The white cat Irma – named after the supermarket chain – is crawling around the long wooden table in the dining room. Her paws step on stickers with Signe Wenneberg’s face and campaign flyers.
In just under two weeks, Signe Wenneberg has launched an election campaign after being announced as the candidate for Alternativet and later the lead candidate in the Greater Copenhagen constituency on the day the election was called.
Political commentators have suggested that she could help tip the balance of power between the red and blue blocs and ensure that Mette Frederiksen (S) can continue as prime minister. Mette Frederiksen has also congratulated Signe Wenneberg on social media and crossed her fingers that they can »do something good together«.
Therefore, Politiken cycles out to her house in Hellerup to understand what Signe Wenneberg actually wants to achieve with the power. Even when it doesn’t involve climate, sustainability, cultural heritage, and pigs, which are her main issues.
But it is particularly the demolition of buildings and cultural heritage that concerns her. On Instagram, over 170,000 people follow Wenneberg as she documents which buildings are being sacrificed across the country to make way for new ones.
The same morning as Politiken’s interview, the Minister for Social Affairs and Housing, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (S), announced in the same newspaper that she wants to put a stop to »mindless demolitions« with a new principle of »preserve or explain«. One might immediately be tempted to think that Signe Wenneberg, who has fought fiercely for this for several years, would be pleased.
But that would be wrong.
»I haven’t seen them do anything about the problems yet. They’ve announced something similar for four years«, she says.
In fact, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen has sat in that exact chair, she says, pointing to the chair at the end of the dining table, and seen »exactly that poster« hanging on the bookshelf with Signe Wenneberg’s principles on demolition.
»It’s a free ride, really — going out there and borrowing my language, because she thinks there are votes in it. But what has she actually done?«
You say she’s borrowing your language. Does that annoy you?
»No, I actually find it kind of funny.«
Signe Wenneberg wants clear legislation in this area. That’s one of the things she hopes to contribute to if elected. Back in 2011, she was also on the ballot for Socialdemokratiet. Back then, S was a different party, she says.
And in fact, Socialdemokratiet is the common denominator for several of the issues that have provoked her in recent years: The billion-dollar compensation to mink farmers, Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke’s extension of the use of the pesticide Roundup, and successive Social Democratic housing ministers who, according to her, have done nothing to save the building cultural heritage.
But if Alternativet crosses the electoral threshold, the party will likely be ready to form a parliamentary basis for a government that again gives power to Mette Frederiksen.
So how does she actually feel about that?
»We have to be realistic: in Denmark, this election comes down to Troels Lund Poulsen or Mette Frederiksen.«
Requirements for citizenship applicants
Signe Wenneberg would rather talk about what she knows best. But if she’s elected on 24 March, she’ll have to take positions on plenty of other issues too — especially in a small parliamentary group like Alternativet’s, where each MP covers more than 10 spokesperson roles, ranging from Nordic cooperation to tax policy.
Some of the dilemmas politicians face, Wenneberg has answered in Politiken’s candidate test. Now her answers lie on a piece of paper on the table.
There is a question where you answer that you completely agree that foreigners should only receive Danish citizenship if they know and adhere to democratic values and gender equality. Why is that?
»Well, of course, there should be some requirements when you get citizenship. And gender equality has always been very important to me. So I can’t really imagine wanting to live in Denmark if you don’t adhere to democratic rights and gender equality«.
But that doesn’t mean she supports the so-called mindset interviews that the citizenship committee has conducted with applicants for Danish citizenship. There have been examples where they have been very invasive, Wenneberg says.
How should one then ensure that applicants know and adhere to democratic values and gender equality if screening interviews are not conducted with them?
»I know that it is already incredibly difficult to get citizenship. You have to meet so many requirements«.
Alternativet’s political leader, Franciska Rosenkilde — unlike Wenneberg — has said she »completely disagrees« with the claim, writing in the candidate test that the party does not support mindset control. Give refugees a good start in Denmark, without prejudice and distrust, Rosenkilde argues, and integration will work better.
»I completely agree with Franciska — on that, and on many other things,« Wenneberg says.
But you answered completely agree, and she answered completely disagree?
»I sat with another party member, and I think it’s okay to set a requirement, and we already do that in Denmark, so it’s fine«.
So you agree, even though you answered two very different things?
»Yes, you can easily be«.
Another question about increasing penalties for violent crime also divides Alternativet’s candidates. Here, Signe Wenneberg answered that she partly agrees that penalties for violent crime should be increased compared to the current level.
»I am very concerned about rape, where I think the penalty has not been severe enough. And that’s the only thing that influenced my answer«, says Wenneberg.
Alternativet’s party line is not higher penalties, but rather prevention and resocialization.
Do you agree with that?
»Yes«.
But also higher penalties for some forms of crime?
»Yes, for rape«.
»Shouldn’t we talk about some of the things I know about?«.
It is undeniably the green issues that matter to Wenneberg. And it is with this focus that she hopes to be elected.
»I don’t think anyone votes for me because they think I suddenly have expertise in law. Or know all sorts of things about punishment and defense. It’s because they want to give a vote to someone they trust and who has consistently had a green focus«.
»So they may think I don’t know enough about all sorts of other things. But there are certainly some things I know a lot about. That’s what I want to represent in Parliament«.
So you shouldn’t be the postal spokesperson?
»Well, I’m actually really tired of us having dismantled our postal service. We can talk about that. It’s history and culture!«.
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