Mette Thiesen (born 20 December 1981) is a Danish politician and former schoolteacher who has been 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 ...
since June 2019, at first representing the
Nye Borgerlige political party, but from November 2022 being an independent, and from February 2023 representing the
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party (DPP; , DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP).
The party saw a period of significant growth after its founding a ...
.
Thiesen was a city council member in
Hillerød Municipality
Hillerød Municipality () is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 212.99 km2 (82.24 sq. miles), and has a total population of 54,855 (1. January 2025). The mayor of the mu ...
from January 2014 until December 2021, first representing the
Conservative People's Party and from May 2017, when she changed her party allegiance, the Nye Borgerlige party. In November 2022 she left Nye Borgerlige due to personal issues, consequently becoming the fastest politician in Danish history to leave the party she was elected for, having left six days after her re-election in the
2022 general election
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
* 2022 United Nations Security Council election
* 2022 national electoral calendar
* 2022 loca ...
.
Background

Mette Thiesen was born in Fredensborg as the daughter of radio mechanic Michael Petersen and teacher Jytte Thiesen. She graduated from Espergærde Gymnasium in 2001 and underwent a teacher education at N. Zahles Seminarium 2004-2008.
In interviews Thiesen has described her childhood home as leftist but politics at the same not being a usual point of discussion and explained how she got most of her political values from her grandfather who voted for
Mogens Glistrup
Mogens Glistrup (28 May 1926 in Rønne – 1 July 2008 in Virum) was a Danish politician, lawyer and tax protester. He founded the Progress Party, and was a member of the Folketing (1973–1983 and 1987–1990). He had his parliamentary immunity ...
's
Progress Party (''Fremskridtspartiet'').
After finishing education she worked at different elementary schools from 2008 until 2019 where she was elected af member of the Folketing. She is the mother of two boys.
Political career
The Conservative People's Party
At the
2013 local elections Thiesen was elected a member of the city council in Hillerød Municipality for The Conservative People's Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti). At the 2015 general election she was candidate for the party in
North Zealand Constituency without achieving election. On 27 June 2017 her shift from the Conservatives to Nye Borgerlige was announced. Explaining the shift she described on several occasions finding herself in opposition to her former party and its mayor Dorte Meldgaard.
Nye Borgerlige
At the
2017 local elections Thiesen was re-elected to the city council of Hillerød, this time for Nye Borgerlige, thus becoming the party's first ever and at the time only elected politician. At the
2019 general election Thiesen ran as lead candidate in North Zealand and was elected as one of the party's four first ever members of the Danish Parliament. At the
2022 general election
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
* 2022 United Nations Security Council election
* 2022 national electoral calendar
* 2022 loca ...
she was re-elected for one of the party's now six seats.
Independent (''løsgænger'')
On 2 November,
TV 2 published a recording from Nye Borgerlige's election party at
Christiansborg
Christiansborg Palace (, ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament (), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark. Also, ...
. The recording displayed a heated argument between two or more persons culminating with one man throwing
beer
Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
in the face of another. On 7 November, several media reported that the beer-throwing man had been Thiesen's boyfriend, who had violently assaulted an employee in party. The leader of Nye Borgerlige, Pernille Vermund stated that the employee had gone to the
casualty department following the incident, where he had been ascertained with swelling and discoloration on the arm caused by the assault, while the boyfriend had been reported to the
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
.
In a press release, Pernille Vermund wrote that Thiesen had been prohibited from taking her boyfriend to Christiansborg and party events, but had repeatedly defied this. In addition, Vermund explained that in the summer of 2022 Thiesen and her boyfriend had begun "sending intimidating and threatening messages" to the employee, and that Thiesen would not apologise to the employee or take responsibility for messages but in instead wanted the employee dismissed. According to several media, the employee in question had previously been in a relationship with Thiesen. In her later resignation post, Thiesen wrote about this, "I do not apologise for anything I have not done, or to someone who has hurt me. I don't want to do that to myself, because then I'll break". On 7 November, Nye Borgerlige's main board (''hovedbestyrelse'') held a crisis meeting about the case. Mette Thiesen announced the same day that she had left the party as of that day.
After the meeting, the party's main board stated that Thiesen would have been expelled from the party if she had not opted out in advance and that this had been the recommendation of the parliamentary group.
With her defection Thiesen became the fastest parliamentary politician in Danish history to leave the party for which she was elected for office, having left six days after the general election.
Danish People's Party
On 12 January 2023 it was announced that Thiesen had entered into an informal arrangement with Danish People's Party on practical issues regarding parliamentary work and stayed open about joining DF with the party's group chairman
Peter Kofod stating, "If Mette Thiesen wants to be a member of the Danish People's Party, she has my number. Then we'll have a talk about it, should it become relevant". On 6 February 2023 she officially joined the Danish People's Party. On 24 June, she was appointed deputy chairman of the DF's parliamentary group.
Conviction
On 19 April 2018, Thiesen wrote a post on her Facebook profile with the heading "Terrorist sympathizer used by the
Danish Broadcasting Corporation
DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...
" about the fitness instructor Mahmoud Loubani. In connection with the comments, Thiesen further referred to Loubani as "a person who laughs at people who receive threats".
[Mette Thiesen dømt for at ærekrænke fitnessinstruktør. Artikel på dr.dk 13. december 2019.](_blank)
/ref>
In January 2019, Loubani filed a lawsuit against Thiesen for the statements. On 13 December 2019, Thiesen was convicted in the Copenhagen District Court for defaming Loubani by calling him a "terrorist sympathizer". In this connection, Thiesen had to pay compensation of DKK 15,000 to Loubani as well as the costs of the case. Thiesen was acquitted of punishment, as no proceedings were brought within six months of the statements.
References
External links
Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thiesen, Mette
1981 births
Living people
Conservative People's Party (Denmark) politicians
The New Right (Denmark) politicians
Danish People's Party politicians
Danish municipal councillors
21st-century Danish women politicians
Women members of the Folketing
People from Fredensborg Municipality
Members of the Folketing 2019–2022
Members of the Folketing 2022–2026