Søren Gade has slept well. Better than he has in many nights.
"It's a strange feeling. It's not that I don't know myself and my body. But if you've been under pressure for a long time, your body reacts," he says on the DR program 'Ugens gæst'. ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 )
On Sunday, the popular, West Jutland Venstre politician wrote on Facebook that he is leaving the Danish Parliament ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/soeren-gade-stopper-i-folketinget ). On Thursday, his replacement, Erik Flyvholm, took his seat instead.
Søren Gade has no doubt that his decision is the right one:
He admits that the media storms he has been through recently have not only affected him. They have also rubbed off when he has been with his wife. His children and grandchildren.
"Then I have to save myself. And that's what I did on Sunday," says Søren Gade on 'Ugens gæst'. ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 )
He does, however, intend to keep both the courage of his convictions – and his membership card for Venstre.
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'If you look like a doormat, people will walk all over you'
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It has been 17 days since Søren Gade stepped down as Speaker of the Danish Parliament and had his portrait unveiled in the Passage Room right next to the Chamber.
But on the same day, Jyllands-Posten published a less flattering portrait article about Søren Gade based on 13 anonymous sources. Among others, political expert Thomas Juul-Dam has directly described the article as a 'character assassination'. ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/magtens-morgenbrief-selv-ikke-et-karaktermord-fik-lukket-munden-paa-soeren-gade-i-stedet-smed-han )
Read also: Why Søren Gade left: 'There were some who thought I should be out' ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/derfor-gik-soeren-gade-der-var-nogen-der-synes-jeg-skulle-ud )
As a politician, Søren Gade has previously been caught up in major media storms and has had to step down as Minister of Defence. ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/soeren-gade-stopper-som-forsvarsminister ) Privately, he lost his first wife ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/soeren-gades-kone-er-doed ) and was left alone with two daughters. But the newspaper article in Jyllands-Posten still helped to "turn out the lights":
He also envisioned that the 13 anonymous sources could lead to yet another "campaign of destruction" in Jyllands-Posten:
"If you look like a doormat, you have to accept that people will walk all over you. And I don't want to be a doormat. I don't want to be the punching bag that everyone could just take anonymous shots at in Jyllands-Posten," says Søren Gade on 'Ugens gæst' ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 ).
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Maybe brought the wrong clothes
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The decisive factor for Søren Gade, however, was that Venstre changed its policy towards agriculture and the so-called fertilisation law ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/viden/klima/hvad-er-goedskning-og-hvad-gaar-den-nye-lov-ud-paa ). In September, he voted against the law along with four other Venstre politicians ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/intern-uro-i-venstre-inden-afstemning-om-omstridt-miljoelov ) – even though it meant going against the party line.
"You have to stand by what you believe. You also have to go out on a limb sometimes," says Søren Gade.
© Ritzau Scanpix
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Søren Gade
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Søren Gade was born on 27 January 1963. He is an economist, officer, and politician.
Gade was briefly a substitute in the Danish Parliament in 1999, and was elected in 2001. In 2004, he became Minister of Defence, a post he held until 2010, when he had to resign due to the leak case ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/eksperter-laekagesagen-doer-med-gades-farvel ).
Søren Gade returned to Danish politics and the Danish Parliament in 2015. In 2019, he was elected to the European Parliament for Venstre with over 201,000 personal votes.
At the 2022 election, Søren Gade again returned to Danish politics, after which he was elected Speaker of the Danish Parliament.
Søren Gade has daughters Ida and Mette - and four grandchildren. His first wife, Helle Buskbjerg Poulsen, died in 2008. Søren Gade married Marianne Kirk last year.
On 'Ugens gæst ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 )' he emphasises that he acknowledges that it is Troels Lund Poulsen and Stephanie Lose who, as the leadership, set the direction for Venstre. But Søren Gade refuses to be a "marionette" – and he also doesn't believe that voters reward such a person in the long run.
In the end, it became clear that he could no longer see himself on the "journey" ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/analyse-venstre-toppen-haaber-det-vaerste-er-overstaaet-men-der-kommer-mere-landbrugsballade-i ) that Venstre, according to party chairman Troels Lund Poulsen, is on:
"I went to the election, and I fought for what we campaigned on. Then they choose to say that we need to be rebooked on a different plane. I'm not good at that sort of thing," says Søren Gade.
"I can't just say, now you turn around and go 180 degrees in the other direction. I'm simply not cut out for that."
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Venstre is a lifestyle
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Søren Gade does not believe he slammed the door on his way out of the "plane". He did not take his mandate to another party, but left himself.
And he does intend to keep his membership of Venstre, which he has held for 48 years. At least for now:
"It's not like a plaster you just rip off. It's a lifestyle, and they are my friends and my roots."
He hopes the party finds a good destination for the political and ideological "journey". A journey that Søren Gade hopes will end with the party again being able to attract Danes in both rural and urban areas.
But if the destination ends up being completely wrong, it's probably not certain that Søren Gade will be on board the Venstre plane:
"You're a member as long as you're a member. I pay my dues. If you're a member of a football club, you're a member until you stop paying," says Søren Gade on 'Ugens gæst'. ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 )
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Won't bet a chocolate turtle
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In recent days, several media outlets have reported rumours that Søren Gade was otherwise on his way to another party, notably the Denmark Democrats.
But Søren Gade himself denies this:
"I haven't left politics just to be on my way back into politics again," he states.
In the short term, he will now be there for the people he cares about – and who care about him. He is also looking forward to taking some long walks along the coast and giving some lectures, which he hasn't had room for in his calendar for a long time.
And Søren Gade wishes to become active in Venstre's party organisation in West Jutland – also when it comes to putting up posters and handing out flyers for other candidates.
In fact, he isn't finished having opinions either:
"I am a political animal. So I will be allowed, like other citizens, to write letters to the editor and have an opinion on various things," says Søren Gade.
On 'Ugens gæst' ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 ), host Pia Røn asks if he will bet a chocolate turtle that he will say yes to a ministerial post in a few years:
Søren Gade will not.
"Life takes shape according to what happens around you. These are some of the questions I will get many times, and which I cannot give an answer to," he says.
"I don't have a master plan in my head."
As a very young man, Søren Gade went to a Gasolin' concert in Aabenraa - but there were other tunes of the time that meant more to him. Hear much more about Søren Gade on 'Ugens Gæst' on DR Lyd: ( https://www.dr.dk/lyd/p1/ugens-gaest/ugens-gaest-2026/soeren-gade-11162608435 )
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.