Do we like Mette Frederiksen?
Our score: 6 out of 10. Strong words for LGBTQ+ rights and a firm stand against Trump, balanced by a harsh asylum record and a mink-cull inquiry that criticised her.
Mette Frederiksen grew up in a working-class Social Democrat family: her father was a typographer and her mother a pre-school teacher. She got into parliament at 24, took over the party in 2015 and became Denmark's youngest prime minister in 2019. She's now on her third term, which makes her one of Europe's longer-serving leaders.
The big stain is the 2020 mink saga. Her government ordered the cull of about 17 million minks over Covid fears, and a later inquiry found the order had no legal basis. The commission said her statements at the 4 November 2020 briefing were “grossly misleading”, but also that she didn't know the decision lacked a legal basis. Parliament reprimanded her in July 2022, including her own party, but she dodged impeachment.
On the harm check, her LGBTQ+ words are good. At the 2021 WorldPride closing ceremony in Copenhagen she said “Love is never wrong” and that “The fight is not over” beyond Denmark's borders. I found no recorded vote on LGBTQ+ legislation to set against the speech, so this one rests on her words.
Migration is where it gets complicated. Her 2018 manifesto said Denmark should decide how many “non-western foreigners” it accepts, and she promised an offshore reception centre that, as of late 2025, still doesn't exist. A European Commission spokesman said in 2021 that the overseas plan was undermining the foundations of international refugee protection. Her supporters say it protects the welfare state and has blunted the far right, while critics say it's harsh on people seeking safety.
The recent run has been bumpy. She called a snap election for 24 March riding her stand-off with Trump over Greenland, but her Social Democrats had their weakest result since 1903 and dropped to 38 seats. She still stitched together a centre-left minority government in June. Her Instagram clapback in August, about a plastic surgeon's unsolicited advice, got her plenty of cheers.
The good stuff is real. She rallied European allies behind Greenland and has made backing Ukraine a signature. In Kyiv in 2025 she told Ukrainians “You have defended not only your own country, but all of Europe” and urged Europe to drop its self-imposed limits on aid.