Helle Thorning Schmidt

Helle Thorning-Schmidt


26th Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 3 October 2011 – 28 June 2015
Monarch	Margrethe II
Deputy	Margrethe Vestager Morten Østergaard
Preceded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Succeeded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Leader of the Opposition
In office 12 April 2005 – 3 October 2011
Prime Minister	Anders Fogh Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded by	Mogens Lykketoft
Succeeded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Leader of the Social Democrats
In office 12 April 2005 – 28 June 2015
Deputy	Frank Jensen Mogens Jensen
Preceded by	Mogens Lykketoft
Succeeded by	Mette Frederiksen
Personal details
Born	(1966-12-14) 14 December 1966 (age 50) Copenhagen, Denmark
Political party	Social Democrats
Spouse(s)	Stephen Kinnock (m. 1996)
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Copenhagen College of Europe
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Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Danish pronunciation: [hɛlə ˈtˢoɐ̯neŋ ˈsmed̥]; born 14 December 1966) is a former Danish politician who was Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and the Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to hold either post. Following defeat in 2015, she announced that she would step down as both Danish Prime Minister and Social Democratic party leader. Ending her political career in April 2016, she is the chief executive of the NGO Save the Children.

Thorning-Schmidt served as a Member of the European Parliament for Denmark from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the Danish Parliament in 2005. She was elected to replace Mogens Lykketoft as Leader of the Social Democrats after the 2005 parliamentary election, leading her party through the 2007 parliamentary election, which was won by the centre-right alliance, and the 2011 parliamentary election, after which she was appointed Prime Minister by Queen Margrethe II. Thorning-Schmidt holds degrees in political science from the University of Copenhagen and a graduate degree from the College of Europe.