Center-left victory

Denmark's Social Democrats and their center-left allies emerged victorious in the country's parliamentary elections on Thursday evening, with Helle Thorning-Schmidt becoming the nation's first female prime minister.

The early nationwide general election was called last month after the minority government ran into trouble over its economic plans.

Thorning-Schmidt's victory ends the powerful influence of the populist, anti-immigration Danish People's Party, a key parliamentary ally of Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen's center-right alliance.

The blocs

The parties are divided into two blocs along ideological lines: the red bloc of the Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party, the Social-Liberals and the Red-Green Alliance, and the blue bloc of the governing Liberal and Conservative parties, plus the Liberal Alliance, the Danish People's Party and the Christian Democrats.

Under the influence of the Danish People's Party, Rasmussen's center-right blue bloc has enacted a series of reforms to make Denmark more business friendly and less welcoming to asylum seekers from developing countries.

Thorning-Schmidt has pledged to slap taxes on banks and wealthy Danes, as well as amend some of the austerity cuts planned by the government. She has also vowed to overhaul a system of beefed-up customs controls at borders with Germany and Sweden, which have riled both the European Union and Denmark's neighbors.

Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In 2007, more than 86.5 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots, and an even greater percentage is believed to have voted on Thursday.

Author: Catherine Bolsover, Gabriel Borrud (Reuters, AFP, AP)
Editor: Martin Kuebler