Denmark's Social Democrats in poll position after election

Denmark’s Social Democrat opposition became the largest party in the monarchy’s parliamentary elections, in a result has been seen by some as a further example of the resurgence of centre-left politics in Europe.

However, the result sets up weeks of uncertainty and political wrangling, and has brought diverging conclusions about what exactly voters expressed.

Mette Frederiksen, the Social Democrat leader, ran a campaign that sought to straddle the political spectrum. Her party promised to end austerity and buttress, per the Nordic model, already substantial welfare programmes and vowed action on environmental issues. It also jarred many of its traditional supporters by matching right-wing rhetoric on immigration and multiculturalism.

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“These have included”, according to The Guardian, “a ban on wearing the Islamic burqa and niqab in public, as well as a widely-criticised – if largely symbolic – ‘jewellery bill’ that in principle allows police to seize refugees’ valuables to help pay the cost of their treatment by the state.”

This campaign strategy, “tacking far-right on immigration and left on welfare”, was deliberately calibrated, and “led the Danish Social Democrats to come out on top,” the Daily Express says.

Incumbent prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, head of the Liberal Party, conceded defeat yesterday, and handed in his resignation to Denmark’s queen later in the day. His offer of forming a “grand coalition” with the Social Democrats was turned down. “The Liberal Party is moving on, but we're not going home. We'll be waiting by the telephone”, he said.

The Danish People’s Party (DPP), who pioneered, in part, the right-wing populist advance across Europe, suffered catastrophic losses in Wednesday’s election, losing over half their seats in the Danish parliament, the Folketing.

The DPP’s parliamentary leader, Peter Skaarup, has no doubt what was behind his party’s heavy defeat: “On all those [immigration] issues, we have seen other parties wanting the same policies. The Social Democrats certainly gained some older voters, their traditional supporters, back from us,” he told the Financial Times.

Frederiksen, who saw her party win 25.9% of the vote, defended her party’s stance in immigration, arguing it is about protecting the welfare state: “This was an election that was about welfare and after tonight we’ll again put welfare first,” she said in her victory speech. “This was an historically big win.”

Frederiksen indicated following victory that rather than seeking to assemble a majority coalition, she intended to form a single-party minority government, which may be a move made from necessity, rather than choice.

According to The Daily Telegraph: “The Social Democrats aim to rule Denmark as a single-party minority government, driving forward environmental and social reforms with the backing of parties to the left and tough immigration policies with those to the right. But it is unclear whether her red bloc allies, the Social Liberal and Socialist People's Party, will allow this.”

“Other centre-left parties indicated they were not prepared to give Ms Frederiksen any leeway on immigration, or on policies towards the economy or climate change.” Richard Milne writes in the Financial Times. He quotes Martin Lidegaard, deputy chair of the Social Liberal party, who said: “The Social Democrats do not have a victory. Their supporting parties, the green parties, have won.”

Nevertheless, despite the challenges faced by the Social Democrats now, many doubt they had any alternative route to power.

“The Social Democrats lost four out of five elections this century because of the immigration issue,” said Kristian Madsen, a political analyst for Politiken, a Danish daily newspaper, who added that the shift came even as climate change had “broken through” as a political issue. Madsen said these tactic could be used by others as a template. “What we’re seeing is a laboratory for what the centre-left can be.”