2021 Aarhus municipal election

2021 Aarhus municipal election

16 November 2021
All 31 seats to the Aarhus Municipal Council 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	68.2% (2.3pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Social Democrats 28.74 10 −3 Conservatives 14.59 5 +4 Green Left 13.74 4 +1 Venstre 11.87 4 −2 Red–Green 9.90 3 +1 Social Liberals 9.23 3 +1 New Right 3.21 1 +1 DPP 2.73 1 −1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Result in each polling area Mayor before Mayor after Jacob Bundsgaard Social Democrats Jacob Bundsgaard Social Democrats

Being one of the strongest municipalities for parties of the traditional red bloc, Jacob Bundsgaard from the Social Democrats, who had been mayor since 2014, was expected to be re-elected in this election. In the campaign before the election, Jacob Bundsgaard did remarkably not include his party logo or name on his election posters.^[1]

However, he would still suffer seat losses similar to those the Social Democrats saw in all 4 largest municipalities of Denmark in the 2021 Danish local elections.^[2]

As in the 2017 Aarhus municipal election, Jacob Bundsgaard became the person to receive the most personal votes in Denmark as a whole, however he received only 19,279 compared to 39,841 in 2017.

Despite being the biggest party, the Social Democrats lost 3 seats, but the parties of the traditional red bloc won 20 of the 31 seats, and it was later announced that Jacob Bundsgaard would continue as mayor. ^[3]

Electoral system

For elections to Danish municipalities, a number varying from 9 to 31 are chosen to be elected to the municipal council. The seats are then allocated using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation. Aarhus Municipality had 31 seats in 2021

Unlike in Danish General Elections, in elections to municipal councils, electoral alliances are allowed.

Electoral alliances

Source^[4]

Electoral Alliance 1

Party	Political Position
Social Democrats	Centre-left
Danish Social Liberal Party	Centre to Centre-left
Green Left	Centre-left to Left-wing

Electoral Alliance 2

Party	Political Position
Conservatives	Centre-right
The New Right	Right-wing
Liberal Alliance	Centre-right to Right-wing
Christian Democrats	Centre to Centre-right
Danish People's Party	Right-wing

Electoral Alliance 3

Party	Political Position
Vegan Party	Centre-left to Left-wing
De Grønne	Green politics
Red–Green Alliance	Left-wing to Far-left
The Alternative	Centre-left to Left-wing

Results by polling station

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Aarhus Municipality
	Social Democrats	55,295	28.74	10	-3
	Conservatives	28,077	14.59	5	+4
	Green Left	26,439	13.74	4	+1
	Venstre	22,835	11.87	4	-2
	Red–Green Alliance	19,044	9.90	3	+1
	Danish Social Liberal Party	17,761	9.23	3	+1
	The New Right	6,174	3.21	1	+1
	Danish People's Party	5,252	2.73	1	-1
	Liberal Alliance	3,496	1.82	0	-1
	The Alternative	2,523	1.31	0	-1
	Christian Democrats	1,554	0.81	0	0
	Trivsel & Reel Borgerinddragelse[a]	1,325	0.69	0	0
	Vegan Party	994	0.52	0	New
	De Grønne[a]	651	0.34	0	New
	Freedom List	306	0.16	0	New
	Bedre Aarhus	300	0.16	0	New
	Kommunisterne[a]	213	0.11	0	New
	Egalitært Folkeparti[a]	90	0.05	0	New
	Partiet Samfundssind[a]	74	0.04	0	New
Total		192,403	100.00	31	0
Valid votes		192,403	98.03
Invalid votes		864	0.44
Blank votes		3,007	1.53
Total votes		196,274	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		287,767	68.21
Source: KMD

Notes

1. Local party in Aarhus

References

1. "Aarhus-borgmester kendes ikke ved moderpartiet på sine valgplakater | Nyheder". aarhus.lokalavisen (in Danish). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
2. "S bliver størst ved kommunalvalget trods lussinger i storbyer | Nyheder". berlingske (in Danish). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
3. "Sådan ser konstitueringsaftalen i Aarhus ud | Nyheder". aarhus.lokalavisen (in Danish). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
4. "Valgene til kommunalbestyrelser og regionsråd den 16. november 2021 | Nyheder" (PDF). dst (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.