term of office was simply extended by one year. The equivalent name for the upcoming regional councils were preparatory boards () and these were likewise elected on 15 November 2005. The county councils of the old counties had their mandate prolonged by a year and existed parallel to the preparatory boards during 2006. One municipality, Bornholm, which was formed January 2003 before the reform was initiated, and one formed January 2006, namely Ærø, as part of the reform, in addition to 30 municipalities, most notably Copenhagen, many of its surrounding municipalities and some island municipalities, were not affected by municipal mergers 1 January 2007. In these municipalities, the councillors served the full term of office from 1 January 2006 until 31 December 2009. After the transitions, the next local elections took place on 17 Nov 2009. A few local political parties have emerged as a protest against closing of hospitals or cutbacks in healthcare, most notably Fælleslisten, which got over 40 percent of the votes in the Holstebro area in the 2009 election, and the Psychiatry List in the 2017 election, both in the Central Jutland Region. Political background The reform has been called the biggest reform in thirty years. It was an important policy issue for the former Liberal-Conservative cabinet, most importantly for Lars Løkke Rasmussen, then minister of the Interior and Health and formerly a county mayor. The abolition of the counties had long been an important goal for both the Conservatives and the Danish People's Party. 24 June 2004 the Danish People's Party decided to back the government's proposal for a structural reform of the public sector, thus securing a majority in the Danish parliament (Folketing), although the party had preferred just abolishing the counties without replacing them with a new administrative level between the central government and the municipalities. The parties who wanted to limit the regional tier of government prevailed insofar as the regions have no authority to levy taxes, and are not municipalities unlike the former counties (1970–2006) (Danish amtskommune, literally 'county municipality'), and therefore cannot move budgets from one area of expenditure to another but must pay back any money not used, rather like departments or agencies of the central government. State Administration (2007–March 2019) Establishment The regions were distinct from the state administration offices (Danish: ). The regions are responsible for devolved tasks within healthcare and regional planning and governed by an