Danish deputy premier resigns, quits politics

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

Denmark’s Deputy Prime Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen on Monday announced his resignation from his post, and decision to quit politics with immediate effect.

The leader of one of the three coalition partners – Liberal (Venstre) – made the announcement at a party briefing.

“My presence is hindering the Liberal party from improving its position,” he said. “I am, therefore, taking responsibility now and resigning as the leader of the Liberals. The Liberals do not have support the Liberals should have,” he said.

The resignation has come against the backdrop of an opinion poll that showed massive public disapproval of the party’s performance. The poll result showed that only 8.5% of voters in Denmark would back the party if an election were held today. The party received 13.3% of votes in the election in November last year. Ellemann-Jensen took over as party leader in late 2019.

The outgoing deputy prime minister returned to work in August 2023 after a break of sick leave. At the start of the government tenure, he was appointed defense minister but later switched roles with Troels Lund Poulsen and has since been working as the economy minister.