Denmark’s New “Four-Leaf Clover” Government

After a record 69 days of negotiations, Denmark has a new minority coalition government, dependent on the support of the radical left. The 77-page centre-left agreement contains important social and environmental wins for the left but also preserves a neoliberal economic outlook and Denmark’s restrictive migration regime. Whether its progressive elements are implemented remains an open question.

On 2 June, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced an end to Denmark’s longest-ever government formation negotiations. More than two months after the 24 March snap election, four parties – the Social Democrats, the Socialist People’s Party (SF), the Moderates, and the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre) – presented a joint government programme and, the following day, a new cabinet. The coalition has styled itself the “four-leaf clover government”.

With only 82 Folketing seats – well short of a majority of 90 – the new government will depend on support from outside its ranks, particularly the radical-left Enhedslisten and the left-green Alternative. While remaining outside government, Enhedslisten used its leverage during negotiations to secure several notable concessions, including the gradual introduction of free dental care over the next ten years and free public transport for commuters under 22.

From Deadlock to Détente

The negotiations reflected the growing fragmentation of Danish politics after an election that produced no clear majority and left 16 parties represented in parliament. Despite the Social Democrats recording their worst result in 120 years, Frederiksen was tasked with forming a government. Talks stalled when Moderates leader and former prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen refused to accept any meaningful role for Enhedslisten.

At Rasmussen’s initiative, negotiations were then briefly led by Troels Lund Poulsen, leader of the centre-right liberals Venstre, but efforts to form a right-wing coalition quickly collapsed. Frederiksen then resumed negotiations with SF, Radikale Venstre, and the Moderates. As Enhedslisten signalled a willingness to compromise, pressure mounted until Rasmussen accepted the parliamentary arithmetic and granted Frederiksen a third term.

Wins for the Left

The government programme includes several significant social reforms. Alongside commitments to free dental care and public transport, a pre-election agreement to reduce VAT on food – also achieved at Enhedslisten’s initiative – has been expanded: from 2028, VAT will be halved on food and abolished on fruit and vegetables entirely. Enhedslisten spokesperson Pelle Dragsted celebrated the outcome as “historic”, arguing the party had advanced many of its priorities while remaining outside government.
Other gains include new public housing, a right of first refusal for public housing associations, new marine national parks, stronger animal welfare standards, including enforcement of the existing ban on tail-docking pigs, more resources for early childhood education, child and adolescent psychiatry, dementia care, and increases to both the early retirement and state pensions.

Greenest Government Ever?

The prominence given to biodiversity and animal welfare suggests a more ambitious ecological agenda than Denmark has pursued in recent years, and some have called the new government Denmark’s “greenest ever”. Industrial agriculture is a major loser, and the Agriculture Ministry has been replaced by a new Ministry for Nature and Animal Welfare tasked with overseeing an agricultural transition aimed at reducing emissions from industrial farming while restoring land to nature. The government also plans to expand renewable energy and electrification, improve the grid, and encourage local co-ownership of renewable projects.

Women in Cabinet

The cabinet includes a majority women for the first time, many of whom – like Radikale’s Samira Nawa – are already targets for far-right animosity. The new Environment Minister, Maria Reumert Gjerding, is not even an MP, but is president of Danish Society for Nature Conservation and a former Enhedslisten MP. Her appointment by SF promises strong action on environmental issues but is also likely to spark further conflicts with the agricultural sector and the far-right.

Neoliberal Orthodoxy

These progressive measures coexist with economic policies of a very different kind. The government programme includes significant tax reductions for the wealthy, including the abolition of the top and middle tax bands and a three percent cut in corporate tax. Welfare concessions and cheaper food are therefore accompanied by a continued upward redistribution of wealth, a contradiction reflecting the influence of Lars Løkke Rasmussen and the Moderates, whose participation effectively ruled out more transformative economic proposals.

Notably absent is the election campaign proposals for a wealth tax. The overall result is a programme that attempts to reconcile limited social-democratic welfare ambitions with an unreformed neoliberal understanding of economic policy that is increasingly being abandoned elsewhere. It remains unclear whether this contradiction will weaken the government or hinder the opposition by making it harder to attack a government that is simultaneously expanding welfare and cutting corporate tax.

Treading Water on Foreign Policy

The government platform contains no significant shift in Denmark’s international orientation. Support for Ukraine remains strong, Russia and China are named as threats, military spending is set to increase, and Denmark’s close alignment with NATO and the United States remains unquestioned. There is likewise little change in policy towards Palestine and Israel, despite concerted efforts by Enhedslisten. A promise to act against illegal Israeli settlements is constrained by a commitment to do so through the EU rather than through unilateral action.

The programme also reaffirms Denmark’s support for Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) controlling its own future, insisting that no geopolitical or military agreements affecting the island can occur without direct Greenlandic negotiation and consent. It also commits to addressing historical injustices inflicted on Greenlanders, such as forced contraception and the removal of Greenlandic children from their families.

Hard Line on Migration

Migration policy is largely unchanged. Several prominent anti-immigration Social Democratic ministers, including Rasmus Stoklund, Mathias Tesfaye and Kaare Dybvad, have left cabinet, while another hardliner, Frederik Vad, was passed over. Danish People’s Party leader Morten Messerschmidt responded by claiming that “Mette Frederiksen has killed immigration policy”, noting that the programme mentions “foreigners” only once. Nonetheless, Denmark’s increasingly restrictive migration framework remains in place, pursuing strict border controls and the externalisation of asylum procedures through third-country “return hubs”.

Social Democratic Power Plays

The new cabinet also signals important developments within the Social Democrats. The decision to move Peter Hummelgaard into the powerful position of Finance Minister, while shifting his rival Nicolai Wammen to the Justice Ministry, is widely seen as an indication of Frederiksen’s preferred succession strategy. Frederiksen is widely expected to leave Danish politics before the end of the parliamentary term, potentially for a senior EU position. The reshuffle also strengthens the party’s left-wing Network group, with which Hummelgaard and Frederiksen are associated, generating dissatisfaction among rival Social Democratic factions.

Are “Bloc” Politics Dead?

On paper, the “four-leaf clover” government represents a leftward shift from the unpopular and dysfunctional Social Democrat–Venstre–Moderates coalition it replaces. Yet it is not a straightforward return to the traditional left-versus-right bloc politics that dominated Denmark for decades. Following the minority Social Democratic government elected in 2019 and the outgoing centrist coalition, bloc politics have arguably been absent from government for several years.

While the new coalition is more progressive on welfare, climate, housing, and animal welfare, many of these advances result from pressure exerted by parties outside government, especially Enhedslisten and The Alternative. At the same time, key pillars of the Danish political consensus remain untouched: restrictive migration policies, support for greater militarisation, and an economic model centred on competitiveness and tax cuts rather than meeting social and environmental needs.

There is no formal agreement giving Enhedslisten a veto over government policy, leaving Frederiksen free to seek support from the centre-right when it suits her. This willingness to work across political divides is central to Frederiksen’s political legacy. Her third term owes less to a transformative vision than to pragmatism and flexibility. Critics argue she lacks a “big vision” and has turned the Social Democrats into a form of “pragmatic conservatism”: protective of the welfare state, but also of a conception of Danish society that has made opposition to migration a “social-democratic virtue”.

Putting It Into Practice

With negotiations over, the challenge now is implementation. Whether the government’s progressive promises survive fiscal pressures, business opposition, and future parliamentary bargaining remains uncertain. Some headline measures – including free dental care – are framed as long-term ambitions rather than immediate guarantees, and poor implementation could leave them vulnerable to dilution or reversal by future governments. Speculation about Frederiksen’s eventual departure may also weaken her ability to push through measures unpopular with competing Social Democratic factions or rival parties.
Fundamentally, the new “four-leaf clover government” is neither a decisive left turn nor a continuation of its predecessor. It represents a contradictory and often grudging step left, reflecting the balance of forces that currently characterises Danish politics: a weakened centre, a stronger left, a radicalising right, and a social democracy attempting to balance between them all. For the left, especially Enhedslisten, it offers an opportunity to hold the government to its progressive promises it has secured while distinguishing itself from its rivals on the left – the Social Democrats and SF – who will be part of a government implementing tax cuts for high earners and business.

Author: Duroyan Fertl is a former political advisor for Sinn Féin and the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament. Since 2021, he has been coordinating the work of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s Brussels Office in the Nordic countries.

Image credits: IMAGO/Ritzau Scanpix