One minute, you’re the foreign minister of Denmark. The next, you’re not even in Parliament.
That’s Danish politics for you and what Jeppe Kofod has been forced to reckon with in the wake of the 2022 General Election.
Kofod, who has been Denmark’s very public face abroad during the War in Ukraine, did not attract enough votes to be among the top seven Socialdemokratiet candidates in the regional Zealand voting district.
Kofod didn’t run in 2019, but Mette Frederiksen brought him home from a position in the European Parliament following that election.
READ ALSO: 2022 General Election: Key figures from a historic night
Sofie pays for gaff
In other election news, Sofie Carsten Nielsen has stepped down as the head of Radikale in the wake of a disastrous election last night.
It is still unsure whether she will even get enough votes to return to Parliament, prompting Nielsen to step down.
Once a close ally of Mette Frederiksen’s government, Nielsen threatened to depose the PM with a vote of no confidence if Frederiksen did not call for a new election before October 1.
Weeks later and the voters punished her party last night – Radikale secured just 3.8 percent of the votes and lost over half of its mandates
Party deputy head Martin Lidegaard looks a frontrunner to assume the leadership reins.
Pia K in by the skin of her teeth
Also breaking this afternoon is news that Dansk Folkeparti founder Pia Kjærgsgaard has won enough personal votes to continue as her party’s only representative in the regional Zealand voting district.
She received 6,084 personal votes – enough to place her ahead of DF deputy chair Réne Christensen, who only managed 4,143.
