With Borgen no longer around to keep British audiences entertained, real-life politics in Denmark continues to give the fictional version a run for its money when it comes to drama.

After a recent spate of controversies and ministerial resignations, the Danish centre-left government suffered another blow on Thursday when the Socialist People's party (SF) left the ruling coalition amid anger over Goldman Sachs's investment in Denmark's state-owned energy company.

Goldman's 8bn kroner (£900m) purchase of a 19% share in Dong Energy has been championed by the government but caused a revolt among SF's parliamentary group. After a night of tension and discussions, SF's leader, Annette Vilhelmsen, announced her resignation and said her party was leaving the coalition.

"It has been a dramatic 24 hours," Vilhelmsen said. "Yesterday it became clear to me that it wasn't possible to unite the party. For the sake of SF, I take the consequence of this."

The Goldman Sachs deal was approved by the parliament's finance committee on Thursday, but it has come under widespread scrutiny and criticism in recent weeks. A poll showed 68% of Danes were against the sale, and close to 200,000 people signed an online petition opposing the deal.

The former Social Democratic prime minister, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, last week described the deal as a "catastrophe".

It was a sentiment echoed by the MP Uffe Elbæk, a former culture minister who recently launched a new party called Alternativet (The Alternative). During a debate on the Goldman Sachs deal, which Elbæk has been a strong opponent of, he took to the parliament podium wearing a black jumper with the word "katastrophe" spelled out in capital letters.

Vilhelmsen's resignation heaped more pressure on the government and its Social Democratic prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt. But with SF pledging its support for the coalition in parliament, a government collapse or election is not yet on the cards.

Thorning-Schmidt described Vilhelmsen as a "brave politician" and denied rumours that she had threatened to kick out SF if any of its MPs went against the government line on the Goldman Sachs deal. "My leadership should be measured on the results the government achieves," Thorning-Schmidt said, "and there is no doubt that the Denmark we currently have is in a better condition than the one we took over two and a half years ago."

Vilhelmsen's resignation means another reshuffle for a cabinet which has been a revolving door in recent months. The outgoing foreign minister, SF's Holger K Nielsen, held his post for less than two months, having taken over in December when his predecessor resigned on health grounds.

The prime minister and her office also became embroiled in a controversy which forced the resignation of former justice minister Morten Bødskov, who misled parliament over the reason for cancelling a visit to Christiania by the legal committee.

Thomas Larsen, a political commentator for the newspaper Berlingske, predicted a rough road ahead for the two remaining coalition members, the Social Democrats and the Social Liberal party. "No matter how good the PR speeches are, no matter how good the sales pitches are to the population, the vast majority of Danes will be left with the impression of a government which continues to run in the crisis track and which hasn't managed to stay united," Larsen said.