She is the employment minister and an MP for Socialdemokraterne. Currently, she’s got her hands full trying to come up with a way to find jobs for the tens of thousands of people losing their unemployment benefits due to a reform that took effect this month.

So, she’s a cabinet member. Will this be the zenith of her career?
She may well wind up leading her party one day. Around the time a new party leader was being selected in 2005, some were already looking to her as a replacement, but at that time she was only 29 and considered to be too young. Recently though, rumours have been swirling of internal dissatisfaction with Helle Thorning-Schmidt as party leader. The rumours gained credibility after three other leading members of the party (but not the PM) penned an op-ed that outlined what it means to be a modern social democrat. 

Is she liked?
She has a straightforward approach that voters seem to be able to associate with. She recently went against the grain by stating that the economy can’t survive on ‘creative jobs’ alone and calling for greater focus on manufacturing during discussions about job creation. 

Any skeletons in the closet that might haunt her?
She did find herself in the tabloids back in 2010 after it was discovered that her children were enrolled in a private school, despite a scathing attack five years earlier on parents who sent their children to private schools.

Oops. How did she explain that one?
Admitted that having kids had made her realise that being a parent isn’t as black and white as she once thought. Said like a true politician.