In brief
Denmark election: left tops poll as unionists win in Faroe Islands, pro-independence parties retain both seats in Greeland
Social democratic leader on course to become new prime minister
Until now, the country had a government led by centre-right liberals with the support of radical right populist Danish People’s Party, which saw its seats more than halved and led to the defeat of the conservative bloc, which just retained 75 seats.
The social democrats seek to form a one-party government, but they will need external support from another two left-wing parties that made significant progress: the Social Liberal Party (social-liberalism) and the Socialist Popular Party (eco-socialism). Friction between the three parties could arise due to the fact that the social democrats maintain a tougher stance on migration and asylum issues than the other two.
Different choices in Faroe and Greenland
The Faroe Islands and Greenland elected two seats each to the Danish Parliament. The Faroese seats will be held by the Union Party and the Social Democratic Party, both supporters of keeping the islands within Denmark. The Republic party, which until now had been the largest among the pro-independence parties, lost the seat it had won in 2015.
In Greenland the situation is the other way around, as both seats have been retained by pro-independence forces: Inuit Ataqatigiit (democratic socialism) and Siumut (social democracy). Unionist parties enjoy far less support In Greenland than in the Faroes, and are thus far from gaining a seat in the Danish elections.