Pressure is mounting on conservative leader Søren Pape Poulsen to withdraw his candidacy to become the next prime minister after a dismal showing in the latest Epinion poll for DR.
Conducted on October 20, it reveals the Conservatives are running exactly level with Blue Bloc stablemate the Liberal Alliance. Both would get 7 percent of the public vote if an election were held today.
Just two months ago the Conservatives had a 16.7 per cent share compared to just 3.1 per cent for LA, but the last two months have been unkind to Poulsen, with the public not reacting favorably to the announcement of his divorce just days after the media had questioned the truth. allegations made by his husband.
Staying in place, staying positive
Conservative political spokesperson Mette Abildgaard confirms to DR that Poulsen is not withdrawing his candidacy.
“Søren Pape Poulsen is in every possible way our candidate for prime minister. It hasn’t changed one iota,” she told DR.
“But it’s clear if you look at the polls right now, it may well look more difficult than it has been.”
Abildgaard is dismayed by the fall in the opinion polls, but maintains a certain optimism: “We have quite a lot of talented candidates out in the country. We have not given up hope, but of course it is difficult.”
The Liberal Alliance is flying high despite its own scandal
Liberal Alliance leader Alex Vanoplasgh is happy in the meantime. The latest advance represents the Liberal Alliance’s best poll performance in six years.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “But let’s see what happens. There’s still a week left in the election campaign and the polls can be wrong, so I don’t want to cheer too early. Nevertheless, it gives you a boost and some extra motivation.”
Vanoplagh has had his own scandal to deal with. Information recently reported that he has not spent enough time in his apartment in the central Jutland town of Struer to justify his parliamentary candidacy being based there. In reality, he spends most of his time in Copenhagen in an apartment that the Parliament has made available to him, although his right to the apartment is also disputed by the newspaper. Vansplagh acknowledges that he only spends 60-80 days a year in Struer, and he takes “full responsibility”.
Lars Løkke remains at the helm
As things stand, the blue bloc only has 75 seats, 15 short of the number they need for a majority. But with the moderates on board, they would have 93.
The leader of the moderates, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, has said that he would like to join forces with parties across the middle and include the Social Democrats, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s party.
But as Vanopglagh said, a week can be a long time in politics. Denmark goes to the polls on Tuesday 1 November.
Source: The Nordic Page