Denmark election result keeps Social Democrats at the helm

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Denmark’s left-leaning bloc will maintain a slim majority in parliament after all votes in a general election were counted, paving the way for another term for the incumbent prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, and her Social Democratic party.

The Social Democrats again became the biggest force in parliament with 27.5% of votes, the party’s best election in more than two decades.

The left-leaning bloc got 87 seats in the 179-seat parliament, which would give it a majority with support from a Faroe Island mandate and two yet-to-be-determined seats in Greenland, a sovereign territory of Denmark that often elects leftwing candidates.

The result would give Frederiksen a mandate to be the first to try and form a new government.

A majority to the leftwing parties is likely to present a dilemma for Frederiksen, who has advocated a broad coalition across the traditional left-right divide, arguing that political unity is needed at a time of international uncertainty.

She could begin negotiations with the previous prime minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, and his new non-aligned party, the Moderates, which has also campaigned for a coalition of mainstream parties.

The left-leaning parties that Frederiksen can rely on to form a new government include the Socialist People’s party, the Red-Green Alliance and the Social-Liberal party, the latter formerly headed by the European Union competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, leader of the opposition Liberal party, acknowledged a defeat early on Wednesday. His party lost 19 of its 43 seats in parliament.