The centre-left bloc of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen narrowly won the parliamentary elections. Her coalition secured 90 of the 179 seats, giving her a razor-thin majority. The centre-right opposition group remained at 72 seats.
Opinion polls had long been unclear about which of the two coalitions would come out on top. Furthermore, it was expected that a new party, founded by former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the Moderates, could serve as a bridge. His party eventually won 16 seats.
An unexpected result was that Frederiksen's own party, the Social Democrats, achieved their best result in two decades, making them the largest parliamentary party in Denmark.
“Social democracy has had its best election in more than 20 years,” Frederiksen said in a speech last night in Copenhagen. She reiterated an earlier campaign promise that she would try to form a centrist government, rather than one predominantly centre-left.
The former Immigration Minister, Inger Støjberg, who was removed from office after ordering the illegal separation of asylum-seeking parent couples and children, won 14 seats with his new anti-immigration party, becoming the fifth largest party in the Folketing.
The fact that nearly all Danish parties have moved sharply to the right on immigration in recent years also led to the near disappearance of the right-wing populist Danish People’s Party. This party was still the second largest in Denmark in 2015, but received only 2.6% in this election.