Mikkel Bjørn

Mikkel Bjørn
Bjørn in 2023
Member of the Folketing
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 November 2022
ConstituencyFunen
National chairman of Nye Borgerliges Ungdom
In office
8 October 2016 – 16 October 2021
Succeeded byMalte Larsen
Personal details
Born (1995-10-19) 19 October 1995 (age 29)
Rårup, Denmark
Political partyDanish People's Party (2023–present)
Other political
affiliations		Young Conservatives (2014–2016)
Nye Borgerlige (2016–2023)
Alma materJelling Seminarium
OccupationPolitician, teacher
Websitehttps://mikkelbjorn.dk

Mikkel Bjørn Sørensen (born 19 October 1995) is a Danish politician and former teacher. In November 2022, he became a member of the Folketing for the Nye Borgerlige (NB) party, but in January 2023 changed his party allegiance to the Danish People's Party (DF). Formerly, in 2016-2021 he was the first national chairman of Nye Borgerlige's youth wing. Growing up near Juelsminde in Jutland, Bjørn has since 2022 lived in Nyborg on Funen.

Personal life

Mikkel Bjørn was born on 19 October 1995 in Rårup, a village in Juelsminde Municipality (now Hedensted Municipality) close to the town of Juelsminde and the city of Horsens,[1] where he went to As Friskole and afterwards received a studentereksamen (high school diploma) in 2014 from Horsens Statsskole.[2] He attended the teacher-training college of Jelling Seminarium from 2016 to 2020[3][4] and afterwards worked as a school teacher from 2020 to 2022.[5]

Having previously lived in Jylland, lastly in Randers, in 2023 Bjørn moved to Nyborg on the island of Funen, being situated in the constituency for which he had been elected to Folketinget in 2022.[6]

Youth politics

Young Conservatives

After gymnasium, in 2014 Mikkel Bjørn joined the Young Conservatives (KU), the youth wing of the Conservative People's Party (DKF), where he became local chairman for KU Vejle.[7] Within the KU, he was considered an affiliate of Hvid Fløj (White Wing), the national conservative fraction in the youth wing.[8]

In 2016 he was expelled from the organisation, allegedly after having indicated in an internal member forum on Facebook that he would vote for another party than the Conservative People's Party at an election,[8] and because of his harsh rhetoric, according to the leader of the Young Conservatives bordering on racism, in various internal debates on immigrants and refugees.[9][10]

Nye Borgerliges Ungdom

Bjørn then joined Nye Borgerlige's youth wing named Nye Borgerliges Ungdom (NBU), and in October 2016 he was elected as the first chairman of the organisation.[11] He remained chairman until October 2021, when he was succeeded by Malte Larsen.[12] From 2016 until 2022, he simultaneously held a position in the NB's national committee (hovedbestyrelse).[13]

Candidate at local and general elections

In the 2017 local elections, Bjørn ran for Nye Borgerlige in Vejle Municipality, receiving 33 personal votes[14] without the party winning any seats in the municipality.[15]

At the 2019 general election, the NB's first, in June 2019, Bjørn gained 46 personal votes as a candidate in South Jutland, coming in last among the party's eight candidates in the constituency.[16]

In April 2022, the party national executive appointed Mikkel Bjørn Nye Borgerlige's lead candidate in Funen Greater Constituency for the next general election.[17] The centrally made appointment caused dissatisfaction among some party members in Funen and caused three local politicians to leave the party, accusing the national executive for nepotism.[18] The executive subsequently in August 2022 made a reverse, deciding to arrange a primary voting for the lead candidate position among the party members in Funen,[19] which was subsequently won by Bjørn, receiving 133 votes whereas 212 votes were split between the four competing local candidates.[20]

Member of Folketing

At the general election on 1 November 2022, Bjørn was elected a member of the Folketing with 888 personal votes as one of six MFs for Nye Borgerlige.[21] At the constitution of the NB's parliamentary group in November, he took over the position as group vice-chairman after Mette Thiesen – who had left NB six days after the election – and became, among other things, culture, children's and education spokesman.[22] On 5 January, he took the title of chairman of the Folketing's Naturalisation Committee (Indfødsretsudvalget),[23] the main function of which is deciding who acquires citizenship.[24]

In January 2023, Nye Borgerlige chairman Pernille Vermund announced that she would resign her post as chairman. Most political observers pointed at MP Lars Boje Mathiesen as her most likely successor as party leader, though some thought that Bjørn might also make a bid for the party leadership.[25][26][27] The two were seen as representing separate wings in the party, the former Liberal Alliance member[28] Boje Mathiesen representing the liberal wing and Bjørn the national conservative wing.[29][30]

On 17 January, Boje announced his candidacy for the party leadership position,[31] receiving support from the remaining parliamentary group with the exception of Bjørn (and Vermund, who as outgoing chairman had announced that she would abstain from commenting on the choice of her successor).[32] In the end, no other candidates entered the race for chairman, ensuring Boje's unanimous election as party leader[33] on 7 February.[34]

Danish People's Party

On 24 January, Mikkel Bjørn announced that he left Nye Borgerlige and joined the Danish People's Party,[35] citing internal dissension with Boje and a lack of belief in his abilities to lead.[36] Boje retaliated by blaming Bjørn for putting himself before the party,[37] whereas Vermund criticized Bjørn for leaving his post prematurely and taking his seat to another party, having been elected for Nye Borgerlige with the lowest personal number of votes of all the party's parliamentarians.[38]

Three days after his change of party allegiance, Bjørn, continuing as chairman of the Naturalisation Committee, received his first Danish People's Party spokesmanships, which were culture, media, ecclesiastical affairs, gender equality, Nordic cooperation and naturalisation.[39]

Political positions

Mikkel Bjørn is characterised as national conservative.[40][29][28] He takes a special interest in cultural and religious matters[40] and is an advocate for Denmark leaving the EU.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Mikkel Bjørn - Kandidat for Nye Borgerlige i null". www.tv2fyn.dk. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  2. ^ Mogensen, Knud (9 March 2021). "Portræt: NBU-landsformand med royalt sindelag". Horsens Folkeblad. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b Baun, Leif (22 March 2016). "22 og år folketingskandidat: Lærerstuderende fra Jelling vil i folketinget". Vejle Amts Folkeblad. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Mikkel Bjørn". The Danish Parliament. Folketinget. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  5. ^ Olesen, Emilie Palm (11 November 2022). "Lærer er ny skoleordfører i Nye Borgerlige: Lærerværelset er for rødt". www.folkeskolen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  6. ^ Sørensen, Birgit Bakkær (20 March 2023). "Mikkel Bjørn er flyttet til Nyborg og fra sit uroplagede parti: Jeg flytter ikke tilbage til Nye Borgerlige og Pernille Vermund igen". Fyens Stiftstidende. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  7. ^ Grothe, Zarah Leth (22 March 2016). "Vejles KU-formand er smidt ud af partiet". JydskeVestkysten. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  8. ^ a b Villemoes, Søren K. (7 October 2016). "Borgerlig bitchfighting". Weekendavisen. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  9. ^ Foxil, Emilie. "Nyvalgt fynsk politiker blev smidt ud af eks-parti: - Det skal være meget ekstremt for at blive ekskluderet". TV2 Fyn (in Danish). Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Strid i Konservativ Ungdom: Internetdebat førte til eksklusioner". Berlingske. Ritzau. 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  11. ^ Skjoldan, Lise-Lotte (13 October 2016). "Unge Nye Borgerlige vælger landsformand". Altinget.dk. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  12. ^ Koeller, Camille (27 December 2022). "»Folk tillægger mig holdninger på grund af mit politiske tilhørsforhold, som jeg egentlig ikke har«". Politiken. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Mikkel Bjørn (DF)". Folketinget. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Kommunalvalg d. 21 november 2017". KMD. 23 November 2017. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Nye Borgerlige er kun valgt ind i én kommune". TV 2. Ritzau. 22 November 2017. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  16. ^ "Folketingsvalg onsdag 5. juni 2019". Danmarks Statistik. 13 June 2019. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  17. ^ Lunding Kusk, Matilde (25 April 2022). "Jysk skolelærer er Nye Borgerliges bud på en fynsk mand i Folketinget: Dumper når det kommer til spørgsmål om Fyn". Fyens Stiftstidende. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  18. ^ Bergman, Peter. "Fynske politikere smækker med døren og forlader Nye Borgerlige". TV2 Fyn (in Danish). Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  19. ^ Klingenberg, Kenneth (6 August 2022). "Partitoppens beslutning skabte uro på Fyn - men nu kan medlemmerne få det sidste ord | fyens.dk". fyens.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  20. ^ Holst, Helene Kristine (21 August 2022). "»Skrigende vaskekoner«: Dybe frustrationer i Nye Borgerlige får beskyldningerne til at flyve". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  21. ^ "Det nye folketing". DR. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  22. ^ "Nyvalgt overtager Thiesens post som gruppenæstformand". Fyns Amts Avis. Ritzau. 9 November 2022. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  23. ^ Kjøller, Simon Engell; Condrup, Mette Grube (5 January 2023). "Overblik: Her er formændene for Folketingets udvalg". Altinget.dk. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  24. ^ "Indfødsretsudvalgets arbejde". Folketinget. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  25. ^ Bach, Jeppe Tholstrup (10 January 2023). "Vermund siger farvel – her er eksperternes bud på hendes efterfølger". TV 2. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  26. ^ Westersø, Rikke Struck (15 January 2023). "Pernille Vermund efterlader Nye Borgerlige i krise: - Partiet er truet på sin eksistens". TV 2. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  27. ^ Wentoft, Andreas F. R. (10 January 2023). "Joachim B. Olsen: De skal kæmpe om posten i Nye Borgerlige". B.T. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  28. ^ a b Holst, Emma Qvirin (11 January 2023). "Politisk redaktør: Facebookkriger nævnes af mange som Vermunds afløser. Men en ung, nyvalgt NB'er kan også tage over". Altinget.dk. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023. Men kendere af partiet peger på, at den nyvalgte Mikkel Bjørn – sin unge alder til trods og totale mangel på Christiansborg-erfaring – også kunne være et bud. Han repræsenterer den meget nationalkonservative fløj i partiet, mens Boje Mathiesen, som også har en fortid i Liberal Alliance, er, ja, meget liberal
  29. ^ a b Bentzen, Jeppe (26 January 2023). "Pibe eller protest". Weekendavisen. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  30. ^ Sabah, Mahamad-Bakher; Olrik, Mads; Jensen, Jens Høyer; Rosengreen, Emil (8 February 2023). "Nye Borgerlige ville ikke være et protestparti. Nu har de Danmarks største protestpolitiker som formand". Zetland. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  31. ^ Eller, Emil (17 January 2023). "Lars Boje Mathiesen vil være formand for Nye Borgerlige". DR. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  32. ^ Astrup, Peter (17 January 2023). "Mikkel Bjørn bakkede ikke Lars Boje op på aftenens møde". www.bt.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  33. ^ Westersø, Rikke Struck (25 January 2023). "Lars Boje Mathiesen bliver ny formand for Nye Borgerlige". TV 2. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  34. ^ "Lars Boje er valgt som formand for Nye Borgerlige". TV 2. 7 February 2023. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  35. ^ Kosiara-Pedersen, Karina (20 April 2023). "Nye Borgerlige". Den Store Danske. Retrieved 4 June 2023. Den 24. januar 2023 brød også Mikkel Bjørn Sørensen med Nye Borgerlige og meldte sig ligeledes ind i Dansk Folkeparti
  36. ^ Fischer, Cecilie; Bruhn, Malte; Rønberg, Ninna Gøbel (24 January 2023). "Endnu et folketingsmedlem siger farvel til Nye Borgerlige: Det ligner et dødskys". Altinget.dk. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  37. ^ Eller, Emil (24 January 2023). "Lars Boje afviser anklager fra afhoppet folketingsmedlem: 'Nogle gange sætter folk sig selv foran sagen'". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  38. ^ Bloch, Cathrine; Fallentin, Mia Gleerup (24 January 2023). "»Jeg vidste jo godt, at det kunne blive grimt,« erklærede Pernille Vermund. Det blev det". Berlingske.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  39. ^ "Mikkel Bjørn overtager ordførerskaber fra Messerschmidt og Pia K." Berlingske. Ritzau. 27 January 2023. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  40. ^ a b Bentzen, Jeppe (18 February 2021). "Borgerlige bad guys". Weekendavisen. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.