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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
{{Infobox Officeholder
|name = Helle Thorning-Schmidt
|image = Helle-Thorning-Schmidt.jpg
|office = [[Prime Minister of Denmark]]<br><small>Designate</small>
|monarch = [[Margrethe II of Denmark|Margrethe II]]
|term_start =
|term_end =
|succeeding = [[Lars Løkke Rasmussen]]
|succeeding = [[Lars Løkke Rasmussen]]
|predecessor = [[Lars Løkke Rasmussen]]
|predecessor = [[Lars Løkke Rasmussen]]
Line 33: Line 27:


She replaced [[Mogens Lykketoft]] as party chair after the [[2005 Danish parliamentary election|2005 election]]. She led her party through the [[2007 Danish parliamentary election]] but failed to gain a majority. Following the [[Danish parliamentary election, 2011|2011 elections]] on 15 September 2011, she is [[Prime Minister-designate|expected]] to be appointed [[Prime Minister of Denmark]] if she succeeds in negotiating a government platform with the other opposition parties. If appointed by [[Queen Margrethe]], she will become Denmark's first [[List of elected or appointed female heads of government|female Prime Minister]].
She replaced [[Mogens Lykketoft]] as party chair after the [[2005 Danish parliamentary election|2005 election]]. She led her party through the [[2007 Danish parliamentary election]] but failed to gain a majority. Following the [[Danish parliamentary election, 2011|2011 elections]] on 15 September 2011, she is [[Prime Minister-designate|expected]] to be appointed [[Prime Minister of Denmark]] if she succeeds in negotiating a government platform with the other opposition parties. If appointed by [[Queen Margrethe]], she will become Denmark's first [[List of elected or appointed female heads of government|female Prime Minister]].
[[File:Mao.jpg]]

She served as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the [[Folketing|Danish Parliament]] in 2005.
She served as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the [[Folketing|Danish Parliament]] in 2005.
[[File:Hitler.jpg]]

Thorning-Schmidt holds degrees in political science from the [[University of Copenhagen]] and the [[College of Europe]].<ref name="FT_CV">{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.dk/Folketinget/findMedlem/SHETS.aspx |title=Folketinget - Helle Thorning-Schmidt (S) |publisher=ft.dk |accessdate=2011-09-17}}</ref>
Thorning-Schmidt holds degrees in political science from the [[University of Copenhagen]] and the [[College of Europe]].<ref name="FT_CV">{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.dk/Folketinget/findMedlem/SHETS.aspx |title=Folketinget - Helle Thorning-Schmidt (S) |publisher=ft.dk |accessdate=2011-09-17}}</ref>.jpg]]

==Early life, education and personal background==
==Early life, education and personal background==
Helle Thorning-Schmidt was born in [[Rødovre]] to Holger Thorning-Schmidt, a lecturer in mathematics and national economics at the [[University of Copenhagen]], and his wife Grete. Her parents were both [[political conservative|politically conservative]]<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10010163 |title=Profil: Helle Thorning-Schmidt – VG Nett om Danmark |publisher=Vg.no |date= |accessdate=2011-09-16}}</ref> and she grew up in the Copenhagen suburb of [[Ishøj]]. She attended Ishøj Gymnasium, from which she graduated in 1985. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vejleamtsfolkeblad.dk/artikel/196111:Navne--Helle-Thorning-har-mistet-sin-far |title=Vejle Amts Folkeblad – Navne – Helle Thorning har mistet sin far |publisher=Vejleamtsfolkeblad.dk |date=2010-01-25 |accessdate=2011-09-16}}</ref>
Helle Thorning-Schmidt was born in [[Rødovre]] to Holger Thorning-Schmidt, a lecturer in mathematics and national economics at the [[University of Copenhagen]], and his wife Grete. Her parents were both [[political conservative|politically conservative]]<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/artikkel.php?artid=10010163 |title=Profil: Helle Thorning-Schmidt – VG Nett om Danmark |publisher=Vg.no |date= |accessdate=2011-09-16}}</ref> and she grew up in the Copenhagen suburb of [[Ishøj]]. She attended Ishøj Gymnasium, from which she graduated in 1985. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vejleamtsfolkeblad.dk/artikel/196111:Navne--Helle-Thorning-har-mistet-sin-far |title=Vejle Amts Folkeblad – Navne – Helle Thorning har mistet sin far |publisher=Vejleamtsfolkeblad.dk |date=2010-01-25 |accessdate=2011-09-16}}</ref>
[[File:American flag.jpg]]

She graduated with a master's degree in [[political science]] from the [[University of Copenhagen]] in 1994. She also holds a master's degree in [[European studies]] specialising in policy and public administration from the [[College of Europe]], a university in [[Bruges]], [[Belgium]], where she studied from 1992 to 1993 (she is an alumna of the [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] [[College of Europe#Promotions|promotion]]). At the time, Denmark had a quota of one student at this prestigious institution, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Thorning-Schmidt was selected.<ref>{{cite web|author=Olav Hergel |url=http://politiken.dk/politik/ECE1394870/portraet-helle-thorning-schmidt-den-foerste-af-danmark/ |title=Portræt: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Den Første af Danmark |language={{da icon}} |publisher=Politiken.dk |date= |accessdate=2011-09-17}}</ref> In addition to her native Danish, she speaks fluent English and French.
She graduated with a master's degree in [[political science]] from the [[University of Copenhagen]] in 1994. She also holds a master's degree in [[European studies]] specialising in policy and public administration from the [[College of Europe]], a university in [[Bruges]], [[Belgium]], where she studied from 1992 to 1993 (she is an alumna of the [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] [[College of Europe#Promotions|promotion]]). At the time, Denmark had a quota of one student at this prestigious institution, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Thorning-Schmidt was selected.<ref>{{cite web|author=Olav Hergel |url=http://politiken.dk/politik/ECE1394870/portraet-helle-thorning-schmidt-den-foerste-af-danmark/ |title=Portræt: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Den Første af Danmark |language={{da icon}} |publisher=Politiken.dk |date= |accessdate=2011-09-17}}</ref> In addition to her native Danish, she speaks fluent English and French.


Revision as of 23:46, 22 September 2011

Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Assuming office
SucceedingLars Løkke Rasmussen
Leader of the Social Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 April 2005[1]
Preceded byMogens Lykketoft
Member of Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 February 2005[1]
Member of the European Parliament for
Denmark
In office
10 June 1999 – 13 July 2004
Personal details
Born (1966-12-14) 14 December 1966 (age 57)
Rødovre, Denmark
Political partySocial Democrats
Spouse(s)Stephen Kinnock
(m. 1996-present)
Children2 daughters
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen
College of Europe

Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Danish pronunciation: [ˈhɛlə ˈtoɐ̯neŋ ˈsmed]; born 14 December 1966)[1] is the leader of the Danish Social Democrats and is set to become Prime Minister of Denmark in October 2011.

She replaced Mogens Lykketoft as party chair after the 2005 election. She led her party through the 2007 Danish parliamentary election but failed to gain a majority. Following the 2011 elections on 15 September 2011, she is expected to be appointed Prime Minister of Denmark if she succeeds in negotiating a government platform with the other opposition parties. If appointed by Queen Margrethe, she will become Denmark's first female Prime Minister. File:Mao.jpg She served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the Danish Parliament in 2005. File:Hitler.jpg Thorning-Schmidt holds degrees in political science from the University of Copenhagen and the College of Europe.[1].jpg]]

Early life, education and personal background

Helle Thorning-Schmidt was born in Rødovre to Holger Thorning-Schmidt, a lecturer in mathematics and national economics at the University of Copenhagen, and his wife Grete. Her parents were both politically conservative[2] and she grew up in the Copenhagen suburb of Ishøj. She attended Ishøj Gymnasium, from which she graduated in 1985. Her parents divorced when she was 10 years old.[3] She graduated with a master's degree in political science from the University of Copenhagen in 1994. She also holds a master's degree in European studies specialising in policy and public administration from the College of Europe, a university in Bruges, Belgium, where she studied from 1992 to 1993 (she is an alumna of the Charles IV promotion). At the time, Denmark had a quota of one student at this prestigious institution, administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Thorning-Schmidt was selected.[4] In addition to her native Danish, she speaks fluent English and French.

She has been married to Stephen Kinnock since 1996. She is the daughter-in-law of Neil Kinnock, Baron Kinnock, former leader of the British Labour Party and European Commissioner, and Glenys Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead, former British Minister for Europe. She met her husband while they were both attending the College of Europe in Belgium. They have two daughters, Johanna and Camilla. Helle lives in Copenhagen with their children, while her husband currently resides in Davos, Switzerland, where he works as a director for the World Economic Forum.[5]

She became a Social Democrat during her studies in Belgium and joined the Danish Social Democrats in 1993.[6]

Early career

From 1994 to 1997 she led the secretariat of the Danish delegation of Social Democrats in the European Parliament.[1] After her time in Brussels she worked as an international consultant with the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions until being elected MEP in 1999.[1]

Member of the European Parliament 1999–2004

In 1999, Thorning-Schmidt was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the Party of European Socialists. During the five-year term, she was a member of the Employment and Social Committee and the Constitutional Committee of the European Parliament.[citation needed] She co-founded the Campaign for Parliament Reform (CPR).[citation needed]

Member of Folketing

In the 2005 Danish parliamentary election Thorning-Schmidt was elected to the Folketing.[1]

Leader of the Social Democrats in opposition

After the defeat in the 2005 election where the Social Democrats lost 5 seats and failed to regain the majority it lost in the 2001 election former Minister of Finance and then-party leader Mogens Lykketoft resigned his position in the party, taking responsibility for the poor election results. In his speech of resignation on election night 8 February 2005 he called for a leadership election in order to determine who should lead the party into the next election.[citation needed]

She campaigned for the party leadership as a moderate candidate and was elected by the party members on 12 April 2005, ahead of the other candidate, Frank Jensen.

She led the Social Democrats through the 2007 Danish parliamentary election where her party suffered modest losses and was forced into a third term in opposition. The party was also unable to regain its position as the largest party in the Folketing.

She was against holding a referendum on the European Reform Treaty.[7] During her 2007 campaign she promised to relax restrictions on asylum seekers and immigrants.[8] She also opposed tax cuts announced by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, instead she would like to see more money spent on welfare. The party also campaigned on a platform of combating increased inequalities in society, and fighting global warming by making 45% of Denmark's energy from renewable sources by 2025.[9]

Although her party again lost two seats in the 2007 election (now 45 seats), her leadership wasn't questioned by her party.[citation needed]

According to a June 2008 opinion poll carried out by Gallup, the opposition centre-left was on 49.8% compared to 49.6% to the centre-right. This would leave the centre-left on 88 seats, two short of a majority, discounting the Faroe Island and Greenland seats.[10] Since late 2009 the opposition has enjoyed large majorities in the polls, and according to polls carried out in January 2011 the opposition leads the governing coalition under Lars Løkke Rasmussen with 5–7 points and the Social Democrats leading Venstre with 7–10 points which would make the Social Democrats the largest party by far in the Folketing.[11]

Both Margrethe Vestager (Social Liberal Party) and Villy Søvndal (Socialist People's Party) have pledged their support to Thorning-Schmidt after a potential election victory.[12] Since the last election Helle Thorning-Schmidt has been working towards forming a centre-left government coalition consisting of the Socialist People's Party and the Social Liberal Party with parliamentary support from the small Red-Green Alliance.[13][14]

As the leader of the largest opposition party in Denmark, she has been described by the media as the leader of the Danish opposition.[citation needed]

Prime Minister-designate

Main article: Danish parliamentary election, 2011

In the 2011 parliamentary election, she was relected to parliament. Although the ruling Liberal Party became the largest party and gained a seat and the Social Democrats lost a seat, the opposition parties combined obtained more seats than the government coalition. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen formally tendered his resignation to Queen Margrethe on 16 September 2011. A new Prime Minister will be appointed by the Queen following a complicated, traditional procedure, during which the candidate will first need to secure parliamentary support. If appointed, Thorning-Schmidt will be the first female Prime Minister of Denmark.[15] Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats will need to negotiate with the Social Liberal Party, the Socialist People's Party and the Red-Green Alliance to be able to form a government. Lars Løkke Rasmussen's cabinet will remain in office as a caretaker government until a new cabinet is appointed.[16]

Controversy

The Danish tax authorities (SKAT) and the police have investigated reports that Thorning-Schmidt's husband, Stephen Kinnock, was guilty of tax evasion. Kinnock had declared that he was not a resident of Denmark and thus not subject to Danish taxes, while at the same time Thorning-Schmidt had declared, in an application for dispensation for Kinnock to own property in Denmark, that he resided in Denmark "every weekend of the year from Friday through Monday".[17] Thorning-Schmidt attributed the discrepancy to a "big and sloppy error".[17] On 16 September 2010, Danish tax authorities acquitted the couple and the charges of tax evasion were dropped.[18]

In September 2011 the 2010 decision from SKAT surfaced in the Danish newspaper B.T. It turned out that Thorning-Schmidt from 2000 to 2008 had made use of tax deductions applicable to her husband, even though he was not subject to Danish taxes and had no income in Denmark. The mistake was corrected by SKAT for the three years from 2006 to 2008, and Thorning-Schmidt paid the amount she had saved due to the error. She was however not required to pay the amounts saved for the six years from 2000 to 2005, because of the statutory time limit for liability in such cases.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Folketinget - Helle Thorning-Schmidt (S)". ft.dk. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Profil: Helle Thorning-Schmidt – VG Nett om Danmark". Vg.no. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Vejle Amts Folkeblad – Navne – Helle Thorning har mistet sin far". Vejleamtsfolkeblad.dk. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  4. ^ Olav Hergel. "Portræt: Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Den Første af Danmark" (in Template:Da icon). Politiken.dk. Retrieved 17 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  5. ^ "BBC News - Profile: Danish PM-elect Helle Thorning-Schmidt". Bbc.co.uk. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Det bliver i hvert fald en moderne velfærdsdansker". information.dk. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  7. ^ Denmark announces snap elections, BBC News 24 October 2007
  8. ^ Danes in poll tussle over migrants, BBC News 13 November 2007
  9. ^ Denmark: A political guide, The Guardian 9 November 2007
  10. ^ Oppositionen går på ferie med flertal – Politik
  11. ^ "Vælgerne straffer Pia Kjærsgaard". Borsen.dk. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  12. ^ "Vestager peger på Helle Thorning". Borsen.dk. 20 October 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  13. ^ "Rød dominans – Politik". BT.dk. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  14. ^ "Greens: Markant rødt flertal – dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik". Dr.dk. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  15. ^ Traynor, Ian (14 September 2011). "Denmark election tipped to oust rightwing government". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 September 2011. [...] looks likely to end this week, with a Social Democrat tipped to become the Danes' first female prime minister.
  16. ^ Marie Hjortdal. "Løkke går af – nu begynder spillet om magten" (in Template:Da icon). Politiken.dk. Retrieved 16 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  17. ^ a b Danish politics rocked over Kinnock tax status, BBC News 3 August 2010
  18. ^ Revisor: Skat frikender Thorning i skattesag, Politiken 16 September 2010
  19. ^ Thorning fik uberettiget fradrag i seks år, B.T. 17 September 2011

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