Henrik Frandsen has been elected speaker of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget), despite renewed criticism over a 2019 property transaction from his time as mayor of Tønder. The Moderates (Moderaterne) politician was chosen by a parliamentary majority on Tuesday, 6 October, at the opening of the 2026-27 parliamentary year, succeeding Søren Gade of the Liberal Party (Venstre).
The governing parties had already nominated Frandsen for the position in June. His majority remained intact after the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) confirmed it would support him, while the Alternative (Alternativet) announced on Tuesday morning that it would vote against him because of the controversy surrounding the property deal.
After the vote, Frandsen told MPs:
“I would like to thank the members of the Folketing for electing me speaker.”
The election took place at the start of Parliament’s annual opening session, attended by King Frederik X and Queen Mary, according to the Danish Parliament and DR.
The land deal behind the criticism
The controversy dates back to an agreement Frandsen signed in 2001 concerning 12.4 hectares of land near the Brøns Å river in southern Jutland. He received DKK 644,800, approximately €86,000, in compensation over the following years for taking the area out of agricultural production and allowing it to become protected nature, according to TV Syd.
In 2019, while serving as mayor of Tønder and preparing to sell his farm, Frandsen applied to Tønder Municipality for permission for the land to be cultivated again once the agreement expired. The municipality approved the request after one day of processing.
According to agricultural property specialists cited by TV 2 and TV Syd, the permission could have increased the property’s value by around DKK 750,000 to DKK 1 million (€100,000 to €134,000).
Frandsen initially rejected suggestions that he had acted improperly. He later acknowledged that he should have informed the municipality more clearly about the earlier nature-protection agreement and the registration attached to the land. He has maintained that he did not interfere with the municipality’s handling of the case or pressure any official, as reported by TV Syd.
The issue has not been closed. Tønder Municipality has commissioned a written review of how the case was handled, while Liberal Alliance MP Peter Larsen on 5 October formally asked the government whether Denmark’s municipal supervisory authority should investigate whether Frandsen received preferential treatment.
An unusual choice for Danish Parliament speaker
Frandsen’s appointment is also unusual in institutional terms. The Moderates are the sixth-largest party in Parliament, while Frandsen himself has been an MP only since 2022.
The speaker normally comes from one of Parliament’s larger parties and heads the Presidium (Præsidiet), the body responsible for the overall organisation and administration of parliamentary work. The speaker also chairs parliamentary proceedings and represents the Folketing institutionally, according to the Danish Parliament’s description of the role.
Alongside Frandsen, the new Presidium includes Leif Lahn Jensen of the Social Democrats, Karsten Hønge of the Green Left, Jacob Jensen of the Liberal Party and Morten Messerschmidt of the Danish People’s Party.
Because the Moderates hold the speakership, Liberal Alliance, one of the five largest parliamentary groups, is not represented in the Presidium. The full composition is available on the Danish Parliament’s official website.
Frandsen therefore begins his term at the head of the Danish Parliament while questions surrounding the Tønder case remain unresolved.
