Denmark’s Frederiksen faces tough coalition talks to remain prime minister

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen handed in her coalition government’s resignation on Wednesday after suffering a massive election defeat, but could still emerge as leader of a new cabinet in the coming weeks.

Analysts say the result was a voter revolt over broken economic promises of the outgoing centrist government and ‌a sign that the electorate was tired of Frederiksen as a leader after seven years in power.

Frederiksen’s Social Democratic Party had its worst election since 1903 on Tuesday, winning just 38 seats in the 179-seat parliament – down from 50 four years ago – amid voter concerns over migration, a cost-of-living crisis and welfare.

Such domestic policy issues overshadowed the support for Frederiksen’s defiant stance towards US President Donald Trump’s repeated ambitions to ⁠acquire Denmark’s semi-autonomous territory Greenland, analysts said.

“This loss was larger than you could explain just by the cost of ruling,” said Rune Stubager, a political ⁠scientist at Aarhus University.

Stubager attributed the defeat to polarising economic decisions, such as the controversial scrapping of a public holiday, tax cuts for ‌high earners, and a last-minute proposal to introduce a wealth tax, which failed to resonate with voters.