do not want to think so much about lifting the legacy of Lars. I intend to continue the development that Herning Municipality is in. I must do it my way, and that means that I must not try to copy Lars. I have to be myself and come up with what I can contribute, she says.
The new mayor of Herning, who has sat on the city council in Herning since 2009 and been chairman of the municipality’s children and family committee, has even chosen to move from Sønder Felding to Gullestrup just outside Herning to be closer to his workplace at City Hall.
If you ask political commentator Hans Engell, there is also a lot of work ahead.
He points out that the mayoral post in Herning for a left-wing politician is not an “ordinary mayoral post”. The task for the new mayor will be to profile himself.
– Herning has become like the Liberal Party’s capital. Being mayor there means that there are expectations that the mayor not only plays a local role, but also in big politics. That is, the Liberal Party’s internal affairs, the leadership of the party and the strategic and tactical decisions that must be made.
– It is a mayor who is expected to have a line of sight for where the Liberal Party should move both in local and national politics. This is where she has to show what she is really capable of, says Hans Engell.
The role is not just given, it sounds from Hans Engell.
– Lars Krarup was a key person in the Liberal Party for the past many years, and that is the legacy she takes over. It’s not a role you just get for free. It is not the case that Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (party chairman, ed.) Just travels to Herning and says: “Now you are in the inner circle”, says Engell.
And even though Dorte West says she does not feel she has to lift the legacy from Krarup, she will still take many of his methods with her.
– I would like to continue to have the good cooperation in our city council and continue to have broad settlements. Lars has been really good at that, and I think that is the best way to work, says Dorte West.
Source: The Nordic Page