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Two-time Danish PM Rasmussen seals government comeback as foreign minister

Denmark's former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen completed a remarkable political journey when he was named foreign minister on Thursday in Social Democrat Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's new left-right government.

Published: 15 December 2022 14:01 CET
Two-time Danish PM Rasmussen seals government comeback as foreign minister
Lars Løkke Rasmussen (centre) with the four other new ministers from the Moderate party. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

Rasmussen, who served as prime minister from 2009-2011 and again in 2015-2019, quit the right-wing Liberal party amid an internal conflict after the 2019 election defeat and started his own centre-right party, the Moderates.

His Moderates are in Frederiksen’s new government along with the Liberals, following last month’s general election.

The alliance between the left-wing Social Democrats and right-wing Liberals is unusual in Denmark, with the last attempt in 1978-1979 lasting just 14 months.

But Rasmussen first touted a centrist collaboration between the two parties as far back as the eve of the 2019 election, when he made the surprise move of calling for the coalition at a time when it was beyond the realms of political likelihood.

Considered one of the master strategists in Danish politics, the two-time prime minister has, in the three-and-a-half years since that election, been ousted from his legacy party, founded a new one, led it to a vote share of 9.3 percent in its first election and returned to government as foreign minister under Frederiksen, his erstwhile rival, and alongside his successor as Liberal leader, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen.

Ellemann-Jensen, who had campaigned against Frederiksen in the hope of building a right-wing majority, ultimately agreed to form a government with her “in Denmark’s best interest”.

He becomes deputy prime minister and defence minister.

Frederiksen’s second term as prime minister looks set to be very different from her first, which ran from 2019-2022, when she led a minority Social Democratic government that relied on support from her traditional left-wing allies.

That left-wing bloc won an absolute majority in the November election, but Frederiksen chose nonetheless to form a left-right government.

She said the current global political context, with the war in Ukraine and economic crisis, justified the move — but convincing the Liberals to ally themselves with her is also sure to create a split on the right wing.

Frederiksen failed however to convince the centre-left Social Liberal party to join the government, though it had been open to the possibility.

The new cabinet, made up of 15 men and eight women, includes 11 Social Democrats, eight Liberals and five Moderates.

The finance ministry will remain in the hands of Nicolai Wammen, a Social Democrat.

READ ALSO: Party leaders take foreign and defence minister posts in new Danish government

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POLITICS

Denmark’s Social Democrats overtaken by left-wing ally in new poll

The Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) has become the party with the most support in Denmark for the first time in a new opinion poll.

Published: 24 June 2024 13:10 CEST
Denmark’s Social Democrats overtaken by left-wing ally in new poll

A new poll from Voxmeter places SF as Denmark’s largest party, should it be replicated in an election vote, with an 18.8 percent share of the vote.

The Social Democrats, traditionally the largest party on the left, received 18.4 percent in the poll. That represents a large drop in support compared to the 2022 general election, when the Social Democrats gained 27.5 percent and went into coalition government with two parties on the right of centre.

The poll result for SF gives it a share 8.3 percent larger than it gained in 2022 and continues the centre-left group’s recent success after becoming the largest Danish party in the EU parliament in the EU elections this month.

Speaking on EU election night, SF leader Pia Olsen Dyhr said the party’s excellent result could be used as a “catalyst” for a new political landscape in Denmark.

The EU election result can fuel further gains for SF when the next general election comes around, Dyhr said in the midst of her party’s celebrations.

“There’s an alternative to this government. There’s an alternative that wants [more] welfare and [to do more for] the climate and we are willing to deliver this in the EU parliament,” she told broadcaster DR.

“It gives us a tailwind and enthusiasm for the party and it means people will be even more ready for local elections next year and the general election further ahead,” she said.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: Is left-wing party’s EU election win good news for foreigners in Denmark?

Another notable observation from the poll is that is the worst for the Social Democrats since the 2022 election and since Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen became the party’s leader in 2015.

In 2013, when former leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt was prime minister, the party’s polls dropped as low as 15.8 percent, but they recovered after Frederiksen took over to win the 2019 election.

The other two parties in the coalition government – the Moderates and Liberals (Venstre) – are also struggling in opinion polls.

The new poll gives the Liberals 9.7 percent – compared to 14.7 percent at the EU election and 23.5 percent in 2019.

For the Moderates, the 6.5 percent polling is better than the 5.9 percent achieved by the party in the EU election, but less than the 9.3 percent it gained in 2023.

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