Villy Søvndal

His first political position was a seat on the Kolding town council, to which he was elected in 1982[5] and which he retained until 1994, with the exception of two periods (13–28 March 1986; 10 October 1991 – 13 January 1992), during which he was a temporary member of Parliament for Vejle County.[2][5]

In August 1994 Søvndal became a full-time member of Folketinget.[5] He soon became the party's spokesman on social policy and defense issues, for many years was chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs.[4]

In April 2005, Søvndal was elected to replace Holger K. Nielsen as chairman of the SF.[5] Some members doubted his ability to run the party, but these doubts were put to rest after the 2007 parliamentary election, in which SF quadrupled its number of seats. In February and March 2008, Søvndal attracted attention with remarks he made about the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir. For several weeks, SF did better in the polls than the Social Democrats, and other polls indicated that he enjoyed greater support than Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the leader of the opposition.[6]

Søvndal received considerable praise for improving the party's popularity. In a September 2009 poll, 34% of respondents considered him the country's best party leader.[6] The former press officer for the Conservatives in Parliament, Niels Krause-Kjær, has said about Søvndal: "With the dominance of the TV media, the mastery of the quick, well-timed one-liner is of enormous importance. There weren't many, to be sure, who had confidence that Villy Søvndal had this ability when he took control of SF, but they turned out to be totally wrong. He was pigeonholed as the slightly boring professional politician, but when the limitations fell away he started having fun. He enjoys the role as political leader and enjoys himself in a way nobody had expected".

Niels Krause-Kjær commented on Villy Søvndal's role in SF's success by saying that Søvndal has said himself that he thinks his strength lies in his ability to "communicate messages clearly and crisply", in his optimism, as well as in his ability to use humor in political debate.[7] After his election as party leader, some members criticized the party for focusing too intensely on Søvndal.[8] The presence of several large posters of Søvndal at SF's national convention in 2007 drew criticism.[8] Søvndal himself later replied the criticism by saying that "modern politics is also about people and trust in people", while emphasizing that he was not a power-grabber.[7]

During the run-up to the 2011 parliamentary elections, however, support for SF sank considerably, and the election results, which dropped SF's number of seats to 16, was very disappointing, even though the party became a part of a coalition government for the first time.

On 7 September 2012, amid criticism that he had neglected his role as party leader since assuming the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs (see below),[9] Søvndal announced that he would resign as party leader,[10] so that his successor would have time to get comfortable in the job.[11] At this point, polls showed that SF would receive only 11 seats in a parliamentary election.

On 13 October 2012, Annette Vilhelmsen defeated Astrid Krag in an election for party leader.

Søvndal served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 3 October 2011 to December 2013.[2] In this capacity he met in May 2012 with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, where they announced Denmark's intention to contribute to the Afghan National Security Force, as well as to help complete the transition of power by the end of 2014; agreed on strengthening the U.S.-Danish partnership to prevent and counter terrorism in East Africa; and discussed the potential for stronger cooperation on promoting green growth.[12]

Søvndal called in September 2012 for a reorganization of Danish assignments abroad, saying he wanted more focus on exports to China, India, Brazil, and other growth markets and less on the EU. He also looked to an increased emphasis on the Arctic, human rights, and green growth. "In a rapidly changing world we must constantly ask ourselves whether we are focusing on the right places and in the right way", Søvndal said.[13]

Speaking in February 2012 to the European Parliament, he praised the Arab League for its "strong leadership role...in the Syrian crisis".[2] At a commemoration of the Day of Remembrance for victims of terrorist attacks in March 2012, Søvndal stressed that what is important is "countering terrorism" while "respecting human rights".[14] In November 2012, he pledged Danish support to the Syrian rebels.[15] He announced in February 2013 that Denmark would continue to work for the release of Danish-Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who was in prison in Bahrain, and called on that country to end its mistreatment of young demonstrators.[2] In the same month he condemned North Korea's atomic-bomb test.[16]

In October 2013 Søvndal suffered a heart attack[17] and announced that he would be stepping down as both minister of foreign affairs and as member of the Folketing.[18]

In 2008, Søvndal spoke out on his blog against the radical Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, calling its members "fools" with "lunatic views" and telling them that if they really want to live in the caliphate or under sharia, they had "come to the wrong country. They have nothing to do in Denmark, and they will not achieve their goals". He suggested that they move to Iran or Saudi Arabia, and added: "Your benighted state of idiocy has no place on earth". As for those who are attracted to HuT because they have experienced difficulties in life, he wrote: "Get out of the role of victim. Get out of the Middle Ages. Have the courage to use your common sense". Ordinary Danes, he said, "are sick and tired of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and its grotesque and insane demonstrations. That’s how most of us feel. And I am one of them!”[19]

After Iran demanded in February 2008 that Danish authorities apologize for the republication of the Muhammed cartoons, nine members of the Danish parliament canceled a scheduled trip to that country. Søvndal supported their decision, saying, "We are not the ones to apologise....If anyone needs to apologise for freedom of speech, human rights, imprisonments, executions and lack of democracy, it is the Iranians".[20]

The Copenhagen Post reported in January 2012 that "politicians, commentators and the hoi polloi" were in a "tizzy" over Søvndal's poor English, which had been "satirised on YouTube and ridiculed on newspaper chatboards", with opposition politicians offering "patronising suggestions that he should sharpen up his English act – pronto".[21]