Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen’s party won a closely contested election by pledging stability in global turmoil, setting the stage for difficult coalition talks to secure a third term in power.
The premier’s Social Democrats emerged as the biggest with 22 per cent of the Tuesday parliamentary vote overshadowed by Donald Trump’s threats over Greenland, after all ballots were preliminarily counted.
Still, it is the party’s worst result in more than a century.
With both traditional camps short of a clear majority, foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the centrist Moderates – who was pictured smoking outside the White House after meeting US vice-president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio in January – landed the role of kingmaker.
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His election-night plea to continue with a cross-bloc coalition was dismissed by Liberal leader Troels Lund Poulsen who ruled out co-operating with Frederiksen, narrowing options for the talks that are due to start Wednesday.
“It’s a catastrophic election for the Social Democrats. Mette Frederiksen may have a very high profile on the European stage but in Denmark she is in deep crisis,” said Noa Redington, a political commentator and former Social Democrat spindoctor.
US president Donald Trump’s repeated statements about taking control of Greenland from Copenhagen, potentially by force, put Denmark in the geopolitical spotlight before the election and boosted Frederiksen after a disastrous showing in local polls in November.
Frederiksen has been credited by some with crushing Denmark’s far right by adopting their anti-immigration policies, but Tuesday’s election showed a resurgence of support for such parties. Three anti-immigration groups secured 17 per cent of the vote.
The Social Democrat party scored 21.9 per cent, well below the 24.8 per cent it recorded in 2011, which was its worst performance over the past century. One of the most dominant political forces in western Europe, the party last scored worse with 20.4 per cent in 1903.
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Meanwhile the main party on the right was braced for its worst ever result, with the Liberals led by defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen taking 10 per cent of the vote.
It managed to remain the largest party on the right, finishing just ahead of Liberal Alliance, a libertarian group which courted controversy after its leader admitted during the election campaign to having used cocaine.
The biggest gainers appeared to be the Green Left and the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party, which both recorded significant surges in support. The Green Left secured 11.6 per cent of the vote, with the Danish People’s Party on 9.1 per cent.
Analysts expect a long period of horse-trading to secure a viable coalition, but many believe Frederiksen holds the better cards to win a third successive term in office as the right is more fragmented and lacks a strong candidate for prime minister.
Frederiksen and Rasmussen have also struck up a good rapport in the current centrist coalition. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026. Additional reporting: Bloomberg
