Denmark exit polls predict election of country’s first female prime minister

Social democratic leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt said to be slightly ahead in closely fought battle Denmark’s social democratic leader looks set to become the country’s first female prime minister by a narrow margin, according to early general election exit polls on Thursday night. But the projections were too close for certainty, and suggested the election could turn on late results from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which have four seats in the 179-strong chamber in Copenhagen. The uncertainty was compounded by the fact that the exit polls were released hours before voting closed. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the 44-year-old former MEP who is the daughter-in-law of British politicians Neil and Glenys Kinnock, was said to be slightly ahead, with her “red bloc” centre-left coalition securing a majority of between three and seven over the incumbent liberal-conservative government of Lars Lokke Rasmussen, according to three separate exit polls. The centre-right coalition has been in power for a decade, notching up a trio of election victories, but as a minority government propped up in parliament by the far-right, anti-Muslim and anti-European Danish People’s party, whose influence has been central, forcing the passage of dozens of new laws countering immigration. The far right party and its success over the past decade has made it the model for like-minded parties in Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands who have chalked up notable gains over the past two years. The DPP has also succeeded in forcing its anti-immigrant position on the mainstream, meaning the restrictive regime is unlikely to change whoever wins. The popular and controversial DPP leader, Pia Kjaersgaard, said: “It is almost as if [the election] has become a referendum about me and the DPP. I think that has given me extra strength, but also that people have said they would support me. That has been incredibly warm and nice,” she said as she cast her ballot. Thorning-Schmidt, appearing alongside her husband, Stephen Kinnock, congratulated herself, although the projected close result suggested she had done worse than expected. “I feel like giving myself a pat on the back,” she said. “We can create history tonight. We can bid goodbye to 10 years of [Liberal-Conservative] government which has ground to a halt, and get a new government and a new majority in Denmark.” The campaign was dominated by the flagging economy, with the incumbents promising austerity and the centre-left a wave of public spending. Denmark Europe The far right Lars Eriksen Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 15, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.