Centre-left coalition squeaks by incumbents in tight race
A centre-left coalition has won a tight election in Denmark, giving the Scandinavian country its first female prime minister and quashing the decade-long rule of the centre-right. After counting 90 per cent of the votes, media declared a victory for the centre-left coalition, known as the red bloc, led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt’s Social Democratic Party. “We’ve written history today,” said Thorning-Schmidt said. The major issue in the election was the economy, with contenders putting forward different visions of how to tax and spend in the nation of 5.5 million. Thorning-Schmidt promised to raise taxes on Denmark’s banks and wealthiest citizens in order to finance a US$4 billion expansion of the welfare state and improve education and health care. By midnight Thursday, Thorning-Schmidt’s coalition had 89 seats, while the centre-right had 86.