DENMARK-ELECTION/RESULT Danish centre-right opposition wins election, PM quits party

Record ID: 151814

  • Title: DENMARK-ELECTION/RESULT Danish centre-right opposition wins election, PM quits party
  • Date: 19th June 2015
  • Summary: GIRL DANCING
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Denmark
  • Country: Denmark
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVALBDK8SL9QU6Q1WP76IFAJOWI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Lars Lokke Rasmussen secured a slender victory for his "blue bloc" of conservative parties in a tight Danish general election on Thursday (June 18), amassing 90 seats to the 85 of the red bloc led by Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
    "With the result that we got here today, there is a great political work that lies ahead of us. We need to cooperate, and I am very happy that the Prime Minister tonight on behalf of the Social Democrats have committed themselves to future cooperation. We need that," Rasmussen told his supporters in the early hours of Friday (June 19).
    "Denmark is a wonderful country. It is not perfect as you know but it is the best there is. We are just not there yet. It needs to be more beneficial to find a job, we need to bring thousands from social benefits to employment, we need to create more private businesses, we need to succeed with integration," he added.
    Undaunted by a slump in his own party's fortunes which saw a sharp decline in support from 26.7 percent to 19.5 percent, Rasmussen outlined his vision for the future.
    "We want a Denmark that is developing throughout the country. We want a Denmark where it pays to work. We want a Denmark where we can control the flow of asylum seekers so that we can secure integration," he said. "So when Danes look into the eyes of someone with a different ethnic background, on the train, in the street or at their work, they look into the eyes of a person who wants to be Danish."
    Thorning-Schmidt conceded defeat at around one o'clock in the morning, and went on to resign as leader of the Social Democrats.
    "Good leadership is also knowing when to say stop, and that moment is now," she told her supporters as she conceded defeat.
    The 51-year-old Rasmussen, who led the Scandinavian country from 2009 to 2011 when he was ousted by Thorning-Schmidt, is now favourite to retake the office of prime minister.
    "And tonight we have gained an opportunity, just an opportunity, to take leadership of such a Denmark, and that is the task that we take upon our shoulders, that is what I will do. I am full of energy, energy that I really want to use to create the results that I want, in a Denmark that is experiencing growth, success and welfare throughout the whole country," he said.
    For Thorning-Schmidt, the fact that her party remains the biggest in Denmark was little consolation.
    Despite closing a gap that at one point was 17 percentage points, it wasn't enough to bring her red bloc over the line.
    "Our efforts did not get us what we wanted. The Social Democrats won the election campaign, but we still lost the election. We came close, but we lost by only an inch," said Thorning-Schmidt, adding that she would resign as leader of the Social Democrats following the defeat.
    The populist right-wing Danish People's Party replaced the Liberals as the country's second-largest party, and will now have to decide what to do with their new-found political clout.
    "I am really surprised about this result. We are probably not doing as well in the big cities, but no matter what, this is a marvellous result for Danish People's Party," said Danish People's Party chairman Kristian Thulesen Dahl.
    Anti-immigration and Euro-sceptic, the People's Party saw their share of the vote jump 8.8 percent to 21.1 percent, but leader Thulesen Dahl is unlikely to have the broad parliamentary support needed to be elected prime minister.
    Rasmussen will now try to form a coalition government with the other parties in the blue bloc, and it remains to be seen whether the People's Party will take their place at the cabinet table, or remain on the outside.
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