Jakob Ellemann-Jensen

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen (born 25 September 1973) is a Danish former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark and Minister of Defence under Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen from 2022 to 2023.^[2] He led the Venstre party from 2019 to 2023.^[3]

Jakob Ellemann-Jensen
Ellemann-Jensen in 2020
Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark
In office 15 December 2022 – 23 October 2023
Prime Minister	Mette Frederiksen
Preceded by	Office established[a]
Succeeded by	Troels Lund Poulsen
Minister for Economic Affairs
In office 22 August 2023 – 23 October 2023
Prime Minister	Mette Frederiksen
Preceded by	Troels Lund Poulsen
Succeeded by	Troels Lund Poulsen
Minister of Defence
In office 15 December 2022 – 22 August 2023 On leave: 6 February 2023 – 1 August 2023
Prime Minister	Mette Frederiksen
Preceded by	Morten Bødskov
Succeeded by	Troels Lund Poulsen
Leader of Venstre
In office 21 September 2019 – 23 October 2023
Deputy	Inger Støjberg (2019–2020) Stephanie Lose (2021–present)
Preceded by	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Succeeded by	Troels Lund Poulsen
Member of the Folketing
In office 15 September 2011 – 23 October 2023
Constituency	Funen (2011–2015) East Jutland (2015–2023)
Minister for Environment and Food
In office 2 May 2018 – 27 June 2019
Prime Minister	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Preceded by	Esben Lunde-Larsen
Succeeded by	Lea Wermelin (Environment) Mogens Jensen (Food)
Personal details
Born	(1973-09-25) 25 September 1973 (age 51) Hørsholm, Denmark
Political party	Venstre (1991–2023)
Spouse	Anne Marie Preisler
Children	3
Parent	Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (father)
Relatives	Karen Ellemann (sister)
Alma mater	Copenhagen Business School
Military service
Allegiance	Denmark
Branch/service	Royal Danish Army
Years of service	1992–2000[1]
Rank	Captain[1]
Battles/wars	Bosnian War[1]

A member of the Folketing since the 2011 general election, Ellemann-Jensen served as Minister for Environment and Food under Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen from 2018 to 2019.^[4][1] He was spokesman on political affairs for Venstre from 2015 to 2018 and again briefly in 2019.^[5]

Early life and education

Ellemann-Jensen was born on 25 September 1973 in Hørsholm,^[1] approximately 25 km (15.5 mi) north of Copenhagen. He is the son of former Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and former editor-in-chief Alice Vestergaard.^[1]

Early career

Ellemann-Jensen graduated from N. Zahle's School in 1992. He went on to complete his BSc at the Copenhagen Business School in 1999, as well as his MSc in 2002, also at Copenhagen Business School. From 2000 to 2002, he worked as a legal advisor for PricewaterhouseCoopers and from 2002 to 2005 as a lawyer at IBM Denmark, where he later became head of the contract and negotiation department. From 2007 to 2011, he worked as a corporate lawyer for GN Store Nord.^[6]

Political career

Ellemann-Jensen was first elected into parliament in the 2011 general election, receiving 7,786 votes;^[7] he was reelected in the 2015 election with 8,678 votes.^[8]

In 2018, Ellemann-Jensen became the Minister for Environment and Food in the third Løkke Rasmussen cabinet.^[9]

Ellemann-Jensen was elected again in the 2019 Danish general election, receiving 19,388 votes.^[10] After Lars Løkke Rasmussen stepped down as Venstre's party leader after the election, the party elected Ellemann-Jensen as the new leader.^[11]

On 15 December 2022, he was appointed minister of defence and deputy prime minister in Mette Frederiksen's second cabinet following the 2022 election.^[12]

In February 2023, Ellemann-Jensen announced that he would go on sick leave after having experienced stress symptoms and a brief admission to the hospital; Minister for Economic Affairs Troels Lund Poulsen acted Defence Minister in Ellemann-Jensen's absence.^[13] He returned on 1 August 2023.^[14] On 23 October 2023, he announced his resignation as party leader and his departure from Danish politics.^[15][16]

Other activities

• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member of the Council^[17]
• Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group^[18]

Notes

1. Although the title Vicestatsminister did not previously have any legal basis, Nicolai Wammen was often regarded as being its informal holder during the Frederiksen I Cabinet.