Denmark's center-left Social Democrats win power after tacking right on immigration, left on welfare

Mette Frederiksen, Denmark&#039;s next prime minister — (Image credit: Henning Bagger/AFP/Getty Images)

Denmark's center-left Social Democrats won a plurality of seats in Wednesday's national elections, and Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen is expected to form the next government, taking over from outgoing Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the center-right Liberal Party (Venstre). The Social Democrats and their left-leaning "red bloc" won 91 of the 179 seats in the Folketing, or parliament, while the Liberals and their conservative "blue bloc" won 75 seats, according to exit polls. Support for the far-right Danish People's Party (DPP) collapsed; its 8.7 percent total was less than half what it won in 2015.

Denmark is now the third Nordic country to elect a center-left government in the past year, joining Sweden and Finland.

The Liberal Party has held power for 14 of the past 18 years, and the five "red bloc" parties were able to take back power on a platform of shoring up Denmark's welfare programs after years of cuts and supporting measures to fight climate change. The Social Democrats also tacked right on immigration, supporting the harsh anti-immigration policies the Liberals enacted, thanks in part to pressure from the DPP. The rightward tack on immigration was seen as a big reason the Social Democrats won and the DPP lost support.

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Frederiksen, who at 41 would be Denmark's youngest prime minister ever, has said she wants to form a minority government with a broad spectrum of parties. Her party's partners on the left mostly don't support the Social Democrats' immigration policies, but Frederiksen has also ruled out forming a "grand coalition" with the Liberals, as Rasmussen has proposed. Rasmussen said on Wednesday night that he will submit his resignation on Thursday, adding that he'll be "standing by the phone" in case Frederiksen calls for coalition talks.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.