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General

PM’s popularity at an all-time low

Ben Hamilton
August 5th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

Over a third think Mette Frederiksen is doing badly

Not looking good for PM Mette Frederiksen (photo: Hasse Ferrold)

Some 34 percent of Danish voters believe that Mette Frederiksen is performing poorly as prime minister, and just 43 percent think she is doing well, according to an Epinion poll.

Equal with a poll in December 2021, the nine percentage point gap is the lowest since she took office, but the level of disappointment with her performance is one percentage point higher – the worst yet.

With a general election around the corner – possibly in the autumn, but definitely before the end of June 2023 – and the red and blue blocs level pegging in the polls, it is another sign that the wheels might be coming off her government. 

Public can’t forgive Minkgate
In March 2020, just three weeks after the PM put the country swiftly into a corona lockdown, some 79 percent gave her premiership a thumbs-up, with just 5 percent saying she was doing badly.

But Minkgate has clearly disappointed the public and left them questioning her credibility and trustworthiness as a leader. 

In early July, Radikale said it would cast a vote of no confidence in Frederiksen if the PM does not call a general election before the opening of Parliament on October 4.

SF wants changes at schools
Radikale isn’t the only government ally ruffling feathers, reported Politiken yesterday.

SF is terminating the central settlement pertaining to the public schools, which it backed almost a decade ago when it was introduced by Helle Thorning Schmidt’s red bloc government. Its decision means a new settlement will have to be agreed upon after the next election.

SF wants the schools to have more freedom in their decision-making. The party favours a shorter school day and increasing the number of hours when two teachers are present.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”