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Søren Pape Poulsen
Pape Poulsen in 2019
Minister of Justice
In office 28 November 2016 – 27 June 2019
Prime Minister	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded by	Søren Pind
Succeeded by	Nick Hækkerup
Leader of the Conservative People's Party
In office 7 August 2014 – 2 March 2024
Preceded by	Lars Barfoed
Succeeded by	Mona Juul
Mayor of Viborg Municipality
In office 1 January 2010 – 3 September 2014
Preceded by	Johannes Stensgaard
Succeeded by	Torsten Nielsen
Member of the Folketing
In office 18 June 2015 – 2 March 2024
Succeeded by	Dina Raabjerg
Constituency	West Jutland
Personal details
Born	(1971-12-31)31 December 1971 Copenhagen, Denmark
Died	2 March 2024(2024-03-02) (aged 52) Odense, Denmark
Political party	Conservative People's Party
Spouse	Josué Medina Vásquez ​ ​(m. 2021; div. 2022)​

Søren Pape Poulsen (31 December 1971 – 2 March 2024) was a Danish politician who served as a member of the Folketing for the Danish Conservative Party and its leader from 2014 until his death. He was previously Mayor of Viborg Municipality from 2010 to 2014 and Justice Minister of Denmark from 2016 to 2019.

Political career

Pape Poulsen was elected to the municipal council in Bjerringbro Municipality in 2001. Following the Danish Municipal Reform in 2007, Bjerringbro Municipality became part of the new Viborg Municipality and he continued his work in the new municipal council. Following the local elections of 2009, he formed a majority with the Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party and the Danish People's Party and became mayor in Viborg. At the 2013 election, the Conservatives doubled their representation on the council and Pape Poulsen was reelected as mayor.

On 6 August 2014, Lars Barfoed stepped down as leader of the Conservative People's Party and said that he would like Pape Poulsen to succeed him as leader. The following day, the parliamentary group unanimously elected him as political leader until the party congress on 26 September 2014. He was mayor until Wednesday, 3 September 2014 when Torsten Nielsen from the Conservative People's Party became mayor.

On 18 June 2015, Pape Poulsen became a member of the Folketing for West Jutland.

On 28 November 2016, Pape Poulsen became Minister of Justice in Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen's third cabinet. He was minister until 25 June 2019.

On 15 August 2022, Pape Poulsen, with the Conservatives at some of their highest polling in years, declared he was going into the 2022 election as a candidate for the prime minister position. Polling two months before the election suggested that Pape Poulsen was the clear favorite between him and fellow right wing candidate Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, but as the election neared Pape Poulsen became increasingly less popular, and ended up losing two seats in the election held on 1 November 2022.

Personal life

Pape Poulsen was educated in shipping at Grundfos.

On 10 August 2014, Pape Poulsen came out as gay, simultaneously announcing his relationship with Josué Medina Vásquez, originally from the Dominican Republic. They were engaged in 2017, later marrying in 2021. On 14 September 2022, he announced that they were divorcing, following suggestions that Medina had given him false information about his background. Following this scandal his party's popularity fell several-fold just before the election, almost totally in favor of the Moderates.

Death

Pape Poulsen died from a cerebral haemorrhage on 2 March 2024, at the age of 52. He had collapsed the day before during a meeting of the party's executive committee in Vejen, and died after being taken to Odense University Hospital. Conservative People's Party general secretary Søren Vandsø, who has been described as Pape Poulsen's "faithful squire" (Danish: tro væbner), took part in the meeting and later was by Pape Poulsen's side when he died. In a statement on the party's website, announcing the death to the public, Vandsø paid tribute to Pape Poulsen:

He collapsed in the midst of what he dedicated his life to. A political life that sought to make life better for the rest of us. He was orienting us about elderly policy and foreign policy considerations, and the last thing he experienced was a great applause from his party colleagues.

Condolences poured in from across the political spectrum, including Kristian Thulesen Dahl, Pelle Dragsted, Mette Frederiksen, Ulf Kristersson, Roberta Metsola, Troels Lund Poulsen, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Erna Solberg, Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Ulrik Wilbek. Flowers and lights were placed on the stairs in front of Pape Poulsen's home in Viborg. A ceremony officiated by Henrik Stubkjær, the Bishop of Viborg, took place at Viborg Cathedral on 9 March 2024. His ashes will be interred at Bjerringbro Church. Question time on 12 March was cancelled at the request of the Conservatives, and replaced with a memorial service in the Folketing.

Michael Ziegler [da], mayor of Høje-Taastrup Municipality and deputy chairman of the Conservative People's Party, became temporary chairman until a successor can be elected. On 13 March, Mona Juul, MF since the 2019 election, was unanimously elected as political leader (Danish: politisk leder) of the party by the parliamentary group. The party's executive committee also unanimously endorsed Juul for the post of party chairman (Danish: partiformand), subject to a vote of the party membership at an extraordinary party conference later in the year. Pape had held both posts from 2014 until his death.

References

1. "Danske Kommuner – Viborg Kommune" (in Danish). Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2024. Borgmester Søren Pape Poulsen, K, 2010–2014; Borgmester Johannes Stensgaard, S, 2007–2010
2. "Personlige stemmer – Bjerringbro Kommune – C – Det Konservative Folkeparti". Kmdvalg.dk. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
3. "Se det nye Danmarkskort". Bt.dk. 3 March 2005. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
4. "Viborg". B.dk. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
5. "K-borgmester fordobler stemmetal". Stiften.dk. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
6. "Lars Barfoed trækker sig som partiformand". Dr.dk. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
7. "Konservativ folketingsgruppe nikker ja til Pape". Politiken.dk. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
8. "Søren Pape Poulsen". thedanishparliament.dk. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
9. "Søren Pape ny justitsminister: Rockere og kriminelle udlændinge får kamp". DR. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
10. "Søren Pape Poulsen gør det klart: Jeg går til valg som statsministerkandidat". DR (in Danish). 15 August 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
11. "De Konservative går tilbage i ny måling: 'Der har været lidt om vores partiformands personlige forhold'". DR (in Danish). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
12. Bilgrav, Lisa Maria (2 November 2022). "Få overblikket her: Det skete på en historisk valgaften". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 5 November 2022.
13. "Søren Pape Poulsen (KF)". Ft.dk. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
14. "Conservative leader: 'I'm gay, so what?'". Thelocal.dk. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
15. "Jeg kunne ikke ønske mig mere". Viborg-folkeblad.dk. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
16. "The Copenhagen Post". 14 September 2022.
17. "Søren Pape skal skilles: 'Vores ægteskab er slut'". DR (in Danish). 14 September 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
18. Ørbæk, Kristian Skovby. "Søren Pape Poulsen er død". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). Ritzau. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
19. Papes "tro væbner" sad ved hans side til det sidste
20. Conservative People's Party home page, archived: Conservative People's Party home page archived
21. "Søren Pape Poulsen er død – TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2 March 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
22. "Partiformand i De Konservative Søren Pape Poulsen er død 52 år gammel". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 4 March 2024.
23. "Offentligheden får adgang til Søren Papes bisættelse". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
24. Klingenberg, Albert Andsager (13 March 2024). "Folketingsmedlemmer i tårer under mindehøjtidelighed for Pape". Altinget (da) (in Danish). Retrieved 16 March 2024.
25. Barrett, Michael (2 March 2024). "Danish Conservative leader Søren Pape Poulsen dies aged 52". The Local Denmark. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
26. Bigum, Christian (13 March 2024). "De Konservative har valgt ny politisk leder: Få overblikket her". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 16 March 2024.

External links

• Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)

• 1971 births
• 2024 deaths
• People from Viborg Municipality
• Conservative People's Party (Denmark) politicians
• LGBTQ conservatism
• Danish LGBTQ politicians
• Danish gay men
• Gay politicians
• Ministers of justice of Denmark
• Government ministers of Denmark
• LGBTQ legislators
• LGBTQ mayors
• Mayors of places in Denmark
• Danish municipal councillors
• Members of the Folketing 2015–2019
• Members of the Folketing 2019–2022
• Leaders of the Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
• Members of the Folketing 2022–2026
• Deaths from intracranial haemorrhage
• 21st-century mayors
• 21st-century legislators
• 21st-century Danish LGBTQ people