Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Thorning-Schmidt in 2024
Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 3 October 2011 – 28 June 2015
Monarch	Margrethe II
Deputy	Margrethe Vestager Morten Østergaard
Preceded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Succeeded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Leader of the Social Democrats
In office 12 April 2005 – 28 June 2015
Deputy	Frank Jensen Mogens Jensen
Preceded by	Mogens Lykketoft
Succeeded by	Mette Frederiksen
Personal details
Born	(1966-12-14) 14 December 1966 (age 57) Copenhagen, Denmark
Political party	Social Democrats
Spouse	Stephen Kinnock ​ (m. 1996)​
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Copenhagen (cand.scient.pol.) College of Europe (MA)
Signature

Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Danish pronunciation: [ˈhelə ˈtsʰoɐ̯ne̝ŋ ˈsme̝t]; born 14 December 1966)^[1] is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each post. Following defeat in 2015, she announced that she would step down as both Danish Prime Minister and Social Democratic party leader. Ending her political career in April 2016, she was the chief executive of the NGO Save the Children until June 2019.^[2]

Thorning-Schmidt served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Denmark from 1999 to 2004 before being elected to the Danish Parliament in 2005. She was elected to replace Mogens Lykketoft as Leader of the Social Democrats after the 2005 parliamentary election, leading her party through the 2007 parliamentary election, which was won by the centre-right alliance, and the 2011 parliamentary election, after which she was appointed Prime Minister by Queen Margrethe II, and the 2015 election. Thorning-Schmidt holds a degree in political science from the University of Copenhagen and a master's degree from the College of Europe.^[1]

Since 2020, Thorning-Schmidt has served as a Co-Chair of the Facebook Oversight Board.