Denmark's centre-right opposition won its biggest victory in 80 years yesterday, ejecting the Social Democrat-led government after a snap campaign focused on immigration.
Veteran Prime Minister Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, the EU's longest serving premier, conceded defeat with tears in his eyes just before midnight to the Liberal-led opposition of Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"Today has been a historic day," Mr Fogh Rasmussen told supporters at a victory party on a ferry moored in Copenhagen Harbour. "It looks like the Liberals are Denmark's biggest party."
The Liberal-led centre-right was set to win 97 seats in parliament to 78 for Mr Nyrup Rasmussen's bloc.
This was, according to a projection with 82 per cent of the votes counted.
Mr Nyrup Rasmussen, not related to his rival, urged the new government to work to keep unemployment at a 25-year low of 5.0 per cent. "The country we are now handing over to a centre-right government is a far better one than it was when we came to power almost nine years ago," he said, adding that he would stay on as party leader.
Voters rallied behind the centre-right opposition due to pledges for tighter rules for newcomers.
Mr Nyrup Rasmussen was expected to hand his formal resignation to Queen Margrethe today, paving the way for the Liberals to try to form a new coalition with the conservatives and perhaps the small centrist Christian People's Party.