Uffe Elbæk

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Danish politician (born 1954)

title: "Uffe Elbæk" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1954-births", "living-people", "people-from-skanderborg-municipality", "danish-social-liberal-party-politicians", "the-alternative-(denmark)-politicians", "independent-greens-(denmark)-politicians", "ministers-for-culture-of-denmark", "danish-lgbtq-politicians", "danish-gay-men", "gay-politicians", "lgbtq-legislators", "members-of-the-folketing-2011–2015", "members-of-the-folketing-2015–2019", "members-of-the-folketing-2019–2022", "leaders-of-political-parties-in-denmark", "political-party-founders"] description: "Danish politician (born 1954)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffe_Elbæk" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Danish politician (born 1954) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Uffe Elbæk
image	Danmarks kulturminister Uffe Elbaek vid Nordiska Radets session 2011 i Kopenhamn.jpg
office1	Member of the Folketing
term_start1	15 September 2011
constituency1	Copenhagen
office2	Political leader of the Alternative
term_start2	27 November 2013
succeeded2	Josephine Fock
termend2	1 February 2020
office3	Minister of Culture
primeminister3	Helle Thorning-Schmidt
term_start3	3 October 2011
term_end3	6 December 2012
predecessor3	Per Stig Møller
successor3	Marianne Jelved
birth_date
birth_place	Ry, Denmark
party	The Alternative
(20132020, 2022present)
otherparty	Social Liberal Party
(20112013)
Independent
(2020)
Independent Greens
(20202022)
partner	Jens Pedersen
::

Uffe Elbæk (born 15 June 1954) is a Danish politician, social worker, author, journalist, and entrepreneur. In 2013, he founded the green political party The Alternative, which he led until February 2020.

From 3 October 2011 to December 2012, he served as the Danish Minister of Culture. He was originally a member of the Danish Social Liberal Party, but left in September 2013 to launch The Alternative with Josephine Fock. Elbæk announced on 16 December 2019 that he would stand down as political leader of The Alternative on 1 February 2020. After leaving The Alternative's leadership, Elbæk subsequently left the party completely before joining with two other Alternative parliamentarians to form the new Independent Greens in September 2020. He was succeeded by Josephine Fock. In 2022 Elbæk returned to the Alternative but did not run in the national election of November 2022. Elbæk is the author of several books, most recently the autobiography "Et liv" (2022), the story of the Kaospilots, "Mirakler i Mejlgade (2024), and the debate book "Tvivl, Håb & Handling" (2023, to be published in English as "Doubt Hope Action" in 2026).

Early career

Born in Ry, Denmark, Elbæk is the founder and former Principal of the KaosPilots International School of New Business Design and Social Innovation, located in Aarhus. The KaosPilots school inspired the creation of several international schools located in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. He was also one of the initiators for the cultural entrepreneur-milieu called Frontløberne.

From 2007 to 2009, Elbæk served as the CEO of the 2009 World Outgames, an international LGBT event hosted in Copenhagen.

In July 2010, Elbæk founded the consulting company Change The Game with focus on leadership training skills, political campaigning, and social innovation concepts.

Political career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Folkemodet_Uffe_Elbaek_20120615_1868F_(8179343986).jpg" caption="Uffe Elbaek in a public meeting in 2012"] ::

Elbæk won a seat in the Folketing for the Danish Social Liberal Party in the 2011 Danish parliamentary election. On 3 October 2011, he was appointed Culture Minister of Denmark in the government cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt. He resigned from his minister position in December 2012 after criticism for holding five official gatherings at the organization AFUK - Akademiet For Utæmmet Kreativitet, where he previously held a chairman post, and where his husband was employed. He was later acquitted of all charges by the national audit agency of Denmark which concluded he hadn't had a conflict of interest. The Ministry was instead criticized for some other facets related to the case.

The Alternative (2013–2020)

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Uffe_Elbæk.jpg" caption="Uffe Elbæk election poster in the [[2015 Danish general election"] ::

On 27 November 2013, Uffe Elbæk hosted a press conference where he announced the formation of a new "green" political party named The Alternative. The Party did not have a traditional political program, but wanted to develop it together with the citizens through so called "political laboratories".

In the spring of 2014, 20 political laboratories were conducted all over Denmark, with more than 700 participants. Shortly after, on 24 May, the first crowdsourced political program became a reality. [Link to the first edition. Newest edition is here:] . The political program is updated regularly as the specific policies are developed through the political laboratories, and then verified and endorsed by the unit of political decision-makers in the Alternative, Politisk Forum (The Politic Forum).

On 23 February, Uffe Elbæk made use of Twitter to break the news that The Alternative had gathered enough signatures to become eligible to take part in the forthcoming parliamentary election. This was officially confirmed and accepted by the Interior Ministry on 23 March, when the party was granted the acceptance on the electoral lists.

At the Parliamentary election on 18 June, the Alternative obtained 4.8% of the votes (168,788), which gave them nine seats in the parliament. Uffe Elbæk received 18,796 personal votes, thereby attaining the 10th-most personal votes this election. He was nominated by the party to run for Prime Minister in the election, but lost to the leader of the Social Democrats, Mette Frederiksen.

In addition to Uffe Elbæk, the members of the parliamentary group of The Alternative include Carolina Maier, Josephine Fock, Christian Poll, Torsten Gejl, Rasmus Nordqvist, Ulla Sandbæk, Roger Matthisen, and René Gade.

Independent Greens (2020–2022)

In March 2020, Elbæk along with Sikandar Siddique, Susanne Zimmer, and Niko Grünfeld, left The Alternative after allegations that leader Josephine Fock had verbally abused members of the party. Fock had been elected to succeed Elbæk in February. On 7 March, a slim majority in the central board gave Fock their support, with ten voting for and seven against. Following the decision, the party's local branch in Elbæk's constituency demanded that he publicly express full support of Fock, or they would withdraw their support of Elbæk. On 9 March, Elbæk left the party, saying he "no longer recognized" the party he founded.

The four formed the Independent Greens as a "responsible, climate-conscious and anti-racist party," and Siddique was elected leader.

In late November 2021, Elbæk, together with Katarina Ammitzbøll, aided former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui, who was under criminal investigation, to obtain a visa to leave Hong Kong. Hui used this opportunity to self-exile, as he announced shortly after arriving. Danish reports said that Hong Kong authorities would seek to have Ammitzbøll and Elbæk extradited.

Return to The Alternative (2022)

Ahead of the Next Danish general election, new Alternative leader Franciska Rosenkilde called for a united green list including The Alternative, the Independent Greens, and the Vegan Party, as all three green parties were polling below the electoral threshold and there was a chance of no green representation in the Folketing. Siddique, however, dismissed the plan. Elbæk later called for the Independent Greens and Alternative to merge, and eventually rejoined the old party, reducing the number of sitting FG MPs to two.

Post-political career

As of 2025 Elbæk is a founder and partner in the social and democratic innovation lab Tomorrow Collective.

Personal life

Elbæk is the first city counsellor in Aarhus, the first Danish Minister for Culture, and the first Danish party leader to be openly gay. He lives in a registered partnership with publisher Jens Pedersen, with whom he lives in Copenhagen. Elbæk also has a son and a stepson from previous relationships. He is a member of LGBT Danmark and Amnesty International.

Views

Elbæk supports a universal basic income (UBI).

References

(27 November 2013). "Uffe Elbæk stifter nyt parti".
"Josephine Fock - The Alternative".
(16 December 2019). "Uffe Elbæk stopper som politisk leder for Alternativet". TV2.
Westersø, Rikke Struck. (1 February 2020). "Alternativet går til landsmøde - hvem bliver Uffe Elbæks arvtager?". TV 2.
"Frontloeberne".
"Play the Game supports World Outgames 2009".
(20 March 2013). "Avis: Rigsrevision frikender Uffe Elbæk i cirkussag".
"POLITISKE LABORATORIER - Alternativet".
"The first political program 2014".
"Partiprogram - Alternativet".
"Politisk Forum - Alternativet".
"Uffe Elbaek on Twitter".
"2019 election result showing that Alternativet got 5 seats as supposed to Mette Frederiksen with 91.".
(19 June 2015). "Her er valgets stemmeslugere - og dem færrest stemte på".
"Alternativets folketingsgruppe har fordelt ordførerskaberne - Alternativet".
(7 March 2020). "Spinkelt flertal bakker op om Fock: Der er ikke fundet dokumentation for ruskeri". Politiken.
(7 March 2020). "Baglandet truer Elbæk på hans politiske liv, og Fock siger, at Alternativet er i krise". Politiken.
(2020-03-09). "Uffe Elbæk forlader Alternativet - nu har partiet kun ét folketingsmedlem tilbage - TV 2".
(19 September 2022). "A radical new green party for Denmark – welcome to the Independent Greens (Frie Grønne)".
Leung, Christy. (9 January 2021). "Police will investigate anyone who helps an offender flee, Hong Kong warns amid reports city is looking at prosecuting Danish politicians who aided wanted ex-lawmaker Ted Hui". [[South China Morning Post]].
Kwan, Rhoda. (3 December 2020). "Democrat Ted Hui denies he is seeking asylum in Denmark despite facing charges in Hong Kong; family 'leaves city'". [[Hong Kong Free Press]].
(2022-08-26). "Alternativet inviterer Frie Grønne og Grøn Alliance ind i partiet - TV 2".
(2022-08-30). "Frie Grønne-leder afviser at indgå i Alternativet - TV 2".
"Uffe Elbæk: Frie Grønne og Alternativet bør slå sig sammen".
"Uffe Elbæk har meldt sig ud af Frie Grønne, som han selv stiftede: Nu vil han tilbage i Alternativet {{!}} Seneste nyt".
[http://www.b.dk/foedselsdag/kulturpiloten-fylder-60 Kulturpiloten fylder 60 - Fødselsdag. www.b.dk]
[http://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/politik/danskpolitik/article1667320.ece Her er ministrene medlemmer], 1. december, eb.dk
(6 February 2018). "Introduction". Bristol University Press.

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