Denmarks centre-left out to elect first woman PM

The centre-left has been in opposition for a decade, and now seeks to deliver the countrys first woman prime minister.Polls have consistently suggested that Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 44, who heads the Social Democrats and a broad centre-left coalition, is likely to turf current Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, 47, out of office.Thorning-Schmidt, the daughter-in-law of British Labour politician Neil Kinnock, has vowed to shore up Denmarks welfare state and stimulate its slumping economy with spending, in contrast to the austerity measures proposed by Rasmussen.A loss for the coalition government, made up of Rasmussens Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, would also end the powerful influence wielded by the populist, anti-immigration Danish Peoples Party (DPP).For 10 years, the DPP has pressured the centre-right coalition to adopt some of Europes most draconian immigration and integration regulations, in exchange for its support on other issues in parliament.Under a clear blue sky, long lines stretched outside the polling station in the working-class Copenhagen neighbourhood of Valby, as many voters cast their ballots early before heading to work.One of them was Rukshana, a 50-year-old daycare worker who did not want to give her last name.Im voting for the red bloc (centre-left), because they are good for the Danish population. We have had enough of (DPP leader) Pia Kjaersgaard, she said, trying to keep her one-year-old charge Luna awake in her baby carriage.This has been the worst 10 years for integration... I know a lot of families, whose child was born in Denmark, but the mother or father cannot be with their children because of the strict immigration rules, said Rukshana, a Danish citizen of Pakistani origin.While she touched on the once-heated issue of immigration, the election campaign primarily focused on how to stir the country out of the slump caused by the global financial crisis.A slew of polls handed the left-leaning opposition, made up of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, Socialist Peoples Party and Red Greens a clear lead over the government and its parliamentary supporters, the DPP, the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Alliance.While showing a narrowing gap between the blocs compared to polls in recent days, none have shown the current government leading the pack.