Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the party’s glamorous young leader, has become the country’s first female prime minister after her four-party coalition took 89 of the 179 seats in parliament.
The result gives the left, at last, something to cheer about in Europe. It has been a source of some bafflement, as well as unease, among liberal left politicians, economists and intellectuals, that centre-left parties have taken a hit at the polls as the global financial crisis – and consequent collapse of confidence in the capitalist system – gets a grip on the continent.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt, 44, who is married to Neil and Glenys Kinnock’s son Stephen, won a closely-fought contest after campaigning on a public platform of tax rises and increased public spending.
She has a degree in political science from the University of Copenhagen and studied public administration at the College of Europe in Bruges. She worked for the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions before becoming an MEP from 1999 to 2004.
She told supporters after the left’s victory at the polls: “We have made history” and insisted that Denmark will not now “jump on the austerity wagon” with other countries in Europe. She also promised to protect the country’s welfare system.
The result ends a decade of rule by conservatives propped up by the far-right, Europhobic, Muslim-baiting, Danish People’s Party.
