In this solo episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish walks listeners through the upcoming Danish local elections. He begins by describing how election posters dominate the Danish landscape and remain up through the winter, becoming faded relics by spring. Mellish then demystifies the Danish party system, explaining the confusing names and ideological positions of the main parties: Venstre (a centre‑right liberal party), Radikale Venstre (a pro‑immigration, business‑oriented liberal party), Enhedslisten (the far‑left Unity List with communist roots), the Danish People’s Party (the far‑right anti‑immigration party), and the Social Democrats (the centre‑left party led locally by Frank Jensen). He highlights the paradox of Enhedslisten often aligning with the Danish People’s Party on EU‑skepticism. Mellish shares his personal voting experience as an American resident who, after three years in Denmark, is eligible to vote in local elections, and explains the various voting venues—including libraries, hospitals, prisons, and even McDonald’s, where candidates hold rallies to attract youth voters. He praises Frank Jensen’s red‑rose campaign, which targeted middle‑aged women and secured a large share of that demographic. Throughout, Mellish intersperses personal anecdotes, political observations, and promotional messages for his book, website, and the episode’s sponsor, KXM Group.
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Hi, welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. Last weekend, political posters went up All over Denmark— on streetlights, on bridges, on train platforms— politicians fight for the best space. Now, the posters are for the local elections this month, and even though the candidates are supposed to take them down afterwards, they usually don't. So the faces on the posters will keep smiling and making promises through Christmas, and through the winter snow and ice. Come spring, you'll see a faded, torn photo of somebody who failed to win anything hanging from a light pole near you. I like Danish politics, and I follow it, even though I don't follow Danish sports or Danish entertainment. I like Danish politics because it involves a lot of intelligent women running things, with men standing in the background to help them out. Even though I'm an American citizen, I can vote in local Danish elections, having lived in Denmark for more than 3 years. Of course, you can pay taxes from the moment you step off the plane, But after three years, you can have some say in how those taxes are spent. Now, Danish politics are all about putting together a coalition because there are nine main parties, maybe five of whom you need to know about, and their names are confusing. For example, there's sort of a solid business suburban Tory or Republican party called Venstre, the leftist party. There's also a sort of young, hip, yuppie, online entrepreneur party called Radikale Venstre, the Radical Left. Neither of these parties is in any way leftist. What is leftist is Enhedslisten, Unity List, the renamed Danish Communist Party. If you're a student in Denmark, a lot of your friends may vote for this party. They've done a great job of branding. They have some interesting ideas about the environment. And they have a gorgeous, likable young woman as their leader. They're like the cool protest party. They're also still communists. I mean, they want to shut down the Danish stock exchange, get rid of the Danish army, and abolish all private property. A lot of people who vote for this party don't really want them to come to power, but voting for them is kind of like giving the finger to establishment Denmark. Now, this ultra-left party often votes together with an ultra-right party, Because they both don't want Denmark to be part of the European Union. Now, the ultra-right party, the Danish People's Party, is an anti-foreigner party. They're always trying to tighten the immigration restrictions or close up the borders. Many Danes don't want to admit, at least to you, that they vote for the Danish People's Party, but a lot of people do. It's the 3rd biggest party in Denmark. Now, there is a party that wants you as a foreigner and wants your votes as a foreigner. That's Radikale Venstre, the yuppie entrepreneur party I mentioned before. They had a terrible ad campaign in the last election. We trust people, even foreigners. But their heart is in the right place. The Radikale have a multicultural team of candidates, and they do what they can to soften immigration restrictions, in part because their business supporters need the immigrants' technical skills. Anyway, I will not be voting for the Radikale. I will vote for Frank Jensen, the mayor of Copenhagen, who is a Social Democrat/Socialist. I voted for him last time after carefully reviewing all the various campaign videos, and after I'd made my decision, my vote was solidified because Frank Jensen has a great campaign technique. The red rose is the symbol of the Socialist Party, and Frank found lots of attractive young men from the Socialist Youth Wing to stand outside train stations and give a single red rose to middle-aged women. It was great. I mean, these are women who haven't gotten a rose in 20 years. I think he got 85% of the middle-aged female vote, including mine. I mean, I'm a registered Republican in the United States. I'm sure it was the first time I ever voted Socialist. But not the last time. I like what Frank's done for the city, and I'm going to vote for him again. And to get the voting percentage up, Denmark has given people 3 months to vote, and you can vote at libraries, in old folks' homes, in jails, in hospitals, and at McDonald's. McDonald's is cooperating with the Danish authorities to get the youth vote up, so candidates will be holding rallies there. And whenever you pick up your Big Mac and fries, you can also cast a vote for the person of your choice. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. This week we're sponsored by KXM Group, which offers English communication in Copenhagen. Check out our website. We have a feature on the top 10 mistakes Danes make in English. It's at www.kxmgroup.dk. You can also come to our site at howtoliveindenmark.com and leave a comment, or like our Xander Mellish Facebook page. Music arranged by George Garvis. See you next week. Hej! Remember, the How to Live in Denmark book is available for download on amazon.com. You can read it on any phone or tablet. All you need is the Kindle app, and the Kindle app is free. The book's not free, but it's not very expensive either. If you read the book and enjoy it, please leave a review on your local version of amazon.com. It helps other people find the book and find the podcast.
