Party profile: Venstre

Pia Allerslev says the left has ignored the business community and hindered Copenhagen’s future growth possibilities

Nov 16, 2013

Pia Allerslev, Venstre’s lead candidate in the upcoming election in Copenhagen, has been the city’s deputy mayor for culture and leisure since 2008.

In that time, she has seen the number of residents continue to grow to the point where up to 1,000 new people are now moving into the capital every month. Although she welcomes the newcomers, she also says that growth requires better planning than Copenhagen has seen under Frank Jensen (S), the current mayor.

“Growth requires that we prioritise correctly,” she said. “We need to build new schools and leisure facilities and provide efficient and quality services to make Copenhagen a nicer city to live in.”

Allerslev said she would work to improve conditions for businesses in the city.

“Companies in the city meet too much resistance from local authorities,” she said. “Business is the only way to create the growth we so desperately need. I will work to make it much easier to conduct business.”

City needs new jobs

Without a strong business culture that attracts new industries and jobs to Copenhagen, Allerslev said the city will simply “grind to a halt”.

“Without growth we cannot develop the city. Things like green spaces, better bike trails, swimming pools and good schools all cost money, and that money is to a large extent generated by business.”

Allerslev called it a “disaster” that Jensen’s administration “completely ignores business” and does nothing to improve the business environment by reducing taxes and fees.

Along with the problems faced by businesses in Copenhagen, Allerslev said that a century of leftist government has resulted in a culture that makes residents believe that the city is unresponsive to their most basic needs and that even the simplest of cases takes too long to resolve.

“Residents should feel that we provide fast and good service, and it can be done,” she said. “Our capital desperately needs new leadership that is not so completely steeped in socialism that it puts ideology ahead of common sense.”

Another part of Allerslev and Venstre’s platform in Copenhagen is to stop what she called “a smear campaign” against motorists in the city.

“It is completely crazy to wage war against so many hard-working taxpayers and tradespeople who need their vehicles to live their lives and earn a living,” Allerslev said. “We need to have good conditions for cyclists and streamline and prioritise public transportation, but it should not come at the expense of motorists.”

Cannabis talk a waste of time

Another thing Allerslev finds contemptible is Jensen’s proposal to legalise cannabis in Copenhagen.

“It is a total waste of time; that responsibility lies with the Justice Minister,” she said. “It is crazy that Frank Jensen and others on the left would make money from selling hash to the residents of Copenhagen. Cannabis is dangerous and highly addictive, especially among young people, so the last thing this city needs to do is validate it by making it legal and widely available.”

Allerslev categorised the things that Venstre wants for Copenhagen as “common sense” and said she shuddered at the thought of far-left party Enhedslisten gaining a stronger foothold in the city as some recent polls suggest it might.

“That would be a disaster for the city and its citizens,” she said bluntly. “We simply must work for the growth of Copenhagen, and that will not happen by selling cannabis, turning the whole city into a pedestrian street, increasing taxes, drinking lattes and expanding the public sector.”

Although it is impossible to mention Venstre these days without thinking of the trials and tribulations of national party head Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Allerslev said that the antics of ‘Luxury Lars’ have no effect on the local party.

“We don’t focus on that in Copenhagen,” she said. “We are committed to turning this into the best city possible, and for the sake of the residents, the businesses and everyone who visits Copenhagen, we need fresh air at City Hall.”

Name: Pia Allerslev