Kristian Thulesen Dahl signals he may stay out of government, propping up minority coalition, after DPP finishes second in vote

Denmark woke up on Friday to a radically altered political landscape after the anti-immigrant Danish People’s party finished second in the country’s general election and demanded stricter border controls to stem the movement of migrants.



The DPP took more than 21% of the vote and 37 seats in the country’s 179-seat parliament. On a night of political contradictions, the centre-left Social Democrats, who increased their vote and were easily the biggest party, conceded defeat and Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Denmark’s first female prime minister, resigned as party leader.

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The Liberal party of the former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen was the night’s biggest loser, falling to third place behind the DPP with less than 20% of the vote, yet still looks set to form a government with Rasmussen as prime minister.

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Despite becoming the new strongman of Danish politics, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the DPP leader, held out the prospect that he would stay out of government, preferring to wield influence by propping up a minority coalition of the centre-right while maintaining his party’s independence, even at the expense of ministerial positions.

Dahl is wary that the party’s image may be damaged by power, as has happened in Norway where the anti-immigrant Progress party has suffered a sharp loss of popularity since joining a coalition with the Conservatives. In Finland, the rightwing populist Finns party entered a coalition government in April.

In a speech on Thursday night, Dahl listed four priorities for the DPP: cutting the number of asylum seekers; reintroducing border controls; reforming the EU, with Britain as a close ally, to prevent migrants claiming benefits; and raising welfare spending on sick and elderly people.

In 2011, Denmark angered the European commission, which monitors compliance with EU treaties, when its centre-right coalition – under pressure from the DPP – reintroduced customs checks at its borders with Sweden and Germany in apparent breach of the 1995 Schengen agreement.

In a measure of the DPP’s influence in Danish politics, Liberal leaders have described refugees as a threat to the cohesion of Danish society. On Thursday night, senior Liberals said they would welcome the DPP into government.

However, the DPP and Liberals disagree in a number of areas such as health, policing and unemployment benefits. The DPP wants to increase public spending by DKr4bn (£380m) a year, while the Liberals have promised tax cuts.

“The coming days will show if there is basis for forming a foundation which can govern,” Rasmussen said late on Thursday night. “There are many considerations to be taken.”

Whatever happens, Denmark’s new government will be strongly Eurosceptic: all the rightwing parties share criticisms of the EU, although none wants to leave the union. Danish media have talked of the “capitulation” of the Liberals to the DPP on Europe after the four parties of the rightwing bloc last week announced their joint support for David Cameron’s plan to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership.



After a cliffhanger election that was seen as too close to call on polling day, the rightwing bloc secured the slimmest of majorities in parliament, with 90 seats to the left’s 89. The results include votes from the autonomous Danish nations of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which each have two seats.

Thorning-Schmidt said in her resignation speech: “Leadership also consists of stepping back at the right moment, and that time is now.” Her Social Democrats had fought back from a yawning deficit in the polls, but the party’s attempts to appear tough on immigration backfired.

Sweden’s Social Democrats have been sharply critical of their Danish sister party’s stance on immigration. The shift to the right in Denmark leaves Sweden as the only country in Scandinavia – traditionally a stronghold of social democracy – in which the centre-left holds power. In sharp contrast to Denmark, Swedish mainstream parties have treated the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats as pariahs, though this has not prevented the far right from polling as high as 18%.



During a calamitous night for the Danish left, a sliver of comfort came in the form of the new Alternative party, formed two years ago to champion a green agenda, which won nine seats with almost 5% of the vote.

Turnout on Thursday was almost 86%, in keeping with a trend of high voter participation in Denmark.