Danish centre-left opposition to take power - projection after early count

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark could become the third Nordic country in a year to elect a leftist government as voters in Wednesday’s parliamentary election appeared to rebel against austerity measures and deal a blow to right-wing nationalists.

A leftist bloc of opposition parties ranging from the centre-left Social Democrats to the Red-Green Alliance looked set to get 94 seats against 81 for the ruling Liberal Party and others on the right, according to a projection by the state broadcaster DR based on an exit poll and early counting.

The nationalist Danish People’s Party, which has supported incumbent prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s minority government, appeared to have lost more than half of its voters since the 2015 election.

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The group that ends up with most seats usually gets the first opportunity to form a government.

Social Democratic leader Mette Frederiksen’s promise to increase welfare spending after years of austerity along with her tougher stance on immigration had gone down well with voters in opinion polls ahead of the vote.

The Social Democrats looked set to remain the biggest party with support holding at 2015 levels.

Building a coalition might prove difficult as Frederiksen will need to combine her own party’s tougher immigration policies with the softer stance of most parties on the left.

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Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which are part of the Kingdom of Denmark with wide autonomy, each have two of parliament’s 179 seats.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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