Ragnhild Vassvik Kalstad (born 21 June 1966 in

Gamvik Municipality () is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mehamn. The other notable villages in Gamvik include Gamvik and Skjånes. Gamvik is known as one of the poorest and most undevelo ...

) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She is currently serving as the mayor of

since 2023. Previously she served as county mayor of Finnmark between 2017 and 2019 and deputy county mayor from 2015 to 2017.

Political career

Parliament

She served as a deputy representative to the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

from

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

between 2009 and 2013. From 2012 to 2013 she served in Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs.

Local politics

Kalstad had formerly been a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Karasjok Municipality or (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; ) (also: ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Karasjok (village), village of Kara ...

. Following the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, Kaltad became the new deputy county mayor (''fylkesvaraordfører'') of Finnmark. She was promoted to county mayor in 2017 when Runar Sjåstad was elected to Parliament, with Tarjei Jensen Bech as her deputy. She left office following the decision to merge

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

and Finnmark counties and the 2019 local elections. Ivar B. Prestbakmo was elected as county mayor of the new county. Kalstad had sought to become mayor of her native

Gamvik Gamvik or Gamvika may refer to: Places * Gamvik Municipality, a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway * Gamvik (village), a village in Gamvik Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway * Gamvik Church, a church in Gamvik Municipality in Finnmark cou ...

at the 2019 local elections, but ultimately lost to the Socialist Left Party's Alf Normann Hansen. She again ran for mayor of Gamvik at the 2023 local elections, this time successfully and the Labour Party formed a majority with the Centre and

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

parties. She was joined by the Centre Party's Marius Nilsen as deputy mayor.

References

1966 births Living people People from Gamvik People from Karasjok Norwegian Sámi politicians Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian state secretaries Chairpersons of County Councils of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians Women members of the Storting Women mayors of places in Norway {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub