Starting a new government is never easy. But Helle Thorning-Schmidt has had a surprisingly tough time of things since becoming Denmark's prime minister in October. A Voxmeter opinion poll published shortly before Christmas gave her Social Democrats 19.9% support-the lowest figure the pollster had ever recorded for the party that was Denmark's dominant political force for most of the 20th century. The fortunes of the first Danish female prime minister began unravelling even before her cabinet was in place. Her first choice for the finance portfolio was briskly shuffled to the backbenches after failing to pass a security check. Other scandals followed. The Danish press has jumped on tales of alleged sexual misconduct by prominent Social Democrats.
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