Lars Løkke Rasmussen chose a different approach at the People’s Meeting. At this year’s People’s Meeting, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen (M) opted for a different approach from the traditional party leader speeches. Instead of delivering a political speech on the Main Stage, he was interviewed by Politiken’s political analyst, Elisabet Svane. Despite the change in format, Svane emphasized that she did not receive payment for the interview, and Løkke did not know the questions in advance.
During the interview, Lars Løkke reflected on his reprimand to the government on election night after the European Parliament election, a reprimand that came without prior notice to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) or Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen (V). He described the election result as a “raised index finger” to the government and emphasized the importance of the government collectively reflecting on how it can revitalize its political work and remain relevant.
Løkke expressed confidence that this analysis is shared by the entire government and referred to an interview with Mette Frederiksen, where she acknowledged that the election result had sparked serious considerations within the party and the government. Despite the challenges, Lars Løkke believes that the SVM government is doing “really, really well,” but that there is a need for better collective “ownership” of the political results.
In the European Parliament election, SVM parties collectively obtained 36.2 percent of the votes, compared to the 50.9 percent they received in the general election. Normally, party leaders use their time on the Main Stage to deliver a political speech, and earlier in the day, Inger Støjberg (DD), Alex Vanopslagh (LA), and Martin Lidegaard (R) had all delivered their speeches. On Friday, among others, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is on the program, while Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen will speak on Saturday.
With this different approach at the People’s Meeting, Lars Løkke Rasmussen once again demonstrates his ability to adapt and implement new methods to convey his message.