2021 Copenhagen City Council election

Copenhagen Municipality is the largest municipality in Denmark. It has in its history been a strong area for parties of the red bloc. In the 2019 Danish general election, it became the municipality where the bloc received the highest % of votes.^[1] It is different from other municipalities as it has a total of 7 mayor positions. The biggest and most important one is the Lord Mayor, which has been held by the Social Democrats since 1938.^[b]

2021 Copenhagen City Council election

← 2017 16 November 2021 2025 →
All 55 seats to the Copenhagen City Council 28 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	312,691 (60.0%) 1.9pp
First party Second party Third party   Ø A C Party Red–Green Alliance Social Democrats Conservatives Last election 11 seats, 18.4% 15 seats, 27.6% 3 seats, 5.6% Seats won 15 10 8 Seat change 4 5 5 Popular vote 75,698 52,874 40,172 Percentage 24.6% 17.2% 13.1% Swing 6.2% 10.4% 7.5%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   B F V Party Danish Social Liberal Party Green Left Venstre Last election 5 seats, 8.9% 5 seats, 8.3% 5 seats, 7.9% Seats won 6 6 5 Seat change 1 1 0 Popular vote 36,688 33,824 23,578 Percentage 11.9% 11.0% 7.7% Swing 3.0% 2.7% 0.2%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Å I D Party The Alternative Liberal Alliance New Right Last election 6 seats, 10.5% 2 seats, 4.0% 0 seats, 1.0% Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 4 1 1 Popular vote 8,988 8,428 6,455 Percentage 2.9% 2.7% 2.1% Swing 7.6% 1.3% 1.1%
Result in each polling area
Lord Mayor before election Lars Weiss[a] Social Democrats Lord Mayor after election Sophie Hæstorp Andersen Social Democrats

In the 2017 election, the Social Democrats had won 14 seats, and had become the largest party. It had then been Frank Jensen from the party who had won the Lord Mayor's position, going into his third term.^[2]

In 2020, Jensen was accused of having sexually harassed a woman from the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark in 2012. He eventually replied in text - ”I'm very sad about what happended [sic], and I want to apologize for this happening in our party. It's not an acceptable behaviour, neither then or today. On behalf of the party – sorry Maria!!!”. Three days later he would step down as Lord Mayor.

Lars Weiss would become working Lord Mayor following this.^[3] He would however announce that he would not contest the 2021 election, and that he would only be the Lord Mayor until the next election.^[4] Instead Sophie Hæstorp Andersen, who was chair of the Capital Region of Denmark at the time, would be the only one standing to be the Social Democrats Lord Mayor candidate.^[5]

In November 2020, an opinion poll was released showing the Social Democrats as the largest party by a slim margin of 1.6%.^[6] The Social Democrats had previously always been the largest party in the municipality. In October 2021, Epinion released an opinion poll that had the Red–Green Alliance, who had become the largest party in Copenhagen Municipality in the 2019 Danish general election,^[7] as the largest party for the municipality election.^[8] Gallup released an opinion poll 17 days later, and four days prior to the election, that also had the Red–Green Alliance as the largest party.^[9]

In the election result, the Red–Green Alliance would indeed manage to become the largest party, with a margin of 7.4%. They gained four seats, while the Social Democrats lost five. Despite this, it proved hard for the Red–Green Alliance to actually win the Lord Mayor's position. Right-wing and centre-right parties Liberal Alliance and Venstre had said prior to the election they would be ready to support Sophie Hæstorp Andersen as the new mayor, to prevent the Red–Green Alliance from winning the position. Following the result, the leader of the Red–Green Alliance reacted with joy, saying she hoped that the party could secure the Lord Mayor's position with a green majority consisting of themselves, Danish Social Liberal Party, the Green Left and The Alternative.^[10] Eventually however, it was announced that Sophie Hæstorp Andersen would be the new mayor. Line Barfod from the Red–Green Alliance joined the agreement, citing that the Danish Social Liberal Party would not support her, and that the Social Democrats would rather work with the right-wing parties than support her. To prevent the former from happening, she decided that the Red–Green Alliance should be a part of the agreement making Sophie Hæstorp Andersen the new mayor.^[11] In return, the Red–Green Alliance would get 2 of the 6 minor mayor positions.^[12][13]

Electoral system

For elections to Danish municipalities, a number varying from 9 to 31 are chosen to be elected to the municipal council. However Copenhagen Municipality has, as the only municipality, a city council instead of a municipal council. In the city council 55 seats are contested.

The seats are then allocated using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation.

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

Electoral alliances

Source^[14]

Electoral Alliance 1

Party	Political Position
Social Democrats	Centre-left
Danish Social Liberal Party	Centre to Centre-left

Electoral Alliance 2

Party	Political Position
Conservatives	Centre-right
Liberal Alliance	Centre-right to Right-wing
Christian Democrats	Centre to Centre-right
Danish People's Party	Right-wing
Venstre	Centre-right
Det Demokratiske Parti	Local Party

Electoral Alliance 3

Party	Political Position
Copenhagen	Local Party
Kærlighedspartiet (Regnbuefolket /	Local Party

Electoral Alliance 4

Party	Political Position
Vegan Party	Centre-left to Left-wing
Grøn Omstilling	Local Party
Klimapartiet Momentum	Local Party
The Alternative	Centre-left to Left-wing

Electoral Alliance 5

Party	Political Position
Christiania-Listen	Local Party
Green Left	Centre-left to Left-wing
Cannabis Party	Cannabis legalisation
Kommunisterne	Local Party
Communist Party	Far-left
Rolig Revolution	Local Party
Bæredygtigt samfund	Local Party
Red–Green Alliance	Left-wing to Far-left

Results by polling station

Polling Station	A	B	C	D	F	G	I	K	O	V	Ø	Å	Others
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
1. Østerbro	16.1	13.5	19.6	1.8	10.4	0.5	3.4	0.4	1.4	8.9	18.6	2.6	2.8
1. Nord	15.8	12.0	21.8	2.3	9.0	0.2	3.8	0.4	2.0	11.6	15.7	2.3	3.2
1. Syd	15.6	14.0	18.4	1.6	10.8	0.4	2.8	0.4	1.0	8.4	21.1	2.4	3.1
1. Vest	18.5	11.8	15.1	2.3	10.8	0.7	2.6	0.7	2.0	7.8	21.3	2.5	3.9
1. Nordvest	18.5	13.0	16.5	2.4	10.6	0.8	3.2	0.3	1.9	8.4	18.5	2.5	3.4
1. Øst	13.0	13.0	23.1	2.2	8.2	0.4	5.7	0.3	1.0	13.8	14.0	2.3	2.8
2. Sundbyvester	22.1	9.1	9.5	3.1	10.2	0.5	2.2	0.4	4.0	6.7	25.5	2.7	3.9
2. Nord	16.3	12.2	10.8	2.2	10.6	0.4	2.1	0.5	2.2	6.7	28.7	3.2	4.0
2. Syd	14.8	12.7	13.8	2.8	9.8	0.9	4.4	0.4	1.5	13.7	17.7	2.9	4.6
2. Vest	14.2	11.6	16.6	2.4	9.5	0.4	3.4	0.2	1.3	11.9	21.8	3.1	3.5
2. Øst	16.6	11.4	9.4	2.5	11.6	0.5	2.7	0.5	2.9	7.0	28.0	3.6	3.3
3. Indre By	11.9	13.4	19.0	2.0	8.7	0.7	4.1	0.2	0.9	8.4	23.7	3.0	4.0
3. Nord	13.1	13.5	22.9	1.6	8.8	0.6	3.4	0.4	1.4	10.0	19.3	2.3	2.7
3. Syd	14.8	10.0	11.3	1.8	8.6	0.7	2.4	0.3	1.2	6.1	33.4	4.4	5.1
3. Øst	12.9	12.1	23.4	2.3	8.6	0.5	4.8	0.2	1.0	11.2	17.8	2.2	3.0
4. Sundbyøster	17.1	11.4	12.2	2.8	11.3	0.8	3.2	0.3	2.9	8.7	22.6	3.0	3.6
4. Nord	17.0	11.2	10.7	2.1	11.6	0.7	2.8	0.4	2.7	6.6	26.2	3.5	4.4
4. Syd	20.7	9.3	11.9	2.7	12.1	0.4	2.1	0.5	3.2	7.3	23.3	2.8	3.6
4. Øst	19.8	11.0	13.8	2.6	13.5	0.5	2.7	0.4	2.5	8.9	19.0	2.7	2.4
5. Nørrebro	14.4	11.6	6.3	0.9	12.9	1.0	1.0	0.6	1.3	4.5	36.8	4.0	4.8
5. Nord	12.5	14.6	8.0	1.1	12.9	0.7	2.2	0.4	1.0	6.0	31.8	3.7	5.3
5. Syd	12.7	12.9	9.3	1.2	10.1	0.6	1.3	0.4	1.4	5.0	37.5	3.0	4.7
5. Øst	12.0	14.6	10.3	0.9	10.9	0.6	2.5	0.2	0.7	6.4	32.3	4.3	4.4
5. Vest	14.7	11.6	8.5	1.1	13.1	0.8	1.6	0.2	1.3	5.5	34.5	3.4	3.6
5. Nordvest	10.8	14.2	6.4	1.0	13.9	0.6	1.5	0.2	0.9	4.5	37.2	4.0	4.8
5. Nørrebrohallen	12.8	13.3	5.9	1.0	13.0	0.8	1.9	0.3	1.1	4.7	36.4	4.0	4.8
6. Bispebjerg	14.7	12.3	7.1	2.0	11.6	0.8	1.9	0.4	2.1	5.1	33.2	3.9	4.9
6. Nord	24.3	9.4	10.6	2.4	11.0	1.0	1.6	0.8	3.0	5.8	24.3	2.0	3.9
6. Øst	27.0	9.4	10.5	3.4	11.4	0.6	2.4	0.4	3.2	5.3	20.6	1.9	3.9
6. Syd	16.0	12.3	6.8	1.9	11.3	0.6	2.1	0.4	1.7	5.2	33.4	3.6	4.7
6. Vest	18.9	10.8	8.0	2.5	11.8	0.8	1.0	0.6	2.5	4.6	30.8	2.6	5.1
7. Brønshøj	25.3	9.2	16.2	2.3	11.8	0.7	2.1	0.4	2.6	5.3	19.5	1.9	2.7
7. Nord	23.8	12.2	5.3	1.7	10.8	0.4	0.7	0.6	3.1	2.0	33.4	1.4	4.8
7. Rødkilde	21.1	11.6	13.1	2.8	11.9	0.6	2.4	0.6	2.5	7.2	20.8	2.4	3.0
7. Øst	25.8	9.4	11.5	1.9	12.4	0.6	1.4	0.4	2.6	4.4	24.8	1.9	2.9
7. Vest	29.9	8.4	12.0	2.1	10.5	0.4	1.5	0.5	4.8	4.5	20.9	1.2	3.2
7. Nordvest	30.3	7.9	15.2	2.9	11.2	0.4	1.2	0.5	3.6	4.8	17.3	1.5	3.0
7. Katrinedal	21.2	11.4	14.4	2.8	11.2	0.4	3.0	0.3	2.0	8.7	19.4	2.7	2.5
7. Kirkebjerg	22.5	11.0	14.6	2.8	12.0	0.4	2.3	0.5	2.4	7.4	19.5	2.0	2.7
7. Vanløse	22.2	10.6	14.8	2.6	11.1	0.6	3.0	0.7	2.9	8.2	18.9	1.5	3.0
8. Valby	20.2	11.1	14.0	3.1	13.1	0.4	2.7	0.3	2.0	8.8	18.6	2.6	3.1
8. Nord	20.0	12.1	13.8	2.0	12.0	0.6	2.6	0.5	2.0	8.8	20.2	2.7	2.8
8. Syd	22.3	12.0	13.6	2.6	10.8	0.5	3.2	0.3	2.4	9.8	16.9	2.3	3.2
8. Vest	24.4	9.6	12.2	3.2	11.7	0.8	2.2	0.8	4.3	7.7	17.2	2.2	3.7
8. Sydøst	21.8	11.2	9.9	3.0	11.2	0.5	2.7	0.4	2.2	7.3	22.9	2.5	4.4
8. Midt	18.5	12.3	14.7	2.5	11.2	0.5	3.5	0.5	2.1	9.0	19.4	2.3	3.6
9. Vesterbro	14.6	11.6	9.4	1.0	13.5	0.6	1.8	0.1	1.2	5.1	33.1	4.4	3.7
9. Nord	13.0	14.3	10.8	1.3	12.2	0.4	2.4	0.2	0.8	6.2	30.3	4.0	4.0
9. Syd	20.9	6.8	5.7	3.4	9.0	0.6	1.7	0.4	3.6	4.3	34.1	2.9	6.6
9. Øst	13.0	13.1	11.3	1.2	12.0	0.8	2.6	0.4	0.9	7.5	29.0	4.5	3.6
9. Vest	14.5	14.3	12.1	1.2	11.7	0.4	2.8	0.3	1.1	7.2	27.2	3.3	3.9
9. Midt	14.8	11.0	7.0	2.3	12.2	0.7	2.6	0.4	1.7	6.7	31.9	3.6	5.1
9. Sydhavn	13.7	15.6	18.9	2.1	8.0	0.7	5.8	0.2	0.9	13.9	14.7	2.8	2.6

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Copenhagen City Council
	Red–Green Alliance	75,698	24.64	15	+4
	Social Democrats	52,874	17.21	10	-5
	Conservatives	40,172	13.08	8	+5
	Danish Social Liberal Party	36,688	11.94	6	+1
	Green Left	33,824	11.01	6	+1
	Venstre	23,578	7.68	5	0
	The Alternative	8,988	2.93	2	-4
	Liberal Alliance	8,428	2.74	1	-1
	New Right	6,455	2.10	1	+1
	Danish People's Party	5,907	1.92	1	-2
	Klimapartiet Momentum[c]	2,967	0.97	0	New
	Vegan Party	1,839	0.60	0	New
	Danmark for Alle[c]	1,426	0.46	0	New
	Københavnerlisten	1,381	0.45	0	New
	Communist Party	1,235	0.40	0	0
	Christian Democrats	1,187	0.39	0	0
	Freedom List	1,134	0.37	0	New
	Cannabis Party	573	0.19	0	0
	Kærlighedspartiet	490	0.16	0	0
	Rolig Revolution[c]	445	0.14	0	New
	Feministisk Initiativ[c]	405	0.13	0	0
	Bæredygtigt samfund[c]	366	0.12	0	New
	Kommunisterne[c]	352	0.11	0	New
	Christiania-Listen[c]	325	0.11	0	0
	Grøn Omstilling[c]	233	0.08	0	New
	Det Demokratiske Parti[c]	144	0.05	0	New
	Copenhagen	76	0.02	0	New
Total		307,190	100.00	55	0
Valid votes		307,190	98.24
Invalid votes		970	0.31
Blank votes		4,531	1.45
Total votes		312,691	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		521,387	59.97
Source: KMD

Notes

1. Frank Jensen became mayor following the 2017 election, but stepped down in October 2020
2. Green Left had also held it, but only one day - from the 25th October 2004 to the 26th October 2004
3. Local party in Copenhagen

References

1. "FVKOM: Folketingsvalg efter valgresultat og kommuner | Nyheder". statistikbanken (in Danish). Retrieved 16 February 2023.
2. "Se, hvem der bliver borgmester i de seks største byer | Nyheder". dr.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
3. "Lars Weiss bliver fungerende overborgmester i København | Nyheder". jyllands-posten (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
4. "Lars Weiss vil ikke være overborgmester | Nyheder". altinget (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
5. "Sophie Hæstorp Andersen bliver Socialdemokratiets kandidat til overborgmesterposten i København | Nyheder". newsoresund (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
6. "Måling: Næsten dødt løb mellem Socialdemokratiet og Enhedslisten i København | Nyheder". altinget (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
7. "FVKOM: Folketingsvalg efter valgresultat og kommuner | Nyheder". statistikbanken (in Danish). Retrieved 5 February 2023.
8. "Måling: Enhedslisten overhaler Socialdemokratiet i København | Nyheder". altinget (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
9. "Ny meningsmåling om København kaldes »dramatisk" og "vild«. Her er, hvad den siger om byens fremtid | Nyheder". berlingske (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
10. "Historisk valgsejr til Enhedslisten i København: »Det er jo fuldstændigt overvældende« | Nyheder". berlingske (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
11. "Hæstorp bliver overborgmester i København | Nyheder". politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
12. "Enhedslisten fik kanonvalg men ville gerne have haft flere borgmesterposter | Nyheder". jyllandsposten. (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
13. "Borgmestre i Københavns Kommune | Nyheder". kk (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
14. "Valgene til kommunalbestyrelser og regionsråd den 16. november 2021 | Nyheder" (PDF). dst (in Danish). Retrieved 28 January 2023.