Karen Ellemann Kloch, formerly Karen Ellemann Karabian, (born 26 August 1969) is a Danish politician, who serves as the current Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers. She was previously a member of the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

for the Venstre political party. She is a former minister, having held the positions of Minister of Fisheries, Equality and Nordic Cooperation, Minister of the Environment and Minister of the Interior and Social Affairs. Ellemann is the daughter of former

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (; 1 November 1941 – 18 June 2022) was a Danish politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark in the Det Konservative Folkeparti, Conservative-led Poul Schlüter Administration from 1982 to 1993. He was ...

. She has a background as a teacher. She is married and has two children.

Political career

Ellemann was elected in the municipal council of

Rudersdal Municipality Rudersdal Municipality () is a part suburban, part rural municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') located on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It covers an area of 73 km² and has a population of 57,342 (1. January 2025). The distance ...

at the

2005 Danish local elections Local elections were held in Denmark on 15 November 2005. 2522 municipal council members were elected in Denmark's 98 municipalities and 205 regional council members in the five regions. Most of these were newly formed municipalities, namely 66 m ...

. It was the first time she ran for a political office and became one of the most voted-for politicians in the municipality, receiving 1,502 votes. She ran with an agenda focused on children and healthcare. Following the

2007 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 13 November 2007. The elections allowed Prime minister of Denmark, prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of Venstre (Denmark), Venstre and ...

Ellemann was elected into parliament. She received 13,513 votes, which gave her a direct seat in the

Greater Copenhagen The urban area of Copenhagen (also known as Greater Copenhagen) ( or ), lying mostly in the Capital Region of Denmark but also in Region Zealand, consist of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg municipalities and the former Copenhagen County. In all, it ...

constituency. She was appointed Minister of Interior and

Social Affairs A ministry of social affairs or department of social affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of su ...

in the

Lars Løkke Rasmussen I Cabinet The First cabinet of Lars Løkke Rasmussen, was announced on 5 April 2009 as Lars Løkke became prime minister after Anders Fogh Rasmussen was offered the post of Secretary General of NATO on 4 April 2009. Following the 2011 parliamentary elec ...

, starting 7 April 2009. On 23 February 2010 there was a cabinet reshuffle, which resulted in Ellemann becoming the new Minister for Environment and Nordic Cooperation. At the time she had not been involved in environmental politics, which was commented on by the Danish Society for Nature Conservation and the opposition parties. They were worried that she would be unable to stand up to the new Minister of Agriculture Henrik Høegh. She was reelected at the

2011 Danish general election General elections were held in Denmark on 15 September 2011 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. Of those 179, 175 members were elected in Denmark, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The incumbent centre-right coalition led b ...

, receiving 8,476 votes. This was the second-most votes received by a Venstre-politician in the municipality, with only

Søren Pind Søren Pind (born 20 November 1969) is a Danish lawyer and former politician. He served as Denmark, Danish Justice Minister of Denmark, Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2016, and as Government of Denmark, Minister of Science, Technology, Informat ...

receiving more votes with 15,101. She was elected again in the 2015 election with 7,020 votes. After the election Venstre had majority support in the Folketing, and

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was Leader of the Ve ...

became the prime minister again. In his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Ellemann was appointed Minister of the Interior and

. She held this position until 28 November 2016, where Venstre went into a coalition government with Liberal Alliance and Conservative People's Party in the

Lars Løkke Rasmussen III Cabinet The Third Cabinet of Lars Løkke Rasmussen (colloquially, ''VLAK-regeringen'' or ''trekløverregeringen'') took office on 28 November 2016, succeeding the Second Cabinet of Lars Løkke Rasmussen. It was a minority coalition government A coal ...

. She became Minister for

Gender Equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

and Nordic Cooperation. 7 August 2017 she also became the Minister for Fisheries after a scandal involving the former Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Esben Lunde Larsen forced him to resign that part of his ministry. On 2 May 2018 Ellemann left the government to become the leader of Venstre's parliamentary group. She was the first woman holding that position. Ellemann was reelected in the

2019 Danish general election General elections were held in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark on 5 June 2019 to elect all 179 members of the Folketing; 175 in Geography of Denmark, Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The elections took place te ...

, receiving 8,238 votes. In 2023, she became the Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellemann, Karen 1969 births Living people People from Gentofte Municipality Venstre (Denmark) politicians 21st-century Danish women politicians Government ministers of Denmark Women government ministers of Denmark Female interior ministers Ministers for the environment of Denmark Danish municipal councillors Women members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2011–2015 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Members of the Folketing 2022–2026