'I take responsibility': Why has Denmark's deputy PM quit?
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Denmark's Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of the centre-right Liberal Party, announced this week that he was resigning and leaving politics for good.
What is Jakob Ellemann-Jensen's background?
Ellemann-Jensen is the scion of arguably Denmark's single most illustrious political family.
His father, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, was foreign minister for more than a decade between 1982 and 1993, and led the Liberal Party (Venstre) between 1984 and 1998. His grandfather, Jens Peter Jensen, was editor-in-chief of the Børsen newspaper and then an MP for the Liberal Party.
His sister, Karen Ellemann, has been Minister of Fisheries, Equality and Nordic Cooperation, Minister of the Environment and Minister of the Interior and Social Affairs, and now serves as Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
After an 11-year career as a corporate lawyer, Ellemann-Jensen was voted into the Danish parliament in the 2011 election, becoming the Liberal Party's political affairs spokesperson between 2015-2019, and environment and food minister between 2018 and 2019.
How did he become Venstre's leader?
Infighting broke out in the Liberal Party after the party lost power to the Social Democrats in the 2019 election, with the party's Deputy Leader Kristian Jensen seeking to take over the leadership from former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Rasmussen resigned after several weighty regional party groups expressed a wish for a new leader, with Kristian Jensen also then pulling out of the race.
Ellemann-Jensen came forward after the resignations as a candidate, and then went on to strike a compromise with his remaining rival, the hardline immigration minister Inger Støjberg, with Støjberg taking the Deputy Leader position.
Ellemann-Jensen then in 2020 forced Støjberg to resign, saying the party would likely support an impeachment case against its own deputy leader for misleading parliament about an illegal order she gave to separate certain married couples at asylum centres.
Rasmussen then went on to form the rival Moderate party, while Støjberg formed the far-right Denmark Democrats.
Why did Ellemann-Jensen decide to join the SVM government?
After the election in November 2022, it looked likely that the Liberals would not join the new government, with Ellemann-Jensen repeatedly ruling out joining a coalition led by the Social Democrat during the campaign.
After the party's disastrous defeat in the election, when its share of the vote plummeted from 23 percent to just 13 percent, he decided to join the new government.
"Should I let my pride get in the way… of doing what is right for Denmark?” he replied when he faced tough questioning over his decision to go back on his promises in the campaign.
Ellemann-Jensen was then appointed defence minister on December 15th, 2022
How was his time in government?
Ellemann-Jensen only served as acting defence minister for a little over two months before he went on sick leave for burnout and stress, with his party colleague Troels Lund Poulsen standing in during his six month absence.
In his short time in the role, he negotiated the purchase of new howitzers from the Israeli arms company Elbit, which replaced old howitzers sent to Ukraine.
While he was on leave, it emerged that the Defence Ministry had misinformed MPs about the urgency with which a decision had to be made over the contract, something Ellemann-Jensen made a public apology for on his return from sick-leave in August. He resigned as defence minister shortly afterwards, saying it was not possible to combine the role with leading his party.
Why did he step down and retire for good?
The most immediate reason appears to have been the party's poor perfomance under his leadership, with just 8.5 percent of voters saying they would vote for it in an election in a poll held last week.
This was the party's worst opinion poll result of all time.
“My presence is overshadowing the Liberal party from improving its position,” Ellemann-Jensen said as he stood down.“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 may also have judged that, due to his illness, he would not be able to handle the stress caused by his party's poor performance -- something that has at least as much to do with the competition from the two new rivals founded by his former colleagues than with his own leadership.
Stephanie Lose (left) ha been put forward as the new Deputy Leader for the Liberal Party. Photo: Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix
What comes next?
Many heavyweight figures within the Liberal Party, including the party chair, Lars Christian Lilleholt, former defence minister, Søren Gade, and former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, have called for Troels Lund Poulsen to replace Ellemann-Jensen as leader.
Gade also suggested Stephanie Lose, who currently leads the regional government of Southern Denmark, a deputy leader. Lose and Lund Poulsen stood joined Elleman-Jensen at his resignation press conference, suggesting that he intends them to replace him.
Lund Poulsen has yet to confirm his intention to take over but he has said that he believes that the party should remain within coalition government for the rest of the parliamentary term.
The party is expected to set a deadline of November 1st for MPs to announce their candidacies for the leadership position. If Lund Poulsen is unnopposed he will then be made leader at the party's annual conference on November 18th and 19th.
If a rival candidate comes forward, there will be a vote at the conference.
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What is Jakob Ellemann-Jensen's background?
Ellemann-Jensen is the scion of arguably Denmark's single most illustrious political family.
His father, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, was foreign minister for more than a decade between 1982 and 1993, and led the Liberal Party (Venstre) between 1984 and 1998. His grandfather, Jens Peter Jensen, was editor-in-chief of the Børsen newspaper and then an MP for the Liberal Party.
His sister, Karen Ellemann, has been Minister of Fisheries, Equality and Nordic Cooperation, Minister of the Environment and Minister of the Interior and Social Affairs, and now serves as Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
After an 11-year career as a corporate lawyer, Ellemann-Jensen was voted into the Danish parliament in the 2011 election, becoming the Liberal Party's political affairs spokesperson between 2015-2019, and environment and food minister between 2018 and 2019.
How did he become Venstre's leader?
Infighting broke out in the Liberal Party after the party lost power to the Social Democrats in the 2019 election, with the party's Deputy Leader Kristian Jensen seeking to take over the leadership from former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Rasmussen resigned after several weighty regional party groups expressed a wish for a new leader, with Kristian Jensen also then pulling out of the race.
Ellemann-Jensen came forward after the resignations as a candidate, and then went on to strike a compromise with his remaining rival, the hardline immigration minister Inger Støjberg, with Støjberg taking the Deputy Leader position.
Ellemann-Jensen then in 2020 forced Støjberg to resign, saying the party would likely support an impeachment case against its own deputy leader for misleading parliament about an illegal order she gave to separate certain married couples at asylum centres.
Rasmussen then went on to form the rival Moderate party, while Støjberg formed the far-right Denmark Democrats.
Why did Ellemann-Jensen decide to join the SVM government?
After the election in November 2022, it looked likely that the Liberals would not join the new government, with Ellemann-Jensen repeatedly ruling out joining a coalition led by the Social Democrat during the campaign.
After the party's disastrous defeat in the election, when its share of the vote plummeted from 23 percent to just 13 percent, he decided to join the new government.
"Should I let my pride get in the way… of doing what is right for Denmark?” he replied when he faced tough questioning over his decision to go back on his promises in the campaign.
Ellemann-Jensen was then appointed defence minister on December 15th, 2022
How was his time in government?
Ellemann-Jensen only served as acting defence minister for a little over two months before he went on sick leave for burnout and stress, with his party colleague Troels Lund Poulsen standing in during his six month absence.
In his short time in the role, he negotiated the purchase of new howitzers from the Israeli arms company Elbit, which replaced old howitzers sent to Ukraine.
While he was on leave, it emerged that the Defence Ministry had misinformed MPs about the urgency with which a decision had to be made over the contract, something Ellemann-Jensen made a public apology for on his return from sick-leave in August. He resigned as defence minister shortly afterwards, saying it was not possible to combine the role with leading his party.
Why did he step down and retire for good?
The most immediate reason appears to have been the party's poor perfomance under his leadership, with just 8.5 percent of voters saying they would vote for it in an election in a poll held last week.
This was the party's worst opinion poll result of all time.
“My presence is overshadowing the Liberal party from improving its position,” Ellemann-Jensen said as he stood down.“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 may also have judged that, due to his illness, he would not be able to handle the stress caused by his party's poor performance -- something that has at least as much to do with the competition from the two new rivals founded by his former colleagues than with his own leadership.
What comes next?
Many heavyweight figures within the Liberal Party, including the party chair, Lars Christian Lilleholt, former defence minister, Søren Gade, and former prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, have called for Troels Lund Poulsen to replace Ellemann-Jensen as leader.
Gade also suggested Stephanie Lose, who currently leads the regional government of Southern Denmark, a deputy leader. Lose and Lund Poulsen stood joined Elleman-Jensen at his resignation press conference, suggesting that he intends them to replace him.
Lund Poulsen has yet to confirm his intention to take over but he has said that he believes that the party should remain within coalition government for the rest of the parliamentary term.
The party is expected to set a deadline of November 1st for MPs to announce their candidacies for the leadership position. If Lund Poulsen is unnopposed he will then be made leader at the party's annual conference on November 18th and 19th.
If a rival candidate comes forward, there will be a vote at the conference.
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