Alex Dominique Kristensen Vanopslagh(born 17 October 1991)[1]is a French-bornDanishpolitician. He is a member of theFolketing,and party leader of theLiberal Alliance.He is a former chairman of its youth wing,Liberal Alliance Youth.

Alex Vanopslagh
Leader of Liberal Alliance
Assumed office
9 June 2019
Preceded byAnders Samuelsen
Leader ofLiberal Alliance Youth
In office
8 March 2014 – 12 March 2016
Preceded byRasmus Brygger
Succeeded byStefan Roy Frederiksen
Member of theFolketing
Assumed office
5 June 2019
ConstituencyEast Jutland
Personal details
Born(1991-10-17)17 October 1991(age 32)
Épernay,France
CitizenshipDenmark • France
Political partyLiberal Alliance
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Copenhagen
Vanopslash being interviewed by YouTuber and entrepreneur Jacob Jørgsholm

Early life and education

edit

Alex Vanopslagh, who was born inÉpernay,France,moved to Denmark when he was five, and grew up inStruer.[2]In 2009 he moved toHerningand in 2011 he completed high school. He originally wanted to be a journalist, but applied and failed the entrance exam to the Danish Media and Journalism School in Aarhus after taking the wrong bus.[3]He earned abachelor's degreeinpolitical sciencefrom theUniversity of Southern DenmarkinOdense,[1]and amaster's degreefrom theUniversity of Copenhagenin 2016.[1]

Political career

edit

In 2014, he was elected leader ofLiberal Alliance Youth,succeedingRasmus Brygger.He was reelected in 2015 and did not stand for reelection in 2016.[2]

In autumn 2016, he was selected as lead candidate for the Liberal Alliance in the2017 Copenhagen Municipality elections,and won a seat in theCopenhagen Municipal Councilwith 3,563 votes.[4][5]

In the2019 general election,Vanopslagh was elected to theFolketingrepresentingWest Jutland constituency.[6]The election was catastrophic for the Liberal Alliance, which lost nine of thirteen seats and its leaderAnders Samuelsenfailing to be reelected. Following the defeat, Samuelsen resigned as leader of the party, and was succeeded by Vanopslagh.[7][8][9]

Vanopslagh has been a prominent critic of Prime MinisterMette Frederiksenandher government,due to alleged attacks on fundamental institutions, rights and common sense.[10]He has referred to Frederiksen as "the worst news for our democracy and justice state sinceWorld War II".[11][12]Duringthe mink case,Vanopslagh called for Frederiksen to resign[13]and criticized theSocial Liberal Partyfor supposedly letting Frederiksen off the hook.[14]

Under Vanopslagh, the Liberal Alliance has seen a major rise in popularity, especially during campaigning for the2022 Danish general election.[15]Much of Vanopslagh's campaigning has occurred on social media, in particular TikTok; he has been referred to as "The King of TikTok".[16]This campaigning is targeted primarily towards young voters, among whom Liberal Alliance is one of the most popular parties.[17]

Vanopslagh led his party into the2022 election,which resulted in the best result for the party ever. The party gained 10 new seats compared to thelast election.InEast JutlandVanopslagh received 38,284 personal votes.[5]In March 2024 polls the party reached 2nd place.

References

edit
  1. ^abcAltinget:Alex Vanopslagh
  2. ^abSimonsen, Nikolaj L. (12 March 2014)."Ny formand for LA-ungdom: Vi har et image-problem".Retrieved29 October2016.
  3. ^Savin, Serge (2022-03-30)."Alex Vanopslagh: »Jeg kom kun på universitetet, når jeg skulle til eksamen«".Uniavisen.Retrieved2022-07-12.
  4. ^"Alex Vanopslagh".TV2 Lorry.
  5. ^abDrejer, Pernille (24 November 2017)."Her er Københavns 25 største stemmeslugere".Berlingske.
  6. ^"Hvem er valgt".
  7. ^"Anders Samuelsen trækker sig efter vælgerlussing".Kristeligt Dagblad(in Danish). Ritzau. 6 June 2019.Retrieved9 June2019.
  8. ^Ingvorsen, Emil Søndergård; Nielsen, Kevin Ahrens (9 June 2019)."Alex Vanopslagh bliver Liberal Alliances nye politiske leder".DR(in Danish).Retrieved9 June2019.
  9. ^"Alex Vanopslagh (LA)".Ft.dk.Retrieved21 August2021.
  10. ^"Alex Vanopslagh: Mette Frederiksen har stået bag ét langt angreb på vores grundlæggende institutioner, loven og almindelig sund fornuft".Politiken(in Danish). 2022-08-17.Retrieved2022-10-14.
  11. ^Domino, Søren (2022-04-23)."Vanopslagh i hårdt angreb på Mette Frederiksen: Regeringen bruger Grundloven som toiletpapir".Berlingske.dk(in Danish).Retrieved2022-10-14.
  12. ^"Alex Vanopslagh skyder med skarpt mod både Rusland og Socialdemokratiet | Nyheder".DR(in Danish). Archived fromthe originalon 2022-04-23.Retrieved2022-10-14.
  13. ^"DRTV - Debatten: Fuldkommen magtfuldkommen?".www.dr.dk(in Danish). 12:30.Retrieved2022-10-14.
  14. ^"Alex Vanopslagh: Radikales melding til Mette Frederiksen er 'en gratis omgang' - der var et valg på vej alligevel | Nyheder".DR(in Danish).Retrieved2022-10-14.
  15. ^"De Konservative og Liberal Alliance er lige store i ny meningsmåling".DR(in Danish). 2022-10-22.Retrieved2022-10-22.
  16. ^Fallentin, Mia Gleerup; Kildegaard, Kasper; Domino, Søren (2022-10-20)."Han bliver kaldt »Kongen af TikTok« og har fat i de unge vælgere – nu stormer Alex Vanopslagh frem i ny Gallup".Berlingske.dk(in Danish).Retrieved2022-10-22.
  17. ^"Liberal Alliance er på kant med loven med ny reklame, vurderer professor".DR(in Danish). 2022-10-06.Retrieved2022-10-22.
edit
Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Liberal Alliance
2019—
Succeeded by
Incumbent