Rasmus Prehn (born 18 June 1973) is a Danish politician 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 the 2005 Danish general election. He served as

Minister for Development Cooperation The Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Aid () is a Minister without Portfolio (Netherlands), minister without portfolio in the Netherlands. The officeholder, who is a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands, Cabinet and the Council of M ...

from 2019 to 2020, and as Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries from 2020 to 2022.

Background

Prehn was born in Høje-Taastrup to Flemming Prehn and Birte Hanne Prehn, and is married to Heidi Linnemann Prehn. He studied at

Aalborg University Aalborg University (AAU) is an international public university with campuses in Aalborg, Esbjerg, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1974, the university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD degrees in a wide variety of subje ...

and the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, graduating with a Master's degree in social science.

Political career

Prehn has been a member of

Folketinget The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral List of legislatures by country, national legislature (parliament) of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper to ...

for the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

since the 2005 national elections. During his time in parliament, he served as chairman of the Committee on Research, Education and Further Education. Prehn was appointed

in the

Frederiksen Cabinet Frederiksen Cabinet may refer to the following cabinets of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen: * Frederiksen I Cabinet (2019-Dec 2022) * Frederiksen II Cabinet (Dec 2022-present) {{disambiguation ...

on 27 June 2019. In this capacity, he pledged a total of US$51 million in contributions of Denmark to

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...

for the 2020-2022 period. In 2022 it was revealed that Prehn had essentially committed embezzlement, by using his ministerial credit card, to pay for a dinner in 2020. When asked, he lied about it, and stated that the dinner had been with journalist Søren Wormslevs. Wormslevs denied ever having dined with Prehn, and Prehn later confirmed he had never dined with Wormslevs. As a result of the scandal, the state accountants decided that all ministers use of their ministerial credit cards from 2015 and onward was to be investigated. Prehn said it saddened him that he had contributed to the investigation being launched. He was however never convicted of a crime, due to the immunity politicians have in regards to indictments. Also in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Prehn was re-elected as

Member of the Folketing Members of the Folketing () are Member of parliament, members of the Danish parliament, known as the Folketing. The title is frequently shortened to the initialism MF. The term of office is up to 4 years, but usually shorter as the Prime minist ...

, though with only a third of the votes he got in 2019. He was subsequently replaced as

Jacob Jensen Jacob Jensen (29 April 1926 – 15 May 2015) was a Danish industrial designer best known for his work with Bang & Olufsen. Jensen designed numerous popular high-end consumer products, developing a functional minimalism style that formed a prom ...

. In February 2025, he announced he would resign from his Folketing seat to become the director of the Organic Association.

Personal life

Prehn has three children. One of his children, Nikoline Prehn (born 2002), is also a member of the Social Democrats, and was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2022 election.

References

External links

Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Prehn, Rasmus 1973 births Living people People from Høje-Taastrup Municipality Government ministers of Denmark Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians Members of the Folketing 2005–2007 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 Alumni of the University of Leeds