Dansk Folkeparti staged its annual meeting on September 26 in Roskilde as a show built around party leader Morten Messerschmidt, who urged the blue bloc to unite behind an effort to unseat Mette Frederiksen and Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Messerschmidt arrived at the venue in a large black car with tinted windows, welcomed by chanting members of the party’s youth wing. DR reports that he told the assembled journalists the future was bright, on the condition that the blue bloc stands together.
For the first time, DF closed the opening section of its annual meeting to the public. According to DR, the accounts, the election of the party’s main board and an item listed as “free debate” took place behind closed doors. The second half was open to press and non-members, who could buy a ticket for 125 kroner.
The party marketed the public section as an annual-meeting show with entertainment, surprises and spotlights. Messerschmidt entered the stage to a light display and the Kanye West track “Power”, after a video presenting him as the party’s rescuer. He said he was proud to have put Dansk Folkeparti back on an even keel.
TV 2 adds that Messerschmidt took the floor six hours after the meeting began, and that his speech lasted 40 minutes. He told the broadcaster that DF would not reject entering government, but that he did not yet know whether he could be a prime-minister candidate. DR notes that he stopped for the press twice, each time leaving within two minutes.
Per Jyllands-Posten, Messerschmidt used the speech to propose a new tax deduction for families with several children and a pension bonus for women. His stated priorities also included cheaper food and stricter immigration policy.
Unease in the blue bloc
DR reports that DF is polling above 14 percent and is again the largest party in the blue bloc. Other blue party leaders sent video greetings congratulating DF on its rise, but DR describes an underlying concern about the shift in the bloc’s balance of power.
Venstre leader Troels Lund Poulsen thanked DF in his video address for cooperation on immigration, health and the elderly. According to DR, he left out the issues that divide them: the EU, support for Ukraine, climate and the Rigsfællesskabet. Those disagreements have led him to reject Messerschmidt as a blue prime minister.
On stage, three female youth members were asked whether they preferred fried pork or remigration, and all three answered remigration. DR notes that Messerschmidt has recently shifted to the term “hjemsendelsespolitik”. Former leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl, who delivered DF’s best election result in 2015, was not named once in the party’s historical photo gallery.
Venstre is currently polling at about half DF’s level, according to DR. Messerschmidt said the blue bloc must “do better” after failing to agree on a single prime-minister candidate in the two most recent election campaigns.
