Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen has been tasked with leading talks to find a majority in the next Danish parliament, the first attempt to form a new government after last night’s election (16:39, 17:22).
Frederiksen’s Social Democrats came first in last night’s parliamentary election, but both her leftwing bloc and the opposing rightwing parties failed to obtain a parliamentary majority.
She will now lead the exploratory talks with the Green Left, and the Danish Social Liberal Party, and two other parties, which potentially could get her up to 84 votes in the next parliament, still short of 90 required for majority (17:37).
The process is likely to take weeks and the outcome is far from guaranteed as getting other parties to join would require significant manifesto concessions or put at risk the support of other groups (11:23, 13:24, 16:20).
Earlier today, Frederiksen stressed the urgency of the task to form the new government, as “the world is not waiting for us out there and it has only become more unsettled since the election was called” (11:23).
The government formation process was formally triggered by Frederiksen’s resignation this morning. She will continue in post until the new government is confirmed (10:55).
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Updated
Frederiksen gets backing from parties with 84 seats in new parliament, but long talks ahead – snap analysis
The statement from the palace sums up the positions of all parties and their preferences for who should lead the talks.
It says that Mette Frederiksen will be tasked with exploring a new majority with “the Social Democrats, the Green Left, and the Danish Social Liberal Party.”
But the three parties only have 68 seats, so will need other partners to get over the line, with 90 seats required for majority.
The Red-Green Alliance and the Alternative party also indicated they would be open to a forming a new government led by Frederiksen (with some caveats), and that potentially gets her to 84 seats out of 179 in the new parliament.
But that’s still a few seats short of the majority.
Could they possibly get someone else to join them, for example Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s fourteen Moderates, despite his earlier scepticism about forming a cabinet with the Red-Green Alliance (11:23)?
For what it’s worth, asked about their preferred candidate to explore a new majority, Løkke Rasmussen suggested, well, himself.
The “blue” bloc’s candidate, Troels Lund Poulsen, secured only 73 mandates “on paper,” the royal statement said.
The process is not going to be easy, so brace for a potentially long process of political talks ahead.
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