Christel Schaldemose (S), from the island of Funen, has secured the most personal votes in all eight constituencies on Funen at the EU parliamentary elections. This is according to data from the IT company KMD, which is responsible for the official vote count. Schaldemose, who is already a member of the EU Parliament and represents the Social Democrats, received the most votes in all Funen districts. Despite the personal success for Schaldemose, the Social Democrats experienced a generally poor election result with only 15.6 percent of the votes – the worst election result for the party in over a century. Schaldemose commented on the outcome earlier in the day expressing disappointment: “It is not satisfactory, the result we have received, and I will now reflect on what went wrong and what can be done better. It costs to take responsibility and be in government, we see that everywhere in Europe and in Denmark, and I believe that is one element among several,” she said.
By 4 p.m. on Monday, Schaldemose had received nearly 118,000 personal votes nationwide, but the final number of personal votes is expected to be available later on the same day. In the last EU election in 2019, Schaldemose received 65,179 personal votes, while Jeppe Kofod was the Social Democrats’ lead candidate and top scorer. Despite the setback for the party, the Social Democrats managed to retain their three seats in the parliament. This is due in part to an electoral alliance with the Socialist People’s Party (SF) and the Alternative, which was entered into to minimize wasted votes. As the Alternative did not secure a seat, the surplus votes were transferred to the Social Democrats, thus securing three seats instead of two. “That’s how it is when you enter into an electoral alliance. Sometimes we give to others, other times they give to us. That’s how it is. A seat is a seat, under the conditions that are present, and that’s what I hold on to,” Schaldemose said earlier on Monday.