Denmark Municipal elections 2025 — Results

At a glance

The 2025 Danish municipal elections, held on 18 November 2025, were a historic setback for the Social Democrats, who fell to what was reported as their weakest municipal result in more than a century and lost a swathe of mayoralties to the resurgent centre-right. Although the party remained narrowly the largest nationally, Venstre took the most mayoralties and the Conservatives continued their advance.

The rules of the game

The 98 municipalities each elect a council by proportional representation for four years and then choose a mayor. Local lists remain a major presence. The elections were held alongside the first regional elections under the new four-region structure, and against the backdrop of Mette Frederiksen's broad SVM coalition governing nationally — a government that had cost the Social Democrats support on their left flank.

The result

The Social Democrats won about 23.2% of the national municipal vote and 599 council seats, sharply down, while Venstre took roughly 17.9% and the Conservatives about 12.7%, with the Socialist People's Party rising to around 11%. Crucially, Venstre won 42 mayoralties to the Social Democrats' 26 — a dramatic reversal — with the Conservatives on about 20. The Social Democrats nonetheless remained the largest party in four of the five regions, with Venstre leading in Southern Denmark.

Turnout and the map

Turnout was around 65%. The map above shows the largest party by region, aggregating the municipal results to the five regions; the full breakdown, including pooled local lists, is available on click.

After the vote

The loss of 18 mayoralties was a stinging rebuke to the Social Democrats and was widely read as a verdict on the unpopular compromises of the national coalition, including welfare and public-sector reforms. Venstre and the Conservatives emerged as the big winners locally, while the green left's gains in the cities pointed to a more fragmented and competitive local landscape.

Eight years of erosion

The 2025 result capped a steady municipal decline for the Social Democrats across the three elections covered here: 32.41% and 842 council seats in 2017, 28.40% and 755 in 2021, then 23.17% and 599 in 2025 — nearly a third of their seats gone in eight years. Venstre's vote also drifted down (23.09%, 21.18%, 17.86%), yet in 2025 the party converted its share far more efficiently into power, taking the most mayoralties. The clearest gainers over the period sat at the party system's edges: the Green Left almost doubled from 5.72% to 11.06%, the Conservatives climbed from 8.79% to a 2021 peak of 15.24% before easing to 12.70%, and the Danish People's Party — written off after its collapse — returned to 5.92%. Turnout fell at each election, from 70.8% to 67.2% to about 65%.

Source

Official results from Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik) — dst.dk/valg. The map aggregates the municipal results to the five regions.

Compiled and reviewed from official results by ElectioMap. See our data methodology.