Editing Märkischer Kreis (section)

==Politics and administration==
[[Image:Burg Altena 20080215.JPG|thumb|right|[[Altena Castle|Castle]] in [[Altena]]]]
[[Image:Luisenhuette 20080510.JPG|thumb|right|Luisenhütte]]
The district is led by a ''[[Landrat]]''. Originally the Landrat was only a representative post, while the ''Oberkreisdirektor'' was the head of the administration; however, since 1999 the two posts have been unified. The headquarters of the administration of the county are located in Lüdenscheid, but there are county halls with parts of the administration in Iserlohn and Altena, too. The police headquarters of the county are in Iserlohn.
{|
!|Landrat
!|Oberkreisdirektor
|- valign=top
||
*Heinz Bickmann (CDU) - 1975 (provisional)
*Dr. Walter Hostert (CDU) - 1975-1994
*Klaus Tweer (SPD) - 1994-1999
*Aloys Steppuhn (CDU) - 1999-2009
*Thomas Gemke (CDU) - 2009-2020
*Marco Voge (CDU) - since 2020
||
*Wilfried Droste (SPD) - 1975 (provisional)
*Dr. Jürgen Albath (CDU) - 1975-1986
*Dr. Bernhard Schneider (CDU) - 1986-1999
|}

The county council meets in the county hall in Iserlohn. Its last election was on 26 September 2004.
{|
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Seats
|-
||[[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]]
| align=right|44.4%
| align=right|32
|-
||[[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]
| align=right|30.0%
| align=right|22
|-
||[[German Green Party|Greens]]
| align=right|7.7%
| align=right|6
|-
||[[Free Democratic Party of Germany|FDP]]
| align=right|7.4%
| align=right|5
|-
||Independent (UWG)
| align=right|6.7%
| align=right|5
|-
||[[National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD)|NPD]]
| align=right|1.9%
| align=right|1
|-
||[[The Republicans (Germany)|Republican]]
| align=right|1.8%
| align=right|1
|}