Margrethe Vestager

Margrethe Vestager (born 13 April 1968 at Glostrup, Zealand) is a Danish politician, who is currently serving as the [European Commissioner for Competition]. She served as a Member of Parliament (Folketing) from 20 November 2001 until 2 September 2014, representing the Danish Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre). She was the political leader of her party from 2007 to 2014, and served as Minister of Economic Affairs and the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2014.

Early life and education

A daughter of Hans Vestager and Bodil Tybjerg, she matriculated from Varde Upper Secondary school in 1986. She studied at the University of Copenhagen, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Economics.

Vestager speaks Danish, English and some French.

Political career

At the age of 21, Vestager was appointed to the central board and executive committee of the SLP and its European Affairs Committee, and shortly afterwards as National Chairwoman of the Party.

In 2001, Vestager was elected to the Danish Parliament, becoming Chairwoman of its Parliamentary Group in 2007. She was appointed Minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1998.

The Economist

The Economist is an English language weekly newspaper owned by the Economist Group and edited in offices based in London. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843. For historical reasons, The Economist refers to itself as a newspaper, but each print edition appears on small glossy paper like a news magazine. In 2006, its average weekly circulation was reported to be 1.5 million, about half of which were sold in the United States.

The publication belongs to The Economist Group. It is 50% owned by private investors and 50% by Exor, the Agnelli holding company, and the Rothschild banking family of England. Exor and the Rothschilds are represented on the Board of Directors. A board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission. Although The Economist has a global emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the City of Westminster, London. As of March 2014, the Economist Group declared operating profit of £59m. Previous major shareholders include Pearson PLC.

Pia Kjærsgaard

Pia Merete Kjærsgaard (Danish pronunciation: [pʰiːæ ˈkʰæɐ̯ˀsɡ̊ɒːˀ]; born 23 February 1947) is a Danish politician who has been Speaker of the Folketing, the parliament of Denmark, since 2015. She is a co-founder of the Danish People's Party, a far-rightnativist, national conservative political party in Denmark, and led the party from 1995 to 2012. She has become one of the best-known politicians in Denmark during recent years, both for her vocal and unwavering stance against multiculturalism and immigration, and for her parliamentary support for the center-right governments of Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Lars Løkke Rasmussen from 2001 to 2011. Her success has been an inspiration for anti-immigration and anti-Islamic movements throughout Europe.

On 7 August 2012, Kjærsgaard announced her resignation from the leader position of the Danish People's Party. She appointed Kristian Thulesen Dahl as her successor, and he took office on 12 September 2012, promising to maintain the course laid out by Kjærsgaard.