Gov across the middle
Despite losing ground in the exit poll compared to the last election in 2019, the Social Democrats actually ended up enjoying their best result in two decades.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that she wants a government across the middle, so the door is open for Rasmussen to play an important role.
What that role might be is yet to be determined, but talks will soon begin across parties and blocs – the first test of how functional a future government across the center might be.
Historically, however, it has not worked well.
THE WINNERS
In addition to Frederiksen and the Social Democrats, the big winners last night were:
Liberal Alliance: What a turnaround for a party that was struggling to survive after the 2019 election. Jumping from 4 to 14 seats means a massive success for Alex Vansplagh’s party.
The moderates: Yes, Rasmussen did not end up becoming a king maker. But hey! Welcome back! Having founded the Moderates just months ago, Rasmussen must be shocked that his party stormed into the Folketing with 16 seats.
The Danish Democrats: Inger Støjberg and the Danish Democrats (DD) also had a dream election debut, sweeping into the Folketing with an impressive 14 mandates. Denmark’s former iron lady for immigration is out of prison and back in the spotlight of Danish politics.
THE LOSER
Where there are winners, there are always losers. And last night the biggest were:
Left: With new lots M and DD gobbled up voters last night, something had to give. And it was the Liberals who bore the brunt, as it fell 13.3 percentage points compared to 2019, losing as many as 20 mandates to end up with 23 – the party’s worst election in 34 years. Party leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen went from prime ministerial candidate to wondering what went wrong.
Radicals: Radikale and Sofie Carsten Nielsen were behind the downfall of a government that led Denmark safely through the pandemic and the energy crisis. They paid a high price and fell from 16 to only 7 mandates.
Danish People’s Party: DF continues to pay for its big miscalculation in 2015, when it failed to take power despite a landslide election. This time, the party ended up with just 2.7 percent of the vote, its worst performance in history.
OTHER KEY FIGURES:
Here are some other key figures from last night’s election:
– The voting percentage ended at 84.1 percent, which is lower than the election in 2019 (84.6) and the lowest since 82.8 percent voted in 1990.
– About 55,000 votes were ‘lost’ yesterday through votes cast for Frie Gronne, the Christian Democrats or an independent, or because the ballot paper was blank or destroyed. Neither party managed to reach the 2 percent threshold required to enter parliament.
– The highest turnout was in Rudersdal, north of Copenhagen, with 90.39 percent, followed by Gentofte (89.57) and Falkoner (89.48)
– The lowest turnout was in Brøndby with 76.78 percent, ahead of Lolland (77.64) and Bispebjerg (78.62).
– In Copenhagen, the Social Democracy got the most votes with 19.1 percent, followed by Enhedslisten (13.8), SF (11.4), the Moderates (9.5) and the Alternative (9.4).
– Ballerup had the highest proportion of invalid votes with 0.54 percent, while Valby had the highest number of blank votes (1.7 percent).
Source: The Nordic Page