The leader of Denmark’s Conservative People’s Party died Saturday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, Reuters reported.
52-year-old Soren Pape Poulsen, who was the first gay leader of a major political party in Denmark, collapsed during a party meeting and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
His next of kin were able to see him before the news was made public, Ritzau writes.
Pape Poulsen married Josue Medina Vasquez in Dec. 2021 after having known him since 2013. However, in Sept. 2022 the pair announced they were separating after it emerged Vazquez was neither Jewish nor related to the president of the Dominican Republican as he claimed and which Pape Poulsen had spoken about publicly.
Poulsen became leader of the Conservatives in 2014 and served as Minister of Justice under former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen from 2016 until 2019.
In the 2022 general election, he ran as a candidate to become prime minister but his party suffered a disappointing election result, returning a 5.5 percent vote share.
He was mayor of central Jutland city Viborg before taking over as Conservative leader.
Conservative general secretary Søren Vandsø paid tribute to Poulsen in a message on the party’s website.
“He collapsed in the midst of what he dedicated his life to. A political life that sought to make life better for the rest of us. He was giving us an orientation on elderly policies and foreign policy observations and the last thing he saw was a round of applause from his party colleagues,” Vandsø said.
Vandsø also gave Poulsen’s time of death as 1:13pm on Saturday.
Deputy leader Michael Ziegler takes over as acting chairperson of the Conservatives, broadcaster DR reports. Ziegler, who is not an MP but is mayor of Høje-Taastrup, will not be the political leader.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen offered condolences to Poulsen’s family.
“Today, my thoughts go to Søren’s family who were so dear to him, and to the entire Conservative People’s Party. May Søren Pape Poulsen rest in peace,” Frederiksen said in a statement.
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I was bleeding in my brain for months til finally I had paralyzed right arm. I survived had major surgery and a titanium plate in to cover the open surgery. I was extremely lucky. I had a brother who died at 22 from a blood clot in his brain. Sorry to hear such sad news. Lesson enjoy the moment and the hell with stress and ego and vanity.