Labour lend their losing touch to Denmark's centre-left

For the first time in 122 years, Denmark’s centre-left Social Democrat (SD) Party has lost control of the capital, Copenhagen, in this week’s administrative elections. Analysts have been quick to declare the historic drubbing a punishment for the party’s recent lurch to the right.

This is particularly significant in a UK context given that the Labour Party, in its infinite capacity to hit new lows, just modelled its new asylum policy on that of Denmark’s Social Democrats.

Labour turn to Denmark

Labour’s abhorrent new policy document was released on Monday. It introduced far-right-aligned anti-asylum policies such as denying the duty to support asylum seekers, denying the right to family reunion, and making refugee status temporary.

As part of Labour’s vague pretence that it hasn’t fallen to the far right it pointed to Denmark’s immigration system, which uses several similar policies. Monday’s policy document mentions Denmark no less than seven times across 30-something pages.

The MSM likes of the BBC have even been laying the groundwork, running headlines like:

How Denmark’s left (not the far-right) got tough on immigration

However, Denmark’s right-in-disguise asylum system hasn’t been without its detractors. For example, Michelle Pace – professor in global studies at Roskilde University – wrote:

Denmark’s asylum system shows how far a (supposedly) centre-left government can go in tightening migration policies while maintaining political support. The Social Democrats inherited a strict framework and have continued to apply it, including temporary protection, reassessment of refugee status and the use of departure centres.

For the UK, which is now considering adopting similar policies, the Danish experience offers cautionary lessons. These measures may reduce asylum numbers, but they come at a human and legal cost. Families are left in uncertainty, long-term planning is impossible and life in departure centres can be harsh and destabilising.

Any government looking to copy this approach should look beyond the statistics and consider the real experiences of the people affected. Denmark’s story is a reminder that migration policy is not just about managing numbers — it is also about the lives that are shaped by those policies.

…And look how it went

All of the above then makes absolutely fascinating reading alongside today’s story from the Guardian:

Social Democrats in Denmark suffer sweeping election losses

PM Mette Frederiksen’s centre-left party loses control of Copenhagen for first time in more than 100 years

Oh, and what’s this?

Among the reasons cited by analysts for the Social Democrats’ decline in Copenhagen were voter fatigue over the prime minister’s hardline policies on issues such as integration and immigration, which have partly inspired a newly unveiled asylum and migration policy in Britain.

Could it possibly be that left-wing voters aren’t impressed by right-wing policies? Who could possibly have predicted this? Well, everyone except Labour, apparently.

The administrative elections saw the centre-left lose control of Copenhagen for the first time since 1903. In fact, since 1938 the city’s mayor has been a member of the SD Party itself.

Instead, the capital will be headed by Sisse Marie Welling, the leading face of the Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF), who took 17.9% of the vote. That’s a massive leap of almost 7% since the 2021 elections.

For comparison, the SD hopeful – Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil – merited just 12.7%. That represents a 4.5% collapse from 2021. Rosenkrantz-Theil stated:

I gave it the chance we needed. Copenhagen is worth fighting for, and I knew from the start that I was taking a big risk. I wasn’t invited and wasn’t allowed in.

Overall, the SDs still remained the country’s most popular party, taking around 23% of the total vote. However, their support dropped in 87 of Denmark’s 98 municipalities. However, they lost leadership of several cities which used to be dependable strongholds, including Frederikshavn, Køge, Fredericia, Gladsaxe and Holstebro.

University of Copenhagen professor of political science Peter Thisted Dinesen called the results a:

big loss for the Social Democrats across the whole party. […]

This is very hurtful for the party losing several key bastions including Copenhagen. Frederiksen is unlikely to be threatened while being prime minister, but it will clearly prompt analyses and discussions of the causes.

Likewise, political commentator Henrik Qvortrup stated that:

This is undoubtedly a protest vote and a personal defeat for Mette Frederiksen. The days of the Social Democrats as the big unifying party covering both urban and rural areas are coming to an end.

Denmark will hold its general elections on or before 31 October next year. With urban voters now tracking to the left of the SDs, and rural voters drifting more to the right, this week’s elections have revealed that the ‘centre-left’ can no longer count on its old heartlands after its lurch to the right.

We at the Canary would point out that this has obvious implications for the UK Labour Party, which seems hellbent on aping the racist turn in Denmark’s centre. Unfortunately, we know that no-one in the once-left-wing party is listening.

Fortunately that’s never stopped us before, so here we go: you’re never going to be racist enough for the right-wing, you’ve betrayed everything you ever stood for, and you’ve gained nothing but our contempt.

Featured image via the Canary