Inger Støjberg

Inger Støjberg at her appointment as minister

Inger Støjberg (born 16 March 1973) is a Danish Minister for Immigration, Integration and Housing^[1] since June 2015. She has been member of parliament since the 2001 elections for the party Venstre. She has been Minister of Employment.^[2]

Personal life

Inger Støjberg grew up as the daughter of a housewife and a farmer on the North Jutlandic island of Mors. In 1993, she graduated from Morsø Gymnasium in Nykøbing Mors.^[3] In 1995, she finished the one-year higher commerce exam in Viborg. In 1996, on the same school of commerce, she attended a one-year economical communication study that had been instated in the meantime.

In 1999 she graduated from InformationsAkademiet. The same year, she began working as a reporter at the Viborg newspaper, and in the following year, she became an independent communication agent^[4] and continued to work for the paper until 2001. In 2004, Støjberg published a biography of the North Jutlandic pop duo Sussi og Leo. In the year 2008, the politician married the long-time editor of Berlingske Jesper Beinov, who, since 2016, is employed as a consultant of the Danish ministry of finances.^[5] Having no children, the couple divorced in 2012.^[6]

In the year 2013, Støjberg achieved the title of Master of Business Administration from the University of Aalborg.^[7] She lives in Hadsund.

Political career

Støjberg's first elected office was as member of the city council of Viborg Municipality, a position she occupied from 1994 to 2002. She served as chairman of Liberalt Oplysnings Forbund (LOF) from 1996 to 1999.

In 1999, she first ran for parliament. By the electoral victory of her party in 2001, then headed by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, she succeeded in getting into parliament.

Since 2005, Støjberg is a member of the party management of Venstre. From 2005 to 2007, she was deputy fraction chairwoman in the Folketing. Since 2007, she represents the electoral district of Western Jutland. From 2007 to 2009, Støjberg was fraction speaker of Venstre.

After the head of government Anders Fogh Rasmussen transferred to Nato, Støjberg became, in April 2009, minister of work and equality, succeeding Claus Hjort Frederiksen. In 2010, the ministries were restructured and Støjberg was, until the electoral defeat of the conservative camp in the year of 2011, only minister of work. In the opposition, Støjberg became one of the leading public voices of her party and occupied from 2014 to the electoral victory in 2015 the post of fraction speaker for Venstre. Since June 2015, she is minister of integration, foreigners and homes.

Controversies

Støjberg was leading in a tightening of Danish asylum law that came into force on the first of September, 2015, and which, amongst other things, limited the social services for asylum seekers.^[8] According to Støjberg, it should be unattractive for asylum seekers to travel into Denmark.^[9] Creating international uproar, ads were posted in Lebanese newspapers under Støjberg in which people were warned against applying for asylum in Denmark.^[10] Moreover, particularly in the Anglophone sphere, the "Jewellery law", which was introduced under Støjberg, and which decreed that asylum seekers would already at the border give up a part of their valuables as a pledge for later service costs was critically reported on,^[11] in connection to which comparisons to Nazism were also made by commentators.^[12] Støjberg's successful endeavours to expensively refit tent camps as initial reception camps instead of using empty buildings that were, according to aid organizations, available, also made headlines^[13] – especially since several of these camps are empty for months at a time and are nonetheless heated and, e.g. in the Thisted camp, residents must wait for months while their applications are processed. This led to public criticism, also from employees of the camp.^[14]

Støjberg has previously called herself "a trained journalist" but was forced to revise her resume, as she does not have such an education, even though it is not a protected title.^[15]

Notes

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