Monday, 4 August 2003

According to a new poll by Zapera, 53% of Danes think their current government is doing well or even very well, while only 29% give the VK government a bad or very bad rating.

The poll also shows that Prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is the government's most trusted minister with the highest approval rating of all 18 ministers. However, Anders Fogh Rasmussen's rating is a modest 6,4 points on a 10 point scale. Following th Prime minister is Per Stig Møller (Minister for Foreign Affairs), Lene Espersen (Minister of Justice), Bendt Bendtsen (Minister for Economic and Business Affairs), Bertel Haarder (The Minister for Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs and Minister for European Affairs) and Lars Løkke Rasmussen (Minister for the Interior and Health) who all receive ratings above 5 points.

In the other end of the scale we find Tove Fergo (Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs) and Thor Pedersen (Minister for Finance) who are the only two ministers to receive a rating below 4 on the 10 point scale.

"Not only is the Prime minister receiving the highest rating of all the ministers, he is also the minister whom the respondnets feel has developed most positively since the government took over," says Mads Stenbjerre, Research Director for Zapera. "It underlines the 'Prime minister effect' that was instrumental in the Conservative blok's election success."

"The election in November 2001 was very much a question of which Rasmussen should lead the country - Anders Fogh or Poul Nyrup (the Social Democrats' leader). It seems very likely that the campaign for the next election will also center on whether the present Rasmussen is the right man for job. As it looks right now, that will translate to another good result for the VK-blok."