Kristian Thulesen Dahl


Kristian Thulesen Dahl is a Danish politician who has served as Leader of the Danish People's Party since September 2012. He has been a Member of the Folketing since September 1994.
He became leader of the Danish People's Party in 2012, following Pia Kjærsgaard's retirement from the post. He is a Knight of the Dannebrog.
In 2013, Thulesen Dahl argued that Denmark to a larger extent should accept more refugees coming from non-Muslim countries and fewer from Muslim countries. In the same interview, he declared himself a supporter of freedom of religion, thus a Dane who wishes to convert to Islam is free to do so, however, he also stated that he believes that there is no room in Denmark for more people with a Muslim background.
In 2014, a poll of Danish right wing voters showed that Thulesen Dahl was more popular as a possible candidate for Prime Minister than any other leader of the Danish right wing parties, including current Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. He, however, did not consider himself a candidate for that post.
In the 2015 Danish general elections, Thulesen's first election as party leader, his party won 37 of 179 seats in parliament becoming the second largest party. Thulesen Dahl received more than 57,000 personal votes. While his party became the largest in the right wing bloc, and he was much more popular than Venstre's candidate for Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, he refused that he was in play as a possible Prime Minister of Denmark.