Denmark liberal leader takes over coalition talks after PM fails

Liberal leader Troels Lund Poulsen took over Denmark's coalition-building talks, dealing a blow to caretaker Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's bid for a third term after more than six weeks of negotiations broke down.

The Social Democrat premier failed to secure majority backing in negotiations with left-leaning and centrist parties. As a result, Denmark's King Frederik X formally appointed her rival to lead the next round of discussions after consultations with all political groups.

"Weeks of negotiations over a new government were concluded yesterday. Unfortunately." Frederiksen said in a post on Facebook on Saturday, adding that "a lot of good things were on the table."

Poulsen now faces a difficult task to stitch together a majority across the political middle, with commentators pointing to few viable paths across entrenched divisions among parties. Frederiksen can still emerge as prime minister with talks expected to need multiple rounds.

The breakdown follows a shift by Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the head of the centrist Moderate party who is in a kingmaker role after the vote, who said Friday he would nominate Poulsen to take over the negotiations.

"If we are to move forward, we need to shake the tree," Rasmussen told Danish media, still not ruling out Frederiksen as prime minister.

It comes more than six weeks after closely-fought March elections left the legislature fragmented, with no party leader commanding a clear majority. Talks have now run longer than any other Cabinet formation in Danish history.

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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 7:04 PM.