Lene Espersen (born 26 September 1965) is a former

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 A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, a former leader of Conservative People's Party and a former Minister of Justice. She is the current CEO at the Danish Association of Architectural Firms. From 1 July 2016 to June 30, 2020, she served as chairman of the board of Aalborg University. In 2006, Espersen was stripped of her parliamentary immunity after crashing into a woman on a scooter. She was subsequently banned from driving and fined €150.

Early life

Born to a fisherman father and a book-keeper mother, she grew up with her younger sister in Hirtshals in the north of Jutland, on Denmark’s mainland. She attended Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada. She later became the first in her family to graduate from university.

Political career

Espersen was the first person in her family to join a political party. A member of the Folketinget from 1994, she served as Minister of Justice from 27 November 2001 to 10 September 2008 and as Minister of Economic and Business Affairs from 10 September 2008 to 23 February 2010. Espersen served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 23 February 2010 to 3 October 2011, making her Denmark’s first female foreign minister and the only woman in such a post in the EU at the time. Espersen was the leader of the Conservative People's Party and was

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

from 9 September 2008 to 13 January 2011. On 13 January 2011, she announced at a press conference at 19.00 pm, briefly after her arrival in Denmark, that she would not continue as leader of the Conservative People's PartyParty. The announcement came after months of increasing pressure, where various issues regarding her work ethics, had gained national attention, and decreasing support in

opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

s for thethe party. During her tenure as political leader, support for the Conservative People's Party was reduced from around 10% to below 5%. On 14 January,

Lars Barfoed Lars Barfoed (; born 4 July 1957) is a Denmark, Danish politician representing the Conservative People's Party (Denmark), Conservative People's Party and was the party's leader from 2011 to 7 August 2014. He was Justice Minister of Denmark from F ...

succeeded Lene Espersen as political leader of the Conservative People's Party.

Other activities

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

, Member of the European Group *

Baltic Development Forum The Baltic Development Forum is an independent think-tank and non-profit high-level and agenda-setting networking organisation with strategic partners and sponsors from large companies, major cities, institutional investors, business associatio ...

, Chair (since 2014) *

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2008-2010)

Political positions

When the Danish newspaper '' Jyllands-Posten'' published controversial cartoons of the

Prophet Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

in 2005, Espersen defended its right to publish and labelled

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

extremism as more dangerous than

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. In 2012, in her capacity as foreign minister, she met with 17 ambassadors from Muslim countries as part of efforts to prevent any new cartoon crisis and to foster understanding.David Cutler (April 11, 2012)
TIMELINE-Cartoons bring attackers to Scandinavia
''

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''.

References

Notes

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Espersen, Lene 1965 births Danish Justice Ministers Foreign ministers of Denmark Living people Aarhus University alumni People educated at a United World College Conservative People's Party (Denmark) politicians Female foreign ministers Danish women business executives Women nonprofit executives People from Hirtshals 21st-century Danish women politicians Female justice ministers Members of the Folketing 1994–1998 Members of the Folketing 1998–2001 Members of the Folketing 2001–2005 Members of the Folketing 2005–2007 Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Women members of the Folketing Women government ministers of Denmark Danish women diplomats Leaders of the Conservative People's Party (Denmark)