Alex Dominique Kristensen Vanopslagh (born 17 October 1991) is a French-born

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

politician. He is a member of the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

, and party leader of the Liberal Alliance. He is a former chairman of its youth wing, Liberal Alliance Youth.

Early life and education

Alex Vanopslagh, who was born in

Épernay Épernay () is a commune in the Marne department of northern France, 130 km north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne at the extremity of the Cubry valley which crosses it. Éperna ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, moved to Denmark when he was five, and grew up in Struer. In 2009 he moved to

Herning Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark ( da, Syddansk Universitet, lit=South Danish University, abbr. SDU) is a university in Denmark that has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand. The university offers a number of joint programmes in ...

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

,''Altinget'': Alex Vanopslagh
/ref> and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

in 2016.

Political career

In 2014, he was elected leader of Liberal Alliance Youth, succeeding Rasmus Brygger. He was reelected in 2015 and did not stand for reelection in 2016. In autumn 2016, he was selected as lead candidate for the Liberal Alliance in the 2017 Copenhagen Municipality elections, and won a seat in the Copenhagen Municipal Council with 3,563 votes. In the 2019 general election, Vanopslagh was elected to the

representing West Jutland constituency. The election was catastrophic for the Liberal Alliance, which lost nine of thirteen seats and its leader

Anders Samuelsen Anders Samuelsen (born 1 August 1967 in Horsens, Denmark) is a Danish former politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2019, member of the Folketing from 2007 to 2011 and as leader of the Liberal Alliance party from 20 ...

failing to be reelected. Following the defeat, Samuelsen resigned as leader of the party, and was succeeded by Vanopslagh. Vanopslagh has been a prominent critic of Prime Minister

Mette Frederiksen Mette Frederiksen (; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has been Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019, and Leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. The second woman to hold either office, she is also the youngest prime ...

and her government, due to alleged attacks on fundamental institutions, rights and common sense. He has referred to Frederiksen as "the worst news for our democracy and justice state since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

". During the mink case, Vanopslagh called for Frederiksen to resign and criticized the Social Liberal Party for supposedly letting Frederiksen off the hook. Under Vanopslagh, the Liberal Alliance has seen a major rise in popularity, especially during campaigning for the

2022 Danish general election General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 1 November 2022, except in the Faroe Islands, where they were held on 31 October as 1 November was a national day of mourning for victims at sea. Of the 179 members of the Folketing, 175 w ...

. Much of Vanopslagh's campaigning has occurred on social media, in particular TikTok; he has been referred to as "The King of TikTok". This campaigning is targeted primarily towards young voters, among whom Liberal Alliance is one of the most popular parties. Vanopslagh led his party into the 2022 election, which resulted in a major victory. The party gained 10 new seats compared to the last election. In

East Jutland East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

Vanopslagh received 38,284 personal votes.

References

External links

Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanopslagh, Alex 1991 births Living people People from Épernay Liberal Alliance (Denmark) politicians Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Leaders of political parties in Denmark 21st-century Copenhagen City Council members Members of the Folketing 2022–2026