General elections were held in Denmark on 24 March 2026. All 179 seats in the Folketing were up for election, including 175 in Denmark proper, 2 in Greenland, and 2 in the Faroe Islands (the three entities making up the Danish Realm). It was the first election during Frederik X's reign, who became king in 2024 following the abdication of Margrethe II.

The Social Democrats, which led the outgoing Frederiksen II Cabinet, won the most seats of any party, with 38 seats; however, their vote share of 21.9% was their lowest finish since 1903. Venstre and the Moderates, the two other coalition partners, also lost seats. Among the parties that made significant gains were the Green Left, which became the second-largest party, and the Danish People's Party.

Background Frederiksen II Cabinet

The 2022 Danish general election, held on 31 October in the Faroe Islands and on 1 November in Denmark and Greenland, led to a narrow victory for the red bloc. Following the election, a centrist government (Frederiksen II Cabinet), led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and consisting of the Social Democrats (A), Venstre (V) and the Moderates (M), was established.

In the 2025 Danish local elections, the governing parties suffered significant losses, and the Social Democrats lost in Copenhagen after more than 100 years. The governing coalition was thus unpopular going into 2026; however, the role and threats of US President Donald Trump, his proposed United States acquisition of Greenland, and the Greenland crisis affected the decision to hold a snap election. This gave the Social Democrats, and Frederiksen in particular who stood up to Trump, a political boost through the rally 'round the flag effect, as foreign and security issues, in addition to the economy, the cost of living, the environment, and immigration, became significant concerns among voters.

Candidates for Prime Minister Frederiksen was initially the only official candidate to become Prime Minister of Denmark. The Red–Green Alliance (Ø) stated that a red bloc coalition had to be proposed if they were to support the Social Democrats. The Green Left (F) won the most votes in the 2024 European parliament election in Denmark, and Pia Olsen Dyhr argued that the largest party in the red bloc should become prime minister. In December 2025, the Red–Green Alliance said that it preferred a Green Left prime minister over a Social Democratic one, although the Green Left did not perceive itself as about to obtain the position.

As multiple early 2024 polls saw the Liberal Alliance (I) being the largest in the blue bloc, political analysts predicted Alex Vanopslagh as a possible Prime Minister candidate. In November 2024, Prime Minister Frederiksen and Danish People's Party (O) leader Morten Messerschmidt commented on their expectation that the former Prime Minister and Moderates leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen could try to regain the position. On 9 December 2025, Citizens' Party leader Lars Boje Mathiesen announced his candidacy for Prime Minister as there was then no official conservative candidate for Prime Minister. However, with the party polling near the 2% threshold, it was considered unlikely that Mathiesen could be Prime Minister.

On 26 February 2026, Venstre leader and defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen officially announced that he was making himself available to lead a blue bloc government and declared his intention to become Prime Minister. In his announcement, Poulsen emphasized national security, economic responsibility, strengthening core welfare services, tightening immigration policy, improving Denmark's competitiveness, and maintaining defence capabilities in response to changing geopolitical conditions. He cited his experience across seven ministerial posts over two decades and stated that he would seek broad parliamentary cooperation if given the mandate to form a government. For the announcement, see Already in 2025, the Conservative People's Party (C) and the Danish People's Party had endorsed Poulsen as the preferred Prime Minister candidate of the blue bloc.

Electoral system

The 179 members of the Folketing are elected in Denmark (175). There are four North Atlantic mandates; the Faroe Islands (2), and Greenland (2). The 175 seats in Denmark include 135 seats elected in ten multi-member constituencies of Denmark by proportional representation, using the d'Hondt method (), and 40 leveling seats, allocated to parties in order to address any imbalance in the distribution of the constituency seats (). The main threshold for levelling seats is 2%.

+ Distribution of seats for 2026 electionConstituencySeatsDivisionLevelingseatsCopenhagen17Capital12Greater Copenhagen11North Zealand10Bornholm2Zealand20Zealand &Southern Denmark14Funen12South Jutland17East Jutland19Mid & NorthernJutland14West Jutland13North Jutland14Faroe Islands2Greenland2

Campaign Announcement The election campaign began on 26 February 2026, when Prime Minister Frederiksen announced that the election had been called.

Pig farming issue Four national animal welfare and environmental NGOs, together with four left-wing parties, formed the Alliance for a Pig Election (), gaining support from Frederiksen and even parts of the right-wing to address problems with the pig farming industry in Denmark, the sixth-largest pork exporter in the world. These include practices of excessive breeding and tail removal for the pigs, as well as the runoff of nitrate into the water supply of people living near these particularly intensive farms.

After the election, the new government pledged to end the extreme breeding and routine tail docking of pigs, to give them more space to move, and to reduce the nitrate limit in drinking water by 88%. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries was also dissolved and the agricultural portfolio set to be delegated to five other ministries, including the newly-formed Ministry of Nature and Animal Welfare. Britta Riis, director of , attributes the "pig election" campaign's success partly to the greater focus on simple animal welfare arguments as opposed to more complicated financial ones.

Political parties

The table's below lists parties represented in the Folketing

Denmark NameIdeologiesLeader2022 resultSeats atdissolutionVotes (%)SeatsASocial DemocratsSocial democracyMette Frederiksen27.54%VVenstre Conservative liberalism Agrarianism (Nordic)Troels Lund Poulsen13.31%MModerates Liberalism CentrismLars Løkke Rasmussen9.27%FGreen Left Green politics Popular socialismPia Olsen Dyhr8.29%ÆDenmark Democrats Right-wing populism Anti-immigrationInger Støjberg8.08%ILiberal Alliance Right-libertarianism Classical liberalismAlex Vanopslagh7.87%CConservative People's PartyGreen conservatism Liberal conservatismMona Juul5.51%ØRed–Green Alliance Eco-socialism Anti-capitalismCollective leadership5.16%BSocial LiberalsSocial liberalismMartin Lidegaard3.79%ÅThe AlternativeGreen politics Pro-EuropeanismFranciska Rosenkilde3.33%ODanish People's Party Danish nationalism National conservatism Anti-immigrationMorten Messerschmidt2.63%HCitizens' Party Right-wing populism Anti-immigration Anti-IslamLars Boje Mathiesen colspan="2" Ind.Independent colspan="2" 0.12%

Faroe Islands NameIdeologiesLeader2022 resultSeats atdissolutionVotes (%)SeatsSPUnion PartyConservative liberalismBárður á Steig Nielsen30.19%JFSocial Democratic PartySocial democracyAksel V. Johannesen28.20%

Greenland NameIdeologiesLeader2022 resultSeats atdissolutionVotes (%)SeatsSIUForwardSocial democracyErik Jensen38.58%IACommunity of the PeopleDemocratic socialismMúte Bourup Egede25.21%NPoint of OrientationPopulismPele Broberg12.6%

Slogans

Party Original slogan English translation Social DemocratsWe have a responsibility to each other Social LiberalsThere is a need for a plan B ConservativesNon-socialist () votes that work Green LeftA safe red and green vote Citizens' PartyPower back to the citizens Liberal AllianceA fresh start ModeratesUnites – when others divide Danish People's PartyShould we do something about it? VenstreDenmark in safe hands Denmark DemocratsA Denmark in better balance Red–Green AllianceA Denmark you can afford The AlternativeWe will give back the hope for the future

Debates

2026 Danish general election debatesDateTimeOrganizersVenue ABCFHIMOVÆØÅRefs20:00DR and TV 2DR ByenPFrederiksenPLidegaardPJuulPOlsen DyhrPBoje MathiesenPVanopslaghPRasmussenPMesserschmidtPLund PoulsenPStøjbergPDragstedPRosenkilde13.00TV 2 ØstjyllandAarhus UniversitetSWammenSRobsøePJuulSAndersenPBoje MathiesenPVanopslaghSEgelundSZimmermannSBressumSSkibbySMachSGejl20:00TV 2Storms Pakhus, OdensePFrederiksenNNNNNNNPLund PoulsenNNN20:00TV 2Horsens Statsfængsel, HorsensNPLidegaardPJuulPOlsen DyhrNNNNSLøhdePStøjbergNPRosenkilde21:00DRDR ByenPFrederiksenNNNNNNNPLund PoulsenNNN20:00TV 2, BrandeSTesfayeNNNPBoje MathiesenPVanopslaghSEngel-SchmidtPMesserschmidtNNPDragstedN21:00DRDR KoncerthusetPFrederiksenPLidegaardPJuulPOlsen DyhrPBoje MathiesenPVanopslaghPRasmussenPMesserschmidtPLund PoulsenPStøjbergPDragstedPRosenkilde20:00TV 2Christiansborg PalacePFrederiksenPLidegaardPJuulPOlsen DyhrPBoje MathiesenPVanopslaghPRasmussenPMesserschmidtPLund PoulsenPStøjbergPDragstedPRosenkilde

Opinion polls

Results

Voter demographics Sociology of the electoratehttps://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/meningsmaalingerhttps://www.statbank.dk/statbank5a/default.asp?w=1920 Demographic Ø Å F A B M V C I Æ BP O Red Blue None Total vote 6.3% 2.6% 11.6% 21.9% 5.8% 7.7% 10.1% 7.6% 9.4% 5.8% 2.1% 9.1% 48.2% 44.1% 7.7% Gender Male 5.5% 2.3% 9.2% 17.5% 4.8% 8.5% 11.5% 7.9% 12.8% 6.4% 2.4% 11.2% 39.3% 52.2% 8.5% Female 7.0% 2.9% 14.0% 26.0% 6.7% 6.9% 8.8% 7.3% 6.1% 5.2% 1.8% 7.0% 56.6% 36.2% 6.9% Age 18-34 11.1% 4.6% 12.7% 9.1% 11.2% 4.7% 7.9% 7.5% 16.3% 2.3% 1.4% 11.2% 48.7% 46.6% 4.7% 35+ 4.6% 1.9% 11.2% 26.4% 3.9% 8.7% 10.9% 7.6% 7.0% 7.0% 2.3% 8.4% 48.0% 43.2% 8.7%

Aftermath Defections and party expulsions Four days after the election, two members of the Folketing became independents: Cecilie Liv Hansen, who was elected as a member of the Liberal Alliance, and was expelled following revelations that she gave the party "false information on her personal life", and Jacob Harris, elected as a member of the Citizens' Party, who was accused of misusing funds from a bankrupt company before temporarily taking leave and subsequently being excluded from the party. On 4 April 2026, another Citizens' Party member became an independent, accusing Lars Boje Mathiesen of abuse of power and leaving the party of her own accord. Nadja Natalie Isaksen left the Citizens' Party at the beginning of May 2026, expressing her disappointment in the party and saying, in a post on Facebook, "[...] unfortunately, the Citizens' Party hasn't been what many of us were hoping for and fighting for."

Analysis and reactions