Mai Mercado (born 20 August 1980 in

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

) is a

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 a ...

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 ...

, 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 Conservative People's Party. She was elected at the

2011 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 15 September 2011 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. Of those 179, 175 members were elected in Denmark, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The incumbent centre-right coalition led by ...

. From 2016 to 2019 she was the Minister for Children and

Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of ...

in the

Lars Løkke Rasmussen III Cabinet The Third Cabinet of Lars Løkke Rasmussen (colloquially, ''VLAK-regeringen'' or ''trekløverregeringen'') took office on 28 November 2016, and succeeded the Second Cabinet of Lars Løkke Rasmussen. It was a minority coalition government consis ...

Political career

Mercado was a member of the municipal council of Odense Municipality from 2006 to 2011, and served as the second deputy mayor from 2009 to 2011. From 2013 to 2016 she sat in the municipal council of

Frederiksberg Municipality Frederiksberg Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in Denmark. Part of the Capital Region of Denmark and the city of Copenhagen, it is surrounded by Copenhagen Municipality. The municipality, ...

. She was elected to the

in the 2011 election. On 28 November 2016, she was appointed as Minister for Children and Social Affairs in the Lars Løkke Rasmussen III Cabinet. Shortly after introducing laws which would prohibit troublesome minority protests in Freetown Christiania, she had domestic terrorist Thomas Dall, the nephew of Danish politician Benny Dall, arrested for terroristic threats against her on facebook. Afterwards she left the

Personal life

Mercado has a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

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 ...

. She is married to Christopher Mercado, with whom she has a son, Winston, and a daughter, Elisa.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, Mai 1980 births Living people People from Tønder Municipality Conservative People's Party (Denmark) politicians University of Southern Denmark alumni Government ministers of Denmark Women government ministers of Denmark Danish municipal councillors 21st-century Danish women politicians Women members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Members of the Folketing 2022–2026