Prime Minister of Denmark

Prime Minister of Denmark Statsminister
Coat of Arms of Denmark
Incumbent Helle Thorning-Schmidt since 3 October 2011
Style	His/Her Excellency
Residence	Marienborg
Appointer	Monarch of Denmark
Inaugural holder	Adam Wilhelm Moltke
Formation	March 22 1848
Website	The Prime Minister's Office

Denmark

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Denmark

Constitution Monarchy The Crown (List) Margrethe II Council of State Government Cabinet of Denmark Current cabinet Prime Minister (List) Helle Thorning-Schmidt Judiciary Courts Supreme Court Legislature Folketing Speaker Thor Pedersen Political parties Elections Parliamentary elections 2001 · 2005 · 2007 · 2011 Subdivisions Local government Regions Municipalities Former subdivisions Counties Lands Foreign policy Foreign relations Politics of the European Union

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The Prime Minister of Denmark (Danish: statsminister) is the head of government in Danish politics. The Prime Minister is the leader of a political coalition in the Folketing (Danish parliament) and presides over the cabinet.

The Prime Minister and cabinet are appointed by the monarch, determined by the party composition in the Folketing and must not be opposed by a majority in the Folketing.^[1] If a government loses a vote of no confidence, the Prime Minister must either resign along with the entire cabinet or ask the monarch to dissolve the Folketing and call a new election.

The Prime Minister has the power to dissolve the Folketing and call a new election, which he or she is obligated to do within four years of the previous election. In spite of this, the Prime Minister has no political say in regard to Denmark's autonomous regions, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, while the Folketing on the other hand does. As all laws passed by the Faroese and Greenlandic parliaments must be ratified by the Folketing.

The current Prime Minister of Denmark is Helle Thorning-Schmidt. She leads a coalition government consisting of the Social Democrats, Socialist People's Party and the Danish Social Liberal Party with parliamentary support from the Red-Green Alliance.

History

From 1848 to 1855, the head of government was titled "Premierminister" (Prime Minister). In 1855, the title was changed to ”Konseilspræsident” (Council President); then in 1918 it was changed again to "Statsminister" (State Minister). The official date of the founding of the prime minister's office is January 1, 1914.

See also

• List of Prime Ministers of Denmark
• Constitution of Denmark

References

1. ^ [1]

• The Prime Minister's Office
• Official Denmark Constitution, from the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.