2021 Kolding municipal election

2021 Kolding municipal election

16 November 2021
All 25 seats to the Kolding Municipal Council 13 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	50,617 (69.1%) 2.8pp
First party Second party Third party   V A F Party Venstre Social Democrats Green Left Last election 13 seats, 46.4% 5 seats, 19.5% 2 seats, 7.1% Seats won 9 5 4 Seat change 4 0 2 Popular vote 15,825 8,818 8,613 Percentage 31.8% 17.7% 17.3% Swing 14.6% 1.8% 10.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   C O B Party Conservatives Danish People's Party Danish Social Liberal Party Last election 0 seats, 3.3% 3 seats, 11.1% 1 seat, 4.5% Seats won 3 2 2 Seat change 3 1 1 Popular vote 5,243 3,799 3,185 Percentage 10.5% 7.6% 6.4% Swing 7.2% 3.5% 1.9%   Seventh party   Ø Party Red–Green Alliance Last election 1 seat, 3.1% Seats won 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 1,460 Percentage 2.9% Swing 0.2%
Mayor before election Jørn Pedersen Venstre Mayor after election Knud Erik Langhoff Conservatives

Since the 2007 municipal reform, Venstre had won the mayor position following all three elections in Kolding Municipality. In the 2017 Kolding municipal election, they would win 13 of the 25 seats, which equalled an absolute majority. Jørn Pedersen, who was mayor from 2010 to 2021, would announce his intention not to stand for a fourth term prior to the election.^[1] Instead, in October 2020, it would be confirmed that Eva Kjer Hansen would be the mayor candidate, Venstre would put forward for this election.^[2]

On the opposite side of the political spectrum, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Villy Søvndal, would be the top candidate for the Green Left. .^[3] Villy Søvndal had led the Green Left to their best result in the party's history in 2007. Apart from that, he had led the Green Left to 6 seats in the 2017 Southern Denmark regional council election, an increase of 4 seats compared to their result in 2013. Therefore, it was speculated that he could challenge Venstre for the mayor position.^[4]

Despite Venstre losing 4 seats, they became the biggest party and a majority between the traditional blue bloc indiciated that Eva Kjer Hansen would become the new mayor.^[5] However, in a dramatic turnaround, outsider Knud Erik Langhoff from the Conservatives would end up having a majority supporting him. Untradtionally, three red bloc parties, Social Democrats, Danish Social Liberal Party and Green Left would support centre-right Conservatives taking the mayor position.^[6]

This would mark the first time since the 2007 municipal reform, that a municipality in the South Jutland constituency would have a mayor from the Conservatives. It was one of three municipalities in the constituency where the Conservatives had mayor's elected in the 2021, and it was seen as a big success for the Conservatives, who had have trouble winning mayor positions outside Greater Copenhagen and North Zealand in recent elections.^[7]

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. Kolding Municipality had 25 seats in 2021

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

Electoral alliances

Source^[8]

Electoral Alliance 1

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

Electoral Alliance 2

Party	Political Position
Conservatives	Centre-right
The New Right	Right-wing
Christian Democrats	Centre to Centre-right

Electoral Alliance 3

Party	Political Position
Liberal Alliance	Centre-right to Right-wing
Danish People's Party	Right-wing
Venstre	Centre-right

Electoral Alliance 4

Party	Political Position
Danish Social Liberal Party	Centre to Centre-left
Kryds for Kolding	Local Party
Red–Green Alliance	Left-wing to Far-left

Results by polling station

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Kolding Municipality
	Venstre	15,825	31.78	9	-4
	Social Democrats	8,818	17.71	5	0
	Green Left	8,613	17.30	4	+2
	Conservatives	5,243	10.53	3	+3
	Danish People's Party	3,799	7.63	2	-1
	Danish Social Liberal Party	3,185	6.40	2	+1
	Red–Green Alliance	1,460	2.93	0	-1
	The New Right	1,450	2.91	0	0
	Liberal Alliance	824	1.65	0	0
	Christian Democrats	395	0.79	0	0
	Kryds for Kolding	183	0.37	0	New
Total		49,795	100.00	25	0
Valid votes		49,795	98.38
Invalid votes		194	0.38
Blank votes		628	1.24
Total votes		50,617	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		73,266	69.09
Source: KMD

Notes

References

1. "Efter 12 år i spidsen går Jørn P. af: Her er hans sværeste dilemma som borgmester | Nyheder". ugeavisen (in Danish). 11 November 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
2. "Tæt kampvalg gør Eva Kjer til borgmesterkandidat i Kolding | Nyheder". herningfolkebladet (in Danish). Retrieved 7 February 2023.
3. "Villy Søvndal er ny spidskandidat i Kolding | Nyheder". altinget (in Danish). 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
4. "Her er de 10 største gysere ved kommunalvalget | Nyheder". tv2.dk (in Danish). 10 November 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
5. "Skuffet Eva Kjer ville ikke tale med TV 2, da valgnederlaget stod klart | Nyheder". tv2 (in Danish). 17 November 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
6. "Ny borgmester fundet i Kolding | Nyheder". jyllandsposten (in Danish). 17 November 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
7. "Konservative når delmål med borgmestre vest for Storebælt | Nyheder". berlingske (in Danish). 17 November 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
8. "Valgene til kommunalbestyrelser og regionsråd den 16. november 2021 | Nyheder" (PDF). dst (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.