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Helle Thorning-Schmidt To Become Denmark's First Female Prime Minister

In this photo taken on September 9, 2011, Social Democrats leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt holds roses during an election campaign in Copenhagen.
Bax Lindhardt
/
AFP/Getty Images
In this photo taken on September 9, 2011, Social Democrats leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt holds roses during an election campaign in Copenhagen.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, of Denmark's center-left opposition, will become Denmark's first female prime minister. The Associated Press reports that the incumbent Lars Loekke Rasmussen conceded defeat with nearly all the votes counted.

"There is no parliamentary support for our government. Tomorrow (Friday) I will go to the queen at 11 o'clock and inform her of the outcome of the election and present the government's resignation," Rasmussen told Danish TV.

The BBC reportsthat Rasmussen's political bloc has been in power for a decade. And like the United States, one of the main points of contention during the election has been Denmark's struggling economy:

Ms Thorning-Schmidt campaigned on a platform of tax rises and increased public spending, the BBC's Thomas Buch-Andersen in Copenhagen reports.

Although Mr Rasmussen is considered to have done well to steer Denmark through the financial crisis, its economic rebound is seen as sluggish and disappointing, our correspondent adds.

The economic crisis has turned Denmark's healthy surpluses into deficits, estimated to climb to 4.6% of GDP next year.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.