In Denmark, An MP And A Minister From The Ruling Coalition Campaigned Directly In A Sauna
- 16.03.2026, 20:59
Video Fact.
In Denmark, candidates from the Social Democratic Party in the run-up to the parliamentary elections were campaigning in a sauna - in a health center in Copenhagen's Vanlos district.
According to AFP News Agency on March 16.
"With just over a week to go until Denmark's parliamentary elections (to be held on March 24 - ed.), the two candidates of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's Social Democratic Party met with voters in a sauna - in swimming trunks and in swimsuits - to sweat it out together," the publication wrote.
March 15, MP Ida Auken, along with fellow party member and head of the Justice Ministry Peter Hummelgard, spoke to 18 voters in a sauna on the topics of climate, energy, inequality and crime.
"It's a very different atmosphere here because people are relaxed and we're all stuck here, so we're not going anywhere," 53-year-old voter Gitte Droger told AFP.
As Auken told the agency, "this is the 'first time' she has campaigned in a sauna."
"This whole election campaign for me has been filled with a lot of these activities, different (types - ed.) of campaigning: playing handball and visiting bars instead of taking part in discussion panels. Campaigning should be fun too," said the MP, who is running for her sixth term in parliament.
And, AFP clarified, the sauna attendees were not screened before meeting with the politicians and there were no security guards at the event.
A local resident Miriam Hvidt told the agency that seeing candidates campaigning in a sauna is quite common in Denmark.
"In Denmark, it is not very strange to see a minister taking a dip in icy water. I can't imagine that in a country as big as the U.S. it's very common to see a high-ranking minister among other people," she said, and noted that it's common to see lawmakers or elected officials in a supermarket or movie theater.
The Social Democrats, who have been in power since 2019 and currently lead the ruling coalition, are leading in opinion polls ahead of the election, with 21.5 percent of voters ready to vote for them - although that is 6 percent below their result in the 2022 election, AFP summarized.