Finance Minister Peter Hummelgaard and a group of senior Ministry of Finance officials are working from Nakskov on Monday, the first stop on a planned tour of the country.
According to reporting by DR, Hummelgaard (Social Democrats) and a string of high-ranking civil servants took over the Havnebygningen building in Nakskov on September 21. In a post on social media, the minister wrote that the point is to listen and collect input for the government’s announced plan for better balance across the country.
The Ministry of Finance said the workday would be held at Havnebygningen, Havnegade 2, in Nakskov, as the first stop on a nationwide tour. Per the same announcement, the next stop is Nykøbing Mors on October 5, 2026.
Hummelgaard has pointed to the recent closure of the sugar factory in Nakskov as the reason the town is an obvious first destination, saying it displays a Denmark moving at two speeds. Klaus Hansen, joint shop steward for the factory’s employees, told DR that the visit is fine, but that he could imagine it is also about scoring cheap points.
Researchers call it largely symbolic
Christoffer Green-Pedersen, head of the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University, described the visit as containing a great deal of media happening. He said the ministry is preoccupied with numbers, and that its calculation models are not recalibrated after trips around the country.
Roger Buch, a center director at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, recognizes the model from municipal Denmark, where mayors regularly move out of city hall. As stated by Buch, it is first and foremost symbolic and signals closeness to local problems. DR also draws a parallel to Number 10 North, the British prime minister’s relocation of part of his staff to Manchester.
Lolland’s mayor, Marie-Louise Brehm Nielsen of the local list Din Stemme, said she receives the minister and his officials warmly. Her municipality is in massive financial difficulty, and she has several proposals Hummelgaard can take back to negotiations on next year’s finance bill. Weeks ago she brought the key to Lolland Municipality to a meeting with Economy and Interior Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr (SF).
The practice traces back to former Aarhus mayor Jacob Bundsgaard (Social Democrats), who moved his office to the Tilst district in 2013, inspired by an Icelandic politician. Bundsgaard, mayor from 2011 to 2024, told DR the risk is that it becomes mainly about signal value, and said he preferred to move out for a week or two at a time.
In a written comment, Hummelgaard said Denmark is too small a country for large geographical inequality. He noted that the government platform commits to a comprehensive plan for better geographical balance, and that the plan must build on input from people living outside Copenhagen.
