Power's Morning Brief: After dramatic showdown in Venstre - here is the winner

A dramatic day unfolded Tuesday in Venstre's parliamentary group. Who won when Preben Bang Henriksen was thrown out?

Venstre decided Tuesday to exclude Preben Bang Henriksen from the parliamentary group. (Photo: © Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix)

50 minutes ago

In two weeks, Venstre's group has said goodbye to two prominent figures.

One, Søren Gade, who had otherwise caused complete havoc in Venstre, ended up as a martyr with tributes from near and far, while the other, Preben Bang Henriksen, who also contributed significantly to the turmoil in Venstre, now ends up like a fly hitting a wall.

Yes, the image is brutal. But that is the verdict from two former advisors, who in no way buy Preben Bang Henriksen's argument that no one other than Preben Bang Henriksen should decide what Preben Bang Henriksen votes in the Folketing chamber.

He has, after all, read the Constitution, which states that one votes according to one's own conviction. And that stance got him thrown out of Venstre.

But congratulations on the fine principles when reality calls for something completely different, namely falling in line and voting with your party, is the verdict from the two former advisors, and we take a closer look at that in *Magtens Morgenbrief*, where we also simply crown a winner of the latest power struggle in Venstre.

Yes, it was almost like following a political reality show when Preben Bang Henriksen's political fate was to be decided, as former advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, Thomas Juul-Dam, puts it.

After the now former Venstre member had refused to fall in line with Venstre leader Troels Lund Poulsen, there was a secret vote in Venstre's parliamentary group on whether Preben Bang Henriksen should be expelled.

And it is absolutely wild that it had to come to that, Thomas Juul-Dam believes.

- Politics is not some refined version of Paradise Hotel or Robinson, he says. He in no way buys the argument about the Constitution and delivers the heavy blow.

- This is a poor excuse for neither having the stamina nor the backbone to see through what any blind person can see that Venstre needs to go through.

Jacob Bruun, who also has a past as an advisor in the Prime Minister's Office and Venstre, has never in his time in the party experienced anything like it at a group meeting.

- You fall in line with the spokesperson, and you fall in line with the party line. That business of going around voting and throwing little slips of paper into a hat is completely unheard of, he says.

But what should Preben Bang Henriksen have done, given that he refuses to guarantee voting with the party?

Only once in his 15 years in parliament has he voted against the group, and even though there are several votes on the horizon that could potentially be just as difficult as the nitrogen law, Preben Bang Henriksen would, according to the two former advisors, have gotten much more out of staying in Venstre and fighting for his views.

Therefore, Jacob Bruun is also not impressed with how Preben Bang Henriksen played his cards. And now he must – at least for now – be an independent.

- He will have to sit down in the "grebning," and he will probably spend more time on the golf course than in the Folketing chamber. Now he becomes completely irrelevant, says Jacob Bruun, and for those not entirely familiar with Christiansborg lingo, "grebningen" refers to the back and lowest-placed seats in the Folketing chamber, just as it is where dirt and muck gather in a cow barn… Actually a rather crazy comparison.

In fact, Preben Bang Henriksen is doing the agricultural sector a disservice by standing completely outside. According to Jacob Bruun, he would have gotten more out of staying and fighting within Venstre's group. That is how you negotiate compromises.

- He should have been the voice of agriculture inside that group room, and tried to make things a bit more brown and get better compensation for farmers. Then the pressure on the Venstre leadership would have been much stronger, he says.

According to Thomas Juul-Dam, the brutal truth about politics is that it is the party leaders who set the direction, and you have to live with that, even if you are not always 100 percent in agreement.

Because if you want influence, it is also necessary to stand together as a party, and therefore Preben Bang Henriksen's exit is also bad for agriculture.

- It is bad news for those in agriculture who had hoped that Preben Bang Henriksen could help change something, because Preben Bang Henriksen now has the same effect as when a fly hits a wall, he says.

- I mean, we don't have 179 free-thinkers running around who just vote according to which way the wind blows.

The big question, of course, is whether Troels Lund Poulsen, who has had some tough months, can now get peace to work and declare victory over the agricultural rebellion from Jutland.

Now he has the support of the national board, the green light from the executive committee, and the troublemakers have been shown the door, and both Jacob Bruun and Thomas Juul-Dam are ready to crown Troels Lund Poulsen as the winner of the internal power struggle in Venstre.

- Troels Lund Poulsen has shown that he has the nerves to see this through. No one in Venstre is in doubt that if they don't fall in line now, it's goodbye and thanks, says Thomas Juul-Dam, who believes that Troels Lund Poulsen, after this somewhat brutal maneuver, stands strengthened.

- Now he has gotten control of the power in Venstre. Now he still needs to get a handle on the substance, because it is a bit unclear, says Thomas Juul-Dam, referring to the fact that it is still not entirely clear what Venstre can offer voters.

Jacob Bruun agrees that it has been crucial to stop the unrest in the party.

- The biggest problem in Venstre is the internal unrest. He has insisted on putting a stop to it. Now only those who want to be part of it should remain in Venstre, says Jacob Bruun.

So there are only two weeks until Venstre's national congress, where Troels Lund Poulsen is to be re-elected as chairman. It will be exciting to see if any of the remaining Venstre members have even a little bit of Gade or Bang in their blood and dare to speak up, or if everyone now just does what Troels Lund Poulsen says.

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