Political commentators suspect that the employment minister, Mette Frederiksen, is positioning herself to become the party leader of Socialdemokraterne (S) instead of prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. 

In an interview with Børsen, Frederiksen said her party has failed to listen to its voters and that she takes their concerns seriously.

"There are basically two ways to go if you are in Socialdemokraterne's shoes. You can either say: we are right, the people are wrong. Or you could try and say: maybe people are right and maybe we should consider the situation and see if we can do better and do it more wisely," she told Børsen.

Time for soul-searching
But Frederiksen rejected the media's interpretation of her statement when Berlingske asked her if she was going after the job as prime minister.

"No. I'm not. And I want to make it as clear as possible that I wholeheartedly support the leadership of Helle Thorning-Schmidt," she told Berlingske.

Although she believes that the government has helped Denmark out of the financial crisis, Frederiksen maintains that it's time for S to do some self-examination.

"The opinion polls also speak their own language," she told Berlingske. "That's why the government has to engage in dialogue with the people to hear their side of the story. That's all I'm saying.”