2021 Bornholm municipal election

2021 Bornholm municipal election

← 2017 16 November 2021 2025  →
All 23 seats to the Bornholm Municipal Council 12 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	23,960 (72.9%) 2.7pp
First party Second party Third party   Ø A O Party Red–Green Alliance Social Democrats Danish People's Party Last election 2 seats, 6.3% 8 seats, 34.2% 4 seats, 15.7% Seats won 7 4 4 Seat change 5 4 0 Popular vote 5,420 3,616 3,597 Percentage 23.1% 15.4% 15.3% Swing 16.8% 18.8% 0.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   C W V Party Conservatives Bornholmerlisten Venstre Last election 0 seats, 0.8% 1 seat, 5.8% 5 seats, 18.6% Seats won 3 2 2 Seat change 3 1 3 Popular vote 2,896 2,623 2,245 Percentage 12.3% 11.2% 9.6% Swing 11.5% 5.4% 9.0%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   K F Å Party Christian Democrats Green Left The Alternative Last election 1 seat, 4.2% 1 seat, 3.5% 1 seat, 6.0% Seats won 1 0 0 Seat change 0 1 1 Popular vote 985 682 414 Percentage 4.2% 2.9% 1.8% Swing 0.0% 0.6% 4.2%
Mayor before election Thomas Thors Social Democrats [a] Mayor after election Jacob Trøst Conservatives

Ever since 2003, the Social Democrats had held the mayor's position in Bornholm Regional Municipality.

Following the 2017 election, Winnie Grosbøll from the Social Democrats had won the mayor's position. ^[1]

In 2020, she accepted a new job as CEO of Friluftsrådet, and announced that she would step down as mayor from 2021. ^[2] This would result in Thomas Thors making a comeback as mayor, a position he held from 2003 to 2005. ^[3]

In September 2021, an opinion poll suggested that the Red–Green Alliance could challenge the Social Democrats in becoming the largest party. ^[4] Later in October, they would even lead an opinion poll. ^[5] It was speculated that the Red–Green Alliance had managed to win sympathy, after arguing that the money for the Social Democrats's project of a new town hall, could be spend better on funds for vulnerable young people, and club offers for kids around the 7–9 years. ^[6]

In the election result, the Social Democrats would lose 4 seats, and see their worst election result in the municipality. The Red–Green Alliance would manage to receive the most votes and seats. However it would be from Jacob Trøst from the Conservatives who would become the new mayor. This was following an agreement between the Conservatives, the Christian Democrats, Danish People's Party and the Red–Green Alliance. ^{[7] [8]}

In total, the Social Democrats and Venstre won 6 seats, a decrease of 7. They were the parties who had made the plans to build a new town hall, and this might have played a big factor. ^[9]

Electoral system

For elections to Danish municipalities, a number varying from 9 to 31 are chosen to be elected to the municipal council. The seats are then allocated using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation. Bornholm Municipality had 23 seats in 2021

Unlike in Danish General Elections, in elections to municipal councils, electoral alliances are allowed.

Electoral alliances

Source ^[10]

Electoral Alliance 1

Party			Political alignment
	B	Social Liberals	Centre to Centre-left
	C	Conservatives	Centre-right
	K	Christian Democrats	Centre to Centre-right

Electoral Alliance 2

Party			Political alignment
	F	Green Left	Centre-left to Left-wing
	G	Vegan Party	Single-issue
	Ø	Red–Green Alliance	Left-wing to Far-Left
	Å	The Alternative	Centre-left to Left-wing

Electoral Alliance 3

Party			Political alignment
	D	New Right	Right-wing to Far-right
	L	Lavere skatter og afgifter	Local politics
	V	Venstre	Centre-right

Electoral Alliance 4

Party			Political alignment
	O	Danish People's Party	Right-wing to Far-right
	W	Bornholmlisten	Local politics

Results by polling station

L = Lavere skatter og afgifter

Division	A	B	C	D	F	G	K	L	O	V	W	Ø	Å
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Allinge	13.1	2.0	10.2	1.6	4.4	0.7	3.6	0.2	13.5	12.0	9.6	27.1	2.1
Østermarie	8.3	2.2	11.2	1.6	2.6	0.8	5.2	0.3	15.1	9.2	10.5	30.8	2.0
Svaneke	12.4	2.2	13.9	0.5	3.3	0.6	3.1	0.0	6.5	9.7	9.8	35.3	2.7
Nexø	13.3	2.3	10.9	1.5	2.6	0.6	4.2	0.1	14.2	9.6	13.3	25.5	1.8
Rønne	20.3	1.7	14.0	1.7	3.2	0.5	3.5	0.2	14.0	7.9	9.8	21.8	1.5
Klemensker	10.8	0.9	10.5	1.9	1.6	1.0	4.3	0.4	25.1	11.2	13.4	17.0	1.7
Aakirkeby	14.2	1.6	12.1	2.2	2.5	0.4	6.0	0.3	18.2	10.9	12.3	17.6	1.7
Pedersker	11.3	3.1	11.6	1.9	2.5	0.5	5.1	0.1	16.9	13.3	14.1	18.0	1.7
Hasle	16.7	1.9	11.5	1.9	2.4	0.3	4.0	0.1	17.1	8.4	12.0	21.9	1.8

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Bornholm Regional Municipality
	Red–Green Alliance	5,420	23.07	7	+5
	Social Democrats	3,616	15.39	4	-4
	Danish People's Party	3,597	15.31	4	0
	Conservatives	2,896	12.33	3	+3
	Bornholmerlisten	2,623	11.16	2	+1
	Venstre	2,245	9.56	2	-3
	Christian Democrats	985	4.19	1	0
	Green Left	682	2.90	0	-1
	Danish Social Liberal Party	443	1.89	0	0
	The Alternative	414	1.76	0	-1
	New Right	399	1.70	0	0
	Vegan Party	130	0.55	0	New
	Lavere skatter og afgifter [b]	44	0.19	0	New
Total		23,494	100.00	23	0
Valid votes		23,494	98.06
Invalid votes		94	0.39
Blank votes		372	1.55
Total votes		23,960	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		32,864	72.91
Source: KMD

Notes

1. Winnie Grosbøll became mayor following the 2017 election, but stepped down in 2020
2. Local party in Bornholm

References

1. "Winni Grosbøll fortsætter som borgmester | Nyheder". bornholm.nu (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
2. "Winni Grosbøll stopper som borgmester | Nyheder". brk (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
3. "Bornholm har valgt ny borgmester | Nyheder". altinget (in Danish). 7 April 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
4. "Ny måling: Fire partier er næsten lige store | Nyheder". tv2bornholm (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
5. "Kæmpe fremgang til Enhedslisten | Nyheder". tv2bornholm (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
6. "Bornholm ser rødt. Enhedslisten kan erobre borgmesterposten | Nyheder". kristeligt-dagblad (in Danish). 8 November 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
7. "Enhedslisten er største parti på Bornholm, men får ikke borgmesterposten | Nyheder". tv2 (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
8. "Kommunalbestyrelsen | Nyheder". brk (in Danish). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
9. "S- og V-massakre på Bornholm giver øen en konservativ borgmester | Nyheder". dr.dk (in Danish). 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
10. "Valgene til kommunalbestyrelser og regionsråd den 16. november 2021 | Nyheder" (PDF). dst (in Danish). Retrieved 9 June 2025.