EditDenmark’s Frederiksen bruised in election, coalition talks loom
The “red” bloc is projected short of the 90 seats needed for a majority, leaving the Moderates party of former PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen as the likely kingmaker
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen suffered a significant setback on Tuesday as her Social Democrats recorded their worst result in more than a century, even though her left-leaning bloc narrowly led the right and kept her chances of a third term alive.
The 48-year-old Social Democrat, in power since 2019, had called the snap election hoping to capitalise on her firm stance against U.S. President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland. While that defiance earned broad domestic respect and boosted defence spending in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, domestic concerns over the cost-of-living crisis, welfare sustainability and migration ultimately overshadowed it.
With nearly all votes counted, the Social Democrats secured 21.9% of the vote and 38 seats in the 179-seat Folketing – down sharply from 50 seats in 2022 and marking their weakest performance since before World War I.
The left-wing (“red”) bloc was projected to win around 84 seats, compared with 77 for the right-leaning (“blue”) bloc. Neither side reached the 90 seats needed for a majority, leaving the centrist Moderates party of former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (14 seats) as the likely kingmaker.
Coalition negotiations are expected to last weeks.
“I’m ready to take on the responsibility,” Frederiksen told supporters in Copenhagen late on election night. “It will be difficult.” She downplayed the setback, noting that her government had navigated war, Trump’s threats over Greenland and other shocks. “In almost seven years we’ve gone down four percentage points – I think that’s okay,” she said.
Voters punished the Social Democrats from both flanks. Many on the traditional left criticised her tough immigration policies, which include temporary refugee status, strict integration requirements and pushes for easier deportation of foreign criminals. At the same time, parts of the right viewed her as unreliable on economic issues, particularly after she proposed a modest 0.5% wealth tax on the richest Danes to fund education reform and rebuild left-wing credentials damaged by her previous cross-bloc coalition.
The clearest sign of backlash came from the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party, led by Morten Messerschmidt. It surged to 9.1% of the vote and 16 seats – nearly tripling its support from the last election. Messerschmidt campaigned on “zero net migration of Muslims” and scrapping petrol taxes to ease living costs. “Danes are fed up,” he declared. “They want a different direction for Denmark.”
Liberal Party leader and Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen ruled out another coalition with Frederiksen, nudging Rasmussen with the remark: “The possibility is there, Lars!”
In Brussels, Frederiksen remains respected for her clear line on Greenland and support for higher defence spending, though some view her style as abrasive. In Greenland itself, the vote was watched closely, with hopes that the Trump factor might help the territory extract more concessions from Copenhagen.
Analysts describe Frederiksen as caught “between a rock and a hard place.” Her hybrid approach – hard-right migration policies from a centre-left leader – had previously neutralised the far right, but rising living costs and anti-incumbent sentiment proved costly.
Rasmussen signalled the difficulty ahead, telling supporters there was “no hard-red majority to our left, and no hard-blue majority to our right.” Whether Frederiksen can assemble a viable government – possibly with Moderates support but without repeating the outgoing broad coalition – will determine if she survives as prime minister or yields to a more fragmented political landscape.
With Reuters, edited by g.g.
Caption: Leader of the Social Democrats, Mette Frederiksen (R), speaks during an election celebration in Copenhagen, Denmark, 24 March 2026. Danish voters on 24 March headed to the polls for a snap parliamentary election. EPA/MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN
Updated: March 25, 2026 - 07:00
