After weeks of negotiations, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has failed to form a government, and King Frederik X has now asked Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen to lead talks.

In a statement on Friday, the royal household said the King had asked Poulsen to begin negotiations on a government at the request of several centre-right to far-right leaning parties, including the liberals, moderates, conservatives and the far-right Danish People’s Party.

Under the King’s mandate, Poulsen is now expected to explore the formation of a government that excludes both the Social Democrats and the Moderates, signalling a major shift to the right in Denmark’s political landscape.

The move came after weeks of difficult coalition talks following Denmark’s fragmented March snap election, which saw 12 parties enter parliament, with only three winning more than 10% of the vote.

Although Frederiksen’s Social Democrats recorded their weakest election result since 1903, winning just 21.9% of the vote, the party initially remained in a position to lead talks to form the next government as it still grabbed the highest votes.

The talks ultimately broke down as Frederiksen was not able to align the interests of leftist and moderate parties. A decisive turning point reportedly came when Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leader of the centrist Moderates, withdrew from negotiations and backed Poulsen instead.

Rasmussen’s centre-right party had held a pivotal position in the talks because neither the left nor right blocs won enough seats in the March election to form a coalition.

Tailwind from Trump

After a meeting with the King on Friday afternoon, Frederiksen said that the Danes had composed the parliament in such a way that a right‑wing government could indeed be formed.

In a social media post on Saturday, Frederiksen acknowledged the setback, saying that “many weeks of negotiations for a new government ended yesterday” and adding: “Of course, I wish Troels all the best for his work in the future.”

But her popularity surged in early 2026 when she stood up to US President Donald Trump over his threats to annex Greenland. Frederiksen seized on the wave of popularity to call snap elections in late February.

Frederiksen has pulled traditionally hardline migration policies into the mainstream discourse both at home and abroad, reshaping the centre-left, aiming to narrow the space for political alternatives.

Her failure to form a coalition marks yet another setback for Social Democracy in Europe, which has been experiencing a prolonged decline, most recently reflected in heavy losses in regional and local elections in France and Germany.

Frederiksen was born into a working class family of longstanding Social Democrats, her father a typographer and mother a pre-school teacher. She entered parliament in 2001 at the age of 24, and took over as head of the Social Democrats in 2015.

Frederiksen was a source of inspiration for the hit political drama Borgen, the show’s creators have said.

(bms)