Søren Pape Poulsen

Søren Pape Poulsen (born 31 December 1971) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Danish Conservative Party. He has been the leader of the party since 2014. From 2016 to 2019 he served as Justice Minister of Denmark, and from 2009 to 2014 he served as mayor of Viborg Municipality.

Søren Pape Poulsen
Pape Poulsen in November 2019
Minister of Justice
In office
28 November 2016 – 27 June 2019
Prime MinisterLars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded bySøren Pind
Succeeded byNick Hækkerup
Leader of the Conservative People's Party
Assumed office
7 August 2014
Preceded byLars Barfoed
Mayor of Viborg Municipality
In office
1 January 2010 – 3 September 2014
Preceded byJohannes Steensgaard
Succeeded byTorsten Nielsen
Member of the Folketing
Assumed office
18 June 2015
ConstituencyWest Jutland
Personal details
Born (1971-12-31) 31 December 1971
Bjerringbro, Denmark
Political partyConservative People's Party

Political career
Søren Pape Poulsen in Brussels in 2017

Pape Poulsen was elected to the municipal council in Bjerringbro Municipality in 2001.[1] Following the Danish Municipal Reform in 2007, Bjerringbro Municipality became part of the new Viborg Municipality and Pape Poulsen continued his work in the new municipal council.[2] Following the local elections of 2009, he formed a majority with the Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party and the Danish People's Party and became mayor in Viborg.[3] At the 2013 election, the Conservatives doubled their mandates and Pape Poulsen was reelected as mayor.[4]

On 6 August 2014, Lars Barfoed stepped down as leader of the Conservative People's Party and said that he would like Pape Poulsen to succeed him as leader.[5] The following day, the parliamentary group unanimously elected Pape Poulsen as political leader until the party congress on 26 September 2014. He was mayor until Wednesday, 3 September 2014 when Torsten Nielsen from the Conservative People's Party became mayor.[6]

On 28 November 2016, Pape Poulsen became Minister of Justice in Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen's third cabinet. He was minister until 25 June 2019.[7]

On 15 August 2022 Pape Poulsen, with the Conservatives at some of their highest polling in years, declared he was going into the 2022 election as a candidate for the prime minister position.[8] Polling two months before the election suggested that Pape Poulsen was the clear favorite between him and fellow right wing candidate Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, but as the election neared Pape Poulsen became increasingly less popular,[9] and ended up losing 2 seats in the election held on 1 November 2022.[10]

Personal life

Pape Poulsen is educated in shipping at Grundfos.[11]

On 10 August 2014, Poulsen came out as gay, simultaneously announcing his relationship with Josué Medina Vásquez.[12] Originally from the Dominican Republic, he and Pape Poulsen were engaged in 2017,[13] later marrying in 2021. On 14 September 2022, Pape Poulsen announced that he and Medina were divorcing, following suggestions that Medina had given Poulsen false information about his background.[14][15]

References
  1. "Personlige stemmer - Bjerringbro Kommune - C - Det Konservative Folkeparti". Kmdvalg.dk. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  2. "Se det nye Danmarkskort". Bt.dk. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  3. "Viborg". B.dk. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  4. "K-borgmester fordobler stemmetal". Stiften.dk. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. "Lars Barfoed trækker sig som partiformand". Dr.dk. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. "Konservativ folketingsgruppe nikker ja til Pape". Politiken.dk. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  7. "Søren Pape ny justitsminister: Rockere og kriminelle udlændinge får kamp". DR. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  8. "Søren Pape Poulsen gør det klart: Jeg går til valg som statsministerkandidat". DR (in Danish). 2022-08-15. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  9. "De Konservative går tilbage i ny måling: 'Der har været lidt om vores partiformands personlige forhold'". DR (in Danish). 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  10. Bilgrav, Lisa Maria (2022-11-02). "Få overblikket her: Det skete på en historisk valgaften". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2022-11-05.
  11. "Søren Pape Poulsen (KF)". Ft.dk. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. "Conservative leader: 'I'm gay, so what?'". Thelocal.dk. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  13. "Jeg kunne ikke ønske mig mere". Viborg-folkeblad.dk. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  14. "The Copenhagen Post". 14 September 2022.
  15. "Søren Pape skal skilles: 'Vores ægteskab er slut'". DR (in Danish). 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
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