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Leader of far-right Danish party to step down and quit politics

Pernille Vermund, leader of the far-right Nye Borgerlige (New Right) party, has announced her intention to step down from the role this year and quit politics after the next general election.

Published: 10 January 2023 16:58 CET
Leader of far-right Danish party to step down and quit politics
Far-right Danish party Nye Borgerlige must find a new leader after Pernille Vermund said she was stepping down. File photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

Vermund announced her decision on the party’s website on Tuesday and said that a new leader should be found as soon as possible.

“The torch must now be carried onwards,” she wrote.

“I have therefore informed our members, our parliamentary group and our excellent staff that this will be my last period in parliament – and that I recommend Nye Borgerlige’s members to choose a new chairman straight away to lead the party in the electoral period that is now really getting underway,” she said.

“That means I am leader of Nye Borgerlige until the party’s annual congress or extraordinary congress, if the leadership decides to call one,” she said.

Vermund is an architect by profession and former local politician with the Conservative party. She has been an MP since the 2019 election, when she led Nye Borgerlige, which she co-founded in 2015, into parliament for the first time.

She was reelected to parliament in November 2022 as the far-right group had a solid if unspectacular second election, increasing its vote share from 2.4 percent to 3.7 percent.

She has previously said she did not plan to spend more than two electoral periods as a lawmaker.

The far-right party can be considered broadly libertarian on social and economic issues and vehemently opposed to immigration, particularly from countries with Muslim populations.

READ ALSO: Far-right politician appointed chair of Danish citizenship committee

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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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