Socialist People’s Party (SF) Business and Growth Minister Ole Sohn has decided not to seek re-election at the next election and to step down from his portfolio in the reshuffle expected when the new SF leader is elected tomorrow and chooses her ministerial team.

“With a new leader I think it is fairest to say that I will be stopping at the end of this electoral period,” Ole Sohn tells Jyllands-Posten.

“This is a signal to the two adversaries that when they build the team for the future, it is sensible to choose who is with them after the next election,” Sohn adds.

Jyllands-Posten says that Sohn’s decision not to seek re-election is also a decision not to continue as business and growth minister.

There have been suggestions over the past few weeks that Sohn’s portfolio is in the balance irrespective of whether Annette Vilhelmsen or Astrid Krag wins the party leadership. But Sohn says his decision has nothing to do with a possible reshuffle that would remove him from his current post.

Sohn says he wants to spend more time with his family and is looking to return to his publishing company, which he pulled out of when he became a minister a year ago.

Current favourite to win the SF leadership is Annette Vilhelmsen. If she indeed wins the contest with Health Minister Astrid Krag, Jyllands-Posten says she is expected to move into the business and trade portfolio. She is currently the party’s business spokeswoman.

Outgoing Party Leader and Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal says he understands Sohn’s decision.

“He has been through a media meat-grinder and although Ole is highly respected for his work, you always have to weigh up whether it’s worth it,” Søvndal says in a written comment.

Sohn has been the target of media controversy in connection with his former chairmanship of the Danish Communist Party.

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