Bjørn Westh (born 1944) is a Danish politician from the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

. He held several cabinet posts in the 1980s and 1990s.

Early life and education

Westh was born in Overlade Parish on 2 February 1944, and his parents are Hans Rømer Westh, a headmaster, and Ingrid Westh, a kindergarten teacher. In 1969 Westh received a degree in land inspection from the

Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University ( da, Kongelige Veterinær- og Landbohøjskole, abbr. KVL) was a veterinary medicine, veterinary and agricultural science university in Denmark. It was founded in 1856 and operated until 2007, when ...

. During his studies he was close to

Liberal Centre The Liberal Centre ( da, Liberalt Centrum) was a political party in Denmark between 1965 and 1969. History The party was established on 10 September 1965. Amongst its founders were Niels Westerby and Børge Diderichsen, who had left Venstre ov ...

, but when the party was closed Westh joined the Social Democrats.

Career

Following graduation Westh worked as an assistant

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is c ...

in a town planning company in Viborg from 1972 to 1981. He was first elected to the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

for the Social Democrats representing

Viborg County Viborg Amt () is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') in the north-central part of the Jutland peninsula in western Denmark. The county was abolished on 1 January 2007, when most of it merged into Region Midtjylland (i.e. ''Region Central Jutland ...

on 15 February 1977. He served as a temporary deputy between 1998 and 2004. He held various ministerial posts in the period 1981–1998:

minister of agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

(20 January 1981–10 September 1982; 25 January 1993–27 September 1994); minister of fisheries (25 January 1993–27 September 1994);

minister of justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

(27 September 1994–30 December 1996) and minister of transport (30 December 1996–23 March 1998). From 1999 to 2002 Westh was the European Union adviser to the Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture. Until 2006 he was a member of Viborg County Council. In 2017 Westh also ran for the office in the local elections for the Social Democrats, but he did not win the seat.

Personal life

Westh married to Grete Laustsen, a

ceramicist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whil ...

, in

Skals Skals is a town in Viborg Municipality, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , su ...

on 28 December 1967.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westh, Bjorn 1944 births Living people Members of the Folketing 1977–1979 Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians University of Copenhagen alumni Agriculture ministers of Denmark Danish Justice Ministers Transport ministers of Denmark Fisheries ministers of Denmark