Danish Social Democrats Face Major Electoral Defeat

Denmark's political landscape shifted dramatically on Tuesday night as the Social Democrats experienced their worst municipal election results in decades, losing control of Copenhagen and dozens of other municipalities across the country.

Venstre has emerged as Denmark's largest mayoral party, securing 39 mayoral positions compared to the Social Democrats' 25, with 12 municipalities still finalizing their coalition agreements. This represents a significant reversal from 2021, when the Social Democrats won 44 mayoral posts and Venstre won 34.

The most shocking result came from Copenhagen, where the Social Democrats lost control of the capital for the first time since the current system was introduced in 1938. Sisse Marie Welling from SF (Socialist People's Party) will become the new lord mayor after her party won 17.9% of the vote. The Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) remained Copenhagen's largest party with 22.1%.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen acknowledged the defeat was more severe than anticipated. "We had expected to go back, but it seems that the decline is greater than we had expected," she told reporters. Despite the losses, she defended her decision to form a broad coalition government and took personal responsibility for the results.

Frederiksen attributed the party's decline to several factors, including rising food prices, growing tensions between rural and urban areas, and concerns about crime and immigration. Her comments reinforced her hardline stance on immigration, which has been controversial even within left-wing circles.

Nationally, the Social Democrats remain Denmark's largest party by vote share, winning 23.2% of the vote. However, this represents a significant drop of 5.2 percentage points from 2021, resulting in the loss of 156 council seats nationwide.

Despite losing mayoralties across the country, the Social Democrats managed to retain control of Denmark's largest cities. In Aarhus, Anders Winnerskjold will continue as mayor after forming a broad coalition. Peter Rahbæk Juel secured a rare full-party agreement in Odense. Aalborg and Frederiksberg also remained under Social Democrat leadership, though with reduced vote shares.

The election saw increased voter participation, with turnout reaching 69.2% compared to 67.5% in 2021. This suggests growing public engagement with local politics.

In regional elections, the results favored right-wing parties. Only the new Region Østdanmark (East Denmark) will have a Social Democrat chairman. The other regions chose leaders from Venstre, marking a clear rightward shift in regional governance.

Political analysts described the results as devastating for the Social Democrats. Peter Thisted Dinesen, a political science professor at the University of Copenhagen, called it "a big loss for the Social Democrats across the whole party." He noted that while Frederiksen's position as prime minister appears secure, the results will prompt serious internal discussions about the party's direction.