Denmark's opposition appeared headed for victory

yahoo.de

COPENHAGEN - Denmark's opposition appeared headed for victory in a national election, signalling a shift to the left after 10 years of pro-market reforms and ever-stricter controls on immigration.

Updated exit polls released by broadcasters TV2 and DR as voting stations closed Thursday predicted a majority in the 179-seat Parliament for the left-leaning opposition led by Social Democratic leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

TV2 gave her "red bloc" a seven-seat advantage over the centre-right government coalition led by Lars Loekke Rasmussen. The DR exit poll, which didn't count the four seats allocated to the semiautonomous territories of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, had the opposition winning by five seats.

If that outcome stands, Thorning-Schmidt would become the first woman to head a Danish government.

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yahoo.de


Danes on Thursday voted the centre-left into power after a decade in opposition, ushering in the country's first woman prime minister, according to two exit polls published as polling stations closed.

Both exit polls, published by public broadcaster DR and TV2 television, suggested voters had handed the left-leaning opposition headed by Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 44, an absolute majority in parliament, ousting Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen's centre-right government.

yahoo.de:red bloc expected to gain 89 seats