Dansk Folkeparti’s parliamentary group leader, Alex Ahrendtsen, reprimanded his own group on Thursday after absent DF lawmakers helped the government secure a majority in the Folketing.
DR reports that Ahrendtsen said on Thursday, August 13, 2026, that he was exhausted by the episode. He said the group had already received a reprimand, and that the result was simply not good enough.
The vote in the chamber surprised him, because it ended with a majority for the government. That outcome was made possible by missing DF attendance during the division itself.
The vote followed an urgent interpellation debate held Wednesday, which Dansk Folkeparti had itself called for. It dealt in part with the recent migrant flow to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, a subject tied to the wider Danish debate on immigration policy.
How the vote unfolded
Three resolution texts were scheduled for a vote in the chamber on Thursday, according to DR. The first, submitted by the government, passed with 54 votes in favor and 52 against. Because it was adopted, the two remaining texts lapsed without being put to a vote.
One of the texts that fell had been drafted by Dansk Folkeparti together with Venstre, the Conservatives, Liberal Alliance, the Denmark Democrats, Borgernes Parti and the Faroese party Sambandsflokkurin. It never reached the floor.
Ahrendtsen listed several reasons for the absences. He said the party had recently been hit by a stress-related long-term sick leave for MP Søren Boel Olesen, whose substitute had not yet taken his seat because he was traveling. Further sickness reports arrived on Thursday morning and the previous evening, too late for the party to react.
He added that one member went up to his office to collect papers and came back too late for the vote. A fourth person also failed to return in time, he said.
Asked what the other parties behind the joint text had told DF, Ahrendtsen declined to describe those conversations. He repeated that the situation was not good enough, and said the group would receive another reprimand.
Ahrendtsen said the remedy was for members to follow the procedures he has set out, which had not happened in this case. He described the events as a series of unfortunate circumstances, but said the responsibility rests with the party.
B.T. published a near identical account based on Ritzau on August 13, 2026. It confirms the same core facts, including the rebuke, the missing DF attendance and the unexpected government majority.
Earlier in the same week, Dansk Folkeparti held a press conference in connection with its summer group meeting at Hjerting Badehotel in Esbjerg, as noted by DR.
