Mette Bock (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Samuelsen, born 26 July 1957 in

Gladsaxe Gladsaxe Kommune is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 69,681 (2019). Its ma ...

) is a Danish political scientist, journalist and former politician. She was 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 ...

from 2011 to 2019, representing the Liberal Alliance party. She served as

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

and

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

from 2016 to 2019.

Background

Bock was born in Gladsaxe to Ole Samuelsen and Anna Holm, and is married to Hans Jørn Bock.

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 ...

is her brother. She graduated in philosophy from

Odense University Odense University was a university in Odense, Denmark. It was established in 1966. In 1998, the university was merged with two other institutions to form the University of Southern Denmark. Its campus is now known as University of Southern Denmark ...

and political science from

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

. She worked as a lecturer at Aarhus School of Business and Social Sciences from 1984 to 2002.

Political career

Bock joined the Socialist People's Party for which she ran unsuccessfully in the 1994 parliamentary election. Later, Bock changed her allegiance to the Social Liberal Party for which she ran in the 2001 election, again unsuccessfully. In 2002 she became the editor-in-chief of ''

JydskeVestkysten ''JydskeVestkysten'' is a Danish language regional newspaper published in Esbjerg, Denmark, which is among the largest publications in the country. History and profile ''JydskeVestkysten'' was first published on 15 January 1991 as a result of th ...

'' and the South Danish Media conglomerate. When her brother Anders Samuelsen left the Social Liberal Party to found the New Alliance (later renamed as ''Liberal Alliance'') in 2007, Bock expressed her support for that party, too. She would later join the party. From 2008 to 2009 she was the programme director of the public

Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

. She was elected representative to the Folketing at the 2011 Danish general election, as a member of Liberal Alliance. She was reelected in the 2015 election. From November 2016 to June 2019 she served as Minister for Culture and Church 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 ...

. In 2019 she ran in the

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...

, but failed to get elected. She left politics shortly after the election.

References

Living people 1957 births People from Gladsaxe Municipality Government ministers of Denmark Women government ministers of Denmark Danish Culture Ministers Danish Ministers for Ecclesiastical Affairs Aarhus University alumni 21st-century Danish women politicians Women members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 {{Denmark-bio-stub