Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Denmark needs change, Denmark needs to move on and Denmark needs my leadership.

I feel like giving myself a pat on the back. We can create history tonight. We can bid goodbye to 10 years of (Liberal-Conservative) government which has ground to a halt, and get a new government and a new majority in Denmark.

I'm taking care of the children, doing a bit of cooking and trying to do a bit of DIY around the house. But that's not going too well.

But what sets Europe apart is we insist on a social model that consists of solidarity, equal opportunity and a certain amount of redistribution.

I really appreciate the British part of my family.

We did it. Make no mistake: We have written history. Today there's a change of guards in Denmark.

We have the opportunity to change Denmark - that opportunity must be seized.

We can say farewell to 10 years of bourgeois rule... now we have the opportunity to change Denmark.

So yes, European decision making is not pretty. But it does work.

We are not jumping on the austerity bandwagon. A healthy economy is by far the most important thing for Social Democrats.

Without growth we can't pay down our debt, and without growth there's no money for welfare.