Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday. </s> COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen concedes defeat in general elections, says will resign Thursday. </s> Denmark's centre-right prime minister resigned Thursday after a general election that ended with a gain for left-leaning parties and a big loss for populists who were supporting the government.

Lars Loekke Rasmussen's resignation means the centre-left Social Democrats, Denmark's largest party, will start talks to form a one-party minority government.

Social Democrat Leader Mette Frederiksen had rejected forming a coalition with Loekke Rasmussen's Liberals.

Loekke Rasmussen failed to maintain a majority in parliament after his allies, the populist Danish People's Party, saw their vote share plunge to 8.7 per cent in Wednesday's election from 21.1 per cent in 2015.

Rune Stubager, a politics professor at Denmark's University of Aarhus, said the election results showed a "considerable swing to the left" on the topics of welfare and climate.

Mette Frederiksen of the Danish Social Democrats thanks supporters after the election results poured in at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen early Thursday. Rasmussen has the opportunity to form the next government. (Liselotte Sabroe/AFP/Getty Images)

The Social Democrats are promising to put welfare first again and reverse some of centre-right government's cuts. But they also say they will seek support from the right on immigration issues, and will continue the current government's tough anti-immigration stance.

Pressed by his populist supporters, Loekke Rasmussen's government has tightened immigration laws in recent years. Face-covering garments have been banned, and newly arrived asylum seekers are required to hand over valuables such as jewelry and gold to help pay for their stays.

Strong turnout

Last year, Denmark made international headlines when officials decided rejected asylum seekers or those with a criminal record awaiting expulsion should be sent to an island that once housed a defunct laboratory for contagious animal diseases.

Stubager called the election outcome "a disaster" for the populists because voters are dissatisfied the protest party "is part of the political establishment."

Like their counterparts in neighbouring Sweden, Denmark's Social Democrats have opted for a tougher stance on immigration since the 2015 refugee crisis, when hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers sought shelter in European countries. Sweden's Social Democratic government has sharply restricted immigration, reversing a long tradition of welcoming migrants and refugees.

On Thursday, Loekke Rasmussen formally handed over his resignation to Queen Margrethe, Denmark's figurehead monarch, at the Amalienborg Palace.

Talks to form a new government, expected to begin later Thursday, could take weeks.

Turnout in Wednesday's election was 85.5 per cent, according to official figures, slightly lower than in the 2015 elections. </s> Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen says elections to renew Denmark's 179-seat parliament will be held June 5 as his three-party governing coalition appears to be behind in opinion polls.

Recent polls show the center-right government bloc, which includes the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, is trailing behind the five-party, center-left opposition headed by the Social Democrats.

Under Denmark's Constitution, a vote must be held by June 17, when the current Parliament, elected in 2015, completes its term.

Loekke Rasmussen, who heads the Liberals, has been in power since 2015. In November 2016 he formed a coalition with the smaller Liberal-Alliance and the Conservatives, but it still depends on the populist Danish People's Party to muster a majority.

The current government has notably adopted laws tightening asylum and immigration rules. </s> Opposition leader Mette Frederiksen from The Danish Social Democrats leaves after casting her vote during the Danish Parliamentary Election 2019, in Copenhagen, Wednesday 5 June 2019. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The latest on Denmark’s general election (all times local):

The leader of Denmark’s Social Democrats says voters have decided a new direction and a new government in the country’s general elections.

A nearly complete preliminary count from Wednesday’ voting suggests left-leaning parties made gains that if confirmed by final returns would put the Social Democrats back in power after four years in opposition.

Party leader Mette Frederiksen says that “tonight we have gotten a victory” for the center-left. The Social Democrats and four other left-leaning parties appear headed to having 91 seats in the new parliament, one more than a majority.

The Social Democrats are emerging as parliament’s biggest party. It got 26.1% of the votes Wednesday, after a campaign in which the party’s leaders vowed a tough stance against immigration.

Denmark’s center-right prime minister has conceded defeat in general elections where results show left-leaning parties making large gains that will likely put the Social Democrats back in power after four years in opposition.

Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen says he will resign Thursday from the post he has held since 2015. His Liberal Party is getting 23.4% of the votes in Wednesday’s elections, which is an improvement. But a huge loss by the populist Danish People’s Party means he will no longer muster a majority in the 179-seat Folketing.

Loekke Rasmussen says his government will continue as caretaker, and adds that he will recommend a governing coalition with the Social Democrats and his Liberal Party.

Exit polls in Denmark say that the opposition bloc that includes the center-left Social Democrats will get the most votes in the general election.

The polls by broadcaster DR mean that the Social Democrats, which took a tougher stance on immigration, are on course to return to power after four years in opposition.

The party led by Mette Frederiksen got 25.3% of the vote, according to the exit polls and would be supported by other left-leaning parties that also made gains. Together they will get 90 seats – which is a majority.

The center-right side would only get 75 seats in the 179-seat parliament. The remaining four seats are held by lawmakers on the Faeroe Islands and Greenland — two Danish semi-autonomous territories.

And unlike in other European countries, far-right populists aren’t on the rise. Denmark’s second-largest party, the populist Danish People’s Party, which has been supporting the minority government, got 9.8% compared to 21.1% in 2015, according to the DR exit polls.

The DR exit polls were based on 4,550 people who were interviewed after casting their ballots.

Polling stations across Denmark have opened in a general election to renew the 179-seat Folketing at the end of its four-year term.

Unlike in other European countries, far-right populists don’t seem to be on the rise here, and the center-left Danish Social Democrats may come back to power after four years in opposition, albeit on a tough immigration line.

The five-party so-called red bloc that includes the Social Democrats faces a center-right blue bloc that is losing steam and is splintered into eight parties, of which three are newcomers, including two openly anti-Muslim groups.

The Social Democrats, Denmark’s largest party, have “a positive feeling about this election,” said Nicolai Wammen, the party’s No. 2 official, while warning against calling it a done deal. </s> Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Tuesday called a general election for June 5, with opinion polls suggesting a left-wing opposition bloc will kick his centre-right coalition out of office.

Rasmussen, whose minority government relied on the informal support in parliament of the far-right Danish People's Party, has passed a string of laws tightening asylum and immigration rules.

"I want to use all of my strength, my capabilities and my experience to continue to lead Denmark. And I ask Danes to re-elect me in the legislative elections to be held on June 5," Rasmussen said in parliament.

His four-year term ends on June 17 and he was required to hold legislative elections before then.

The latest opinion polls suggest the opposition left-wing bloc, headed by the Social Democrats, will win 54 percent of votes compared to 46 percent for Rasmussen and his right-wing bloc.

The right-wing has struggled in recent polls amid voter apathy and an erosion in support for the far-right.

The Danish People's Party's longstanding anti-immigration line has now been broadly adopted by most political parties, including the Social Democrats.

Observers suggest that if the Social Democrats were to emerge as the biggest party, they would likely form a minority government that would cooperate with the right-wing bloc on immigration issues and with the left on other policies.

The Social Democrats could also reach out to Danish People's Party leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl, who last year hailed the left party's shift towards a more restrictive immigration policy.

That change has been eyed warily by other left-wing parties, who are yet to pledge their full support for Social Democrats leader Mette Frederiksen.

A former employment minister who later took over the justice portfolio, she presented proposals last year to send "non-Western" foreigners and "non ethnic Danes" to UN camps in Africa.

The anti-immigrant rhetoric, first introduced by the far-right, is now commonly used by all parties.

"The political climate has been anti-immigration for years. The Danish People's Party's agenda has been adopted by mainstream parties," Anders Widfeldt, a lecturer at Scotland's University of Aberdeen who specialises in Nordic politics, told AFP.

In this climate, two new far-right parties, pushing agendas to the right of the Danish People's Party, have emerged and are vying for seats in the election.

One of them, the New Right, which promotes libertarian economic policies, has called for even tighter immigration rules.

The other party, Stram Kurs which means "Hard Line" in English, is headed by Rasmus Paludan, a vehemently anti-Muslim provocateur already convicted of inciting racial hatred and blocked by Facebook.

For Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, 54, an election defeat would in all likelihood put an end to his 25-year career in Danish politics.

At the head of the centre-right Liberal Party since 2009, he has served twice as prime minister, from 2009 to 2011 and 2015 to 2019, interrupted by a four-year Social Democratic government.

"Lars Lokke Rasmussen knows that if he loses he will also be finished as leader of his party," said Christine Cordsen, political analyst at public television DR.

Yet under his leadership, Denmark's economy has thrived. It is expected to grow by 1.8 percent in 2019 against 1.3 percent in the eurozone.

The country also has almost full employment, with a jobless rate of just 3.7 percent in March compared to 7.7 percent in the eurozone.

The Danish parliament, the Folketing, has 179 seats, including two each for its autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Parties must win at least two percent of votes to be represented in parliament.

Voter turnout is traditionally high in Denmark. In 2015, 85.9 percent of the 4.5 million eligible voters cast their ballots. </s> Former New Zealand prime minister Bill English resigns from politics

New Zealand's opposition leader Bill English is quitting after losing last year's election.

The former prime minister said he was resigning as leader of the conservative National Party and leaving Parliament.

Mr English served as a politician for 27 years and took the reins as prime minister in December 2016 after his predecessor John Key resigned.

At the September election, Mr English sought to extend a nine-year hold on power for his party.

On election night, he appeared triumphant after National won the most votes of any party.

But the celebrations were short-lived, and the Labour Party went on to strike an alliance with two smaller parties and form a government under Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Mr English served eight years as finance minister before taking the top job. </s> COPENHAGEN: Denmark's centre-right prime minister, currently governing with the support of an anti-immigration party, on Tuesday called a general election for June 5, with the left-wing opposition leading opinion polls. "I want to use all of my strength, my capabilities and my experience to continue to lead Denmark. And I ask Danes to re-elect me in the legislative elections to be held on June 5," Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in parliament. The latest opinion polls credit the opposition left-wing bloc, headed by the Social Democrats, with 54 percent of voter support, compared to 46 percent for Rasmussen and his right-wing bloc. Rasmussen was required to hold legislative elections at the latest by June 17 when his four-year term ends. The right-wing has struggled in the polls as Danes clamour for a change and, more importantly, amid an erosion of support for the far-right Danish People's Party. Its longstanding anti-immigration line has been broadly adopted by most political parties across the board in recent years, including the Social Democrats. Observers suggest that if the Social Democrats were to emerge as the biggest party, they would likely form a minority government that would cooperate with the right-wing bloc on immigration issues and with the left on other questions.
After the defeating of his party in the general election, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen resigns, but will remain as acting in the office until his succession.