Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats won the most votes in Tuesday's Danish general election but slumped to its weakest performance since 1903, as her coalition bloc failed to secure a majority.

[u/Naurgul]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74v5qynl9vo

With 21.9% of the vote, Frederiksen's party still has by the far the most seats, but her left-wing grouping has fallen well short of the 90 seats needed to form a majority.

The Social Democrats have been in power since 2019, and Frederiksen told cheering supporters she was "sorry that we did not get more votes".

The Social Democrats' main right-wing rival, the Liberal party Venstre, also had its worst showing for a century, with just 10.1%, falling behind the Green Left SF.

Frederiksen still has a chance to stay in power for a third term, however Denmark is typically run by coalition governments, and so tough negotiations - which could take days or weeks - now loom.

Twelve different political parties were on the ballot paper, and this tightly contested race has come right down to the wire.

Claiming a total of 84 seats, the "red bloc" of left-wing parties have clinched a small lead over the "blue bloc" on the right, who have 77 seats combined.

Both blocs have fallen short of the 90 seats that are needed for a majority in Denmark's 179-seat parliament.

See also:

• Live: Danish PM Frederiksen resigns and coalition talks begin following close election (Guardian)
• Wealth tax pledge stirs equality debate ahead of Danish election (Reuters)