Jakob Ellemann-Jensen

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen
Born	(1973-09-25) September 25, 1973 Hørsholm, Denmark
Occupation(s)	Politician, lawyer
Years active	2011–2023
Known for	Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark, Minister of Defence, leader of Venstre party

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (born 25 September 1973) is a Danish ex-politician who held the positions of Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark and Minister of Defence in Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's administration from 2022 until 2023. He was the leader of the Venstre party between 2019 and 2023.

Since being elected to the Folketing in the 2011 general election, Ellemann-Jensen served as Minister for Environment and Food under Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen from 2018 to 2019. Additionally, he acted as Venstre's political affairs spokesperson from 2015 to 2018 and briefly resumed this role in 2019.

Early life and education

Born on 25 September 1973 in Hørsholm, located approximately 25km north of Copenhagen, Ellemann-Jensen is the son of former Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and former editor-in-chief Alice Vestergaard.

Early career

After completing his secondary education at N. Zahle's School in 1992, Ellemann-Jensen obtained a BSc in 1999 followed by an MSc in 2002 from Copenhagen Business School. His professional experience includes working as a legal advisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers from 2000 to 2002, then transitioning to roles as a lawyer and subsequently head of contract and negotiation at IBM Denmark between 2002 and 2005. From 2007 until 2011, he served as a corporate lawyer at GN Store Nord.

Political career

Ellemann-Jensen secured his first parliamentary seat in the 2011 general election, receiving 7,786 votes, and was re-elected in 2015 with a total of 8,678 votes. In 2018, he was appointed Minister for Environment and Food within the third cabinet led by Løkke Rasmussen.

In the 2019 Danish general election, he garnered 19,388 votes and subsequently replaced Lars Løkke Rasmussen as Venstre's leader. Following the 2022 election, on 15 December, he assumed the roles of Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister in the second cabinet of Mette Frederiksen.

Due to stress-related health issues, Ellemann-Jensen went on sick leave in February 2023; during this period, Troels Lund Poulsen, the Minister for Economic Affairs, acted as Defence Minister. He resumed his duties on 1 August 2023. On 23 October 2023, Ellemann-Jensen declared his resignation from both party leadership and his exit from Danish politics.

Other activities

• Member of the Council, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
• Member of the European Group, Trilateral Commission

External links

|-

|-