Søren Pape Poulsen (born 31 December 1971) is a Danish politician, who 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 ...

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 The Danish Minister for Justice ( da, Justitsministeren) is the head of the Ministry of Justice and a cabinet member. As the head of the department, the minister is responsible for: * The General judicial system including ** The Police of Denm ...

, and from 2009 to 2014 he served as mayor of Viborg Municipality.

Political career

EPP Summit, Brussels, March 2017 (32497357464)

Pape Poulsen was elected to the municipal council in

Bjerringbro Municipality Until 1 January 2007, Bjerringbro municipality was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Viborg County on the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 207 km², and had a total population of 13,922 (2005) ...

in 2001. 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. Following the local elections of 2009, he formed a majority with the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, the Socialist People's Party and the

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...

and became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

in Viborg. At the 2013 election, the Conservatives doubled their mandates and Pape Poulsen was reelected as mayor. 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. 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. On 28 November 2016, Pape Poulsen became

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen's third cabinet. He was minister until 25 June 2019. 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. Polling two months before the election suggested that Pape Poulsen was the clear favorite between him and fellow right wing candidate

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (born 25 September 1973) is a Danish politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark and Minister of Defence since 2022. He has been the leader of Venstre since 2019. A member of the Folketing since the 2011 ...

, but as the election neared Pape Poulsen became increasingly less popular, and ended up losing 2 seats in the election held on 1 November 2022.

Personal life

Pape Poulsen is educated in shipping at

Grundfos Grundfos () is the largest pump manufacturer in the world, based in Denmark, with more than 19,000 employees globally. The annual production of more than 16 million pump units, circulator pumps (UP), submersible pumps (SP), and centrifugal pumps ...

. On 10 August 2014, Poulsen came out as gay, simultaneously announcing his relationship with Josué Medina Vásquez. Originally from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, he and Pape Poulsen were engaged in 2017, 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.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pape Poulsen, Soeren 1971 births Living people People from Viborg Municipality Conservative People's Party (Denmark) politicians LGBT conservatism Danish LGBT politicians Gay politicians Danish Justice Ministers Government ministers of Denmark LGBT legislators LGBT mayors Mayors of places in Denmark Danish municipal councillors Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Leaders of the Conservative People's Party (Denmark) Members of the Folketing 2022–2026