Mette Frederiksen’s leftwing bloc has failed to win majority in Danish election, exit polls suggest

PM’s party forecast to win most votes, but another centrist or centre-right coalition appears likely

Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats and Denmark’s other left-leaning parties appear to have failed to win enough votes to gain a clear mandate to form a government in an election fought amid geopolitical tensions with the US over Greenland.

According to two exit polls released shortly after voting stopped on Tuesday evening, the prime minister’s party looked to have won the most votes but still performed worse than expected, with an estimated 19%-21% of the vote.

If confirmed, the Social Democrats and the other left-leaning parties that form the “red bloc” would be well short of a majority in the 179-seat parliament. But the right-leaning parties of the so-called “blue bloc” also fell short, putting foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, leader of the non-aligned centre-right Moderates, in the spotlight as a likely kingmaker.

Official results are expected later on Tuesday or early on Wednesday.