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University of Copenhagen PhD student elected to Danish parliament

Election result — A number of students and staff from the University of Copenhagen ran for parliament for a wide variety of reasons. The University Post asked the candidates how their first election evening as politicians went.

In the run-up to the election, the Danish section of the University Post ran interviews with five candidates from across the political spectrum. The election is now over, votes have been counted, and the parties are still in the process of forming a governing coalition.

The election had as many triumphs, defeats, and plot twists as there are candidates. Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Moderates Party) and his 16 new mandates stormed into the Danish parliament, but turned out at the last moment to not have the option of becoming kingmaker in a new coalition. The Social Liberal Party, whose ultimatum to the governing Social Democrats was what set off the election in the first place, was shunned by the electorate. The Liberal Alliance quadrupled their mandate, while the Alternatives and the Danish Peoples’ Party kept above the threshold of representation, keeping their seats.

But how did it go for Sadek Al-Amood (Socialist People’s Party), Nikoline Prehn (Social Democrats), Monika Rubin (Moderates), Nicola Emily Larsen (Conservatives) and Søren Højbjerg (New Right)?

Sadek al-Amood, Socialist People’s Party, 356 personal votes (not elected)

»I got a perfectly okay result when you consider that I campaigned without any election posters or any physical election campaign. I’m very satisfied with the 356 personal votes. My election campaign has primarily been the article in the University Post and videos on Tiktok. I’m certainly not discouraged from running again. But I might invest in some election posters next time.«

»I was at an election celebration at the Socialist People’s Party, and what a nail biter that was! We followed the votes coming in on the big screen, and when the left wing parties hit the needed 87 seats, you should have heard the roar from the crowd. It was nuts. A red majority just by itself means that we are much stronger in terms of how a governing coalition will be found. I had to leave early because I had to go to a board meeting for sundhed.dk in the regional administration the next morning. Most of the people at the meeting were also completely shattered after election night.«

»The hope is still for a centre-left government, but I can be really nervous about [Danish Prime Minister] Mette Frederiksen being serious about a governing coalition across the centre. I’m just as nervous about how a new Social Liberal leader will insist on bringing together a coalition across the centre. If this happens, then we just have to keep making the Social Democrats aware of the fact that they were actually elected by a lot of pretty left-wing people.«

Monika Rubin, Moderates, 3,376 personal votes (elected)

»I’m very excited about what the future will bring. Both for myself and for our healthcare system. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about a coming government constellation. Most of all, I’m just excited, but I’m also very honoured by all the personal votes I’ve received. It’s completely overwhelming.«

»It has been intense to campaign for 28 days in a row, but it has also been extremely valuable to me. All of my approach to politics comes from the healthcare sector. I would like to improve the health services, but there are so many other things that people are intensely interested in out there. It’s crazy to gain the trust shown by so many people, and I will really do everything I can to live up to it.«

»It was great to have the opportunity to celebrate election night together with the other candidates and all our volunteers. It was a real rollercoaster ride on the evening in relation to the mandates, where we stood there waiting to see whether we would get the key mandates or not. It was a bit ambiguous. We could see how big we had become. We come into the Danish parliament with huge power and have become the third largest party even though we are brand new. That’s crazy, but at the same time we were worried about how we can use our many mandates.«

»Throughout the entire process, it has been extremely important for us to ensure wide cooperation across the centre, and with the key mandates we could have made sure that this happened. It has not turned out that way, but I am still optimistic about co-operation across the centre. There are a lot of people who want it to happen, and [Social Democrat Prime Minister] Mette Frederiksen has said several times that she also wants a wide collaboration, so I actually believe that it is possible.«

Nicola Emily Larsen, Conservative People’s Party, 398 personal votes (not elected)

»I’m happy. Maybe also a bit relieved that it’s all over. I’ve learned a lot from this election campaign. It’s hard to get up at 5.30 am every morning and go to bed around midnight and repeat this routine for 28 days in a row. You learn how to handle it, and I will take this with me: That I can do this when I want to do this.«

»I spent the election night at the Børsen building with the other parliamentary candidates. We enjoyed ourselves and celebrated our efforts. But it did, of course, affect the mood when we found out that we lost seats and that it looks like there will be a red government.«

»I am, of course, annoyed that the party has lost seats. I’ve also been able to feel this on my personal vote numbers. I got 398 votes anyway though, and I’m happy for each and every one of them. Behind each vote is a person who selected me. It’s kind of crazy to think about that. I’m also still an elected Conservative politician in the municipality of Rudersdal, so I’m just looking forward to being able to continue to fight for the conservative cause. This is the most important thing,« she says.

Nikoline Prehn, Social Democrat, 1,016 personal votes (not elected)

It has not been possible to get a reaction from Nikoline Prehn. The article will be updated as soon as possible.

Søren Højbjerg, New Right, 104 personal votes (not elected)

»I got 104 personal votes, and that means that I’m at least not at the end of the list. I’m happy with that because I haven’t had the preparation time I would have liked. But my party colleague Mette Thiesen was elected. On this point, it was mission accomplished. «

»My election night party was in the New Right tent until 11 pm. That was fantastic for me, because I just had to go outside the tent to smoke. It was really good. There was a bar with draught beer, wine and sodas, but I was there by car, so it was three Pepsi Max and a lot of peanuts.«

»I had hoped for eight seats, but we ended up with six. I have given this some thought, and I am actually quite satisfied with the slight increase that we had. There has also been a bit of a rumpus among the parties on the right, because there were suddenly two main players.«

»I’m not disheartened. The last battle is yet to be fought in Danish democracy. I have already decided that if there are no other candidates in the party that I consider more suitable than I am, then I will be happy to run for the next municipal elections. You have already commented that I use spreadsheets when I play ‘Axis and Allies’, but I also do this when I play politics. We may be able to get a member on the town council if we are part of an electoral alliance in the municipality. I do get something out of messing around with my spreadsheets.«

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