Denmark Wakes Up to a New Female Leader

September 16, 2011 via Euronews

Denmark's first female prime minister faces the tricky task of piecing together a centre-left government for the Scandinavian state, after ten years of centre-right rule. Helle Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats tapped voter anger about the state of the economy, according to experts. But some Danes are already predicting a short shelf life for the coalition, pointing to sharp differences between the parties. "She has been lucky in the support she has had, otherwise she would never have won. Let's see how long it lasts," said one woman.

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Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Danish pronunciation: [ˈhɛlə ˈtoɐ̯neŋ ˈsmed]; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish politician and the current Prime Minister of Denmark. She has been the Leader of the Social Democrats since 12 April 2005 and Prime Minister since 3 October 2011. Thorning-... Explore this topic

Denmark

The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark, pronounced [ˈkɔŋəʁiːəð ˈdanmɑɡ̊] ( listen)) is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting the country of Denmark in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlant... Explore this topic

Election

An election contest is an opportunity for constituents to vote for a political party or candidate for a governmental office or seat, or the ability to run for a governmental office or seat (as is the case with primaries). For more information, please see the Freebase wiki pag... Explore this topic

Centre-left

Centre-left is a political is a political term commonly used to describe adherence to views whose views slightly leaning to the left but close to the centre on the left-right political spectrum. The centre-left promotes a degree of social equality that it believes is achievabl... Explore this topic

Politics in Denmark

The Politics of Denmark takes place in a framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy, in which the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The Monarch is the head of state and plays a largely ceremonial role w... Explore this topic

Social Democrats (Denmark)

The Social Democrats (Danish: Socialdemokraterne/Socialdemokratiet), is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Tho... Explore this topic

Folketing

The Folketing (Danish: Folketinget, Danish pronunciation: [ˈfʌlɡ̊ətˢeŋˀ]), is the national parliament of Denmark. The name literally means "People's thing"—that is, the people's governing assembly. The Folketing consists of 179 representatives; 175 from Denmark, 2 from Greenla... Explore this topic

Prime Minister of Denmark

The Prime Minister of Denmark (Danish: statsminister) is the head of government in Danish politics. The Prime Minister is traditionally the leader of a political coalition in the Folketing (Danish parliament) and presides over the cabinet. The Prime Minister and cabinet are ap... Explore this topic

Lars Løkke Rasmussen

Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Danish: [lɑːs ˈløɡ̊ə]; 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from April 2009 to October 2011. He is the leader of the centre-right liberal party, Venstre. Rasmussen has been a member of the Danish parliament (Folketin... Explore this topic

General Election

The general election type is for elections in which more than one office is being contested (e.g., mayor and sheriff, or an entire legislature). General elections can include other general elections. These included elections can be for different bodies, such as two houses in a... Explore this topic

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Denmark

Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Election