[Denmark] Record 44% women elected to parliament and female PM set to win another term

The Danish people have elected a record number of women into the national parliament in this week’s General Election and the country’s female prime minister Mette Frederiksen is on track to win another term, Yahoo News reports.

A tally by newswire Ritzau has revealed that 44.1 per cent of the 179 newly elected lawmakers are women. The figure is considerably higher than the previous record of 39.1 per cent in 2019 and represents the highest absolute number over the years. 

The official figures are yet to be published by Statistics Denmark; it is reportedly conducting an extra count after one of the closest elections in Danish history.

The Nordic country has been a pioneer in gender equality in politics yet it only got its first female prime minister in 2011, when Helle Thorning-Schmidt won a four-year term. In the 2022 General Election on November 1, the second woman to steer the Danish government, Mette Frederiksen, unexpectedly secured a majority and is expected to remain as leader of the country of 5.9 million. 

Neighbouring Sweden got its first female prime minister in 2021, while Finland broke that glass ceiling in 2003.

Danish women won the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 1915, 66 years after the kingdom introduced a democratic constitution. In 1924, it became the world’s first democracy to have a female minister when Nina Bang was named minister for education.

Denmark is officially ruled by Queen Margrethe II, the country’s first female monarch in six centuries.

The Danish people have elected a record number of women into the national parliament in this week’s General Election and the country’s female prime minister Mette Frederiksen is on track to win another term, Yahoo News reports.

A tally by newswire Ritzau has revealed that 44.1 per cent of the 179 newly elected lawmakers are women. The figure is considerably higher than the previous record of 39.1 per cent in 2019 and represents the highest absolute number over the years. 

The official figures are yet to be published by Statistics Denmark; it is reportedly conducting an extra count after one of the closest elections in Danish history.

The Nordic country has been a pioneer in gender equality in politics yet it only got its first female prime minister in 2011, when Helle Thorning-Schmidt won a four-year term. In the 2022 General Election on November 1, the second woman to steer the Danish government, Mette Frederiksen, unexpectedly secured a majority and is expected to remain as leader of the country of 5.9 million. 

Neighbouring Sweden got its first female prime minister in 2021, while Finland broke that glass ceiling in 2003.

Danish women won the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 1915, 66 years after the kingdom introduced a democratic constitution. In 1924, it became the world’s first democracy to have a female minister when Nina Bang was named minister for education.

Denmark is officially ruled by Queen Margrethe II, the country’s first female monarch in six centuries.