Denmark gets first woman PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Copenhagen, Sept 16: Danes voted their first female Prime Minister ending the 10-year-rule of Far-right party in the country. The Centre-left coalition narrowly defeated the Far-right party electing Helle Thorning-Schmidt as the first Prime Minister of Denmark on Thursday.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the social democrat leader and daughter-in-law of Neil and Glenys Kinnock replaced liberal prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen's government at her second attempt. She will form the government with three other liberal and leftwing parties.

Her "red bloc" secured only a three-seat majority out of the 175 at stake in mainland Denmark as it was a narrower victory rather than a predicted one. The four reserved seats for faraway Greenland and the Faroes islands are yet to be declared. All total 90 seats are required for an absolute majority in the parliament of 179 seats.

Rasmussen has been quoted as saying, "Earlier this evening I called (opposition leader) Helle Thorning-Schmidt. I congratulated her and told her she now has the chance to form a new government. This evening I hand the keys to the prime minister's office to Helle Thorning-Schmidt. I told her to look after the keys, because you're only borrowing them."

Almost for a decade, Rasmussen's liberal party which was the biggest, ruled the country. But during 2007 elections, centre-left won three votes and centre-right won only one. The defeat of centre-right led to the end of populist, anti-immigration Danish People's Party's (DPP)'s influence.

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