After leading the campaign for the VVD in Amsterdam in 1986, she started her own service company for campaigns, congresses and events, meanwhile serving on the boards of Housing Corporation Nieuw Amsterdam, Employers association for Childcarecentres, and the Governments Council of Youth Policy.
Local politics (1994–2013) In 1994, Krikke was elected for the Amsterdam's City Council, and two years later, she was appointed in the
college van burgemeester en wethouders for economic affairs, airports and seaports. After the elections of 1998, she was assigned the portfolios 'economic affairs and employment' and 'urban planning, housing and economy of the inner city'. She has also fulfilled several functions as a council member and commissioner, and was delegation leader of international missions with representatives of companies and institutions from Amsterdam In 2001 she was appointed by The Crown to be the Mayor of Arnhem, and in 2007 for another term of six years. Meanwhile, she held governmental subsidiary positions such as Taskforce Youth Unemployment, and Consultative Commission On Disaster Relief. Within her own political party she was Chairperson of the Permanent Committee for scouting Representatives for the National and European Parliaments (2004–2012). On 29 October 2012, Krikke announced she would not seek a third term as mayor of Arnhem, creating ample time for both the municipality and herself, for "flow, and recalibration of perspectives" before the summer of 2013. On her departure she was invested as a Knight of the
Order of Orange-Nassau.
Member of the Senate (2015–17) Between 2015 and 2017, Krikke served as member of the
Senate. In addition to her parliamentary assignments, Krikke also served as member of the Dutch delegation to the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe since 2016. As member of the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group, she is currently a member of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media. She was part of a cross-party delegation to observe the
2016 parliamentary elections in
Macedonia.
Mayor of the Hague (2017–2019) In March 2017 she became mayor of
The Hague. Almost all local parties supported her appointment. In October 2019 she resigned, following the conclusions of a report that blamed her office with the 2018 New Year's Eve and 2019 New Year's Day fires in Scheveningen, The Hague. ==Other activities==