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🇩🇰 Denmark /Elections & Politics

SF leader avoids answering when fired consultant advised again

From Berlingske · () Danish

Translated from Danish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • SF party leader Pia Olsen Dyhr admits to a mistake in hiring an advisor accused of harassment, stating everyone deserves a second chance.
  • It has since emerged the advisor continued to consult for the party through an agency after being fired in 2020.
  • Dyhr declined to specify when the advisor's consultancy ended, citing the need to respect personnel matters.

Danish party leader Pia Olsen Dyhr has acknowledged a misstep in hiring an advisor accused of harassment, asserting that individuals deserve a second chance after six years. However, it has since been revealed that this advisor continued to consult for the SF party via an agency during the intervening period.

I believe it is important to say that he was fired back in 2020, and after that, he was no longer employed by SF. It is also about people and a personnel matter, I am actually focused on those people.

— Pia Olsen DyhrResponding to questions about the timeline of a consultant's employment.

Dyhr refused to specify the exact timeline of the advisor's consultancy, emphasizing the importance of respecting personnel matters. "I believe it is important to say that he was fired back in 2020, and after that, he was no longer employed by SF. It is also about people and a personnel matter, I am actually focused on those people," Dyhr stated at the party's summer meeting.

I think it is important to say that he was fired back in 2020, and after that, he was no longer employed by SF. It is also about people and a personnel matter, I am actually focused on those people.

— Pia Olsen DyhrAddressing the SF party's summer group meeting.

The case involves Thomas Nystrøm, a former political advisor whom Dyhr hired earlier in the year when the party joined the government, despite prior accusations of harassment within the party. Nystrøm subsequently withdrew from the role, but the issue resurfaced when campaign manager Thomas Juhl resigned in protest, expressing deep disappointment with the party's handling of the situation.

I do not think it is strange at all, our members care about it, and that is why we have a process.

— Pia Olsen DyhrResponding to whether it is strange that the press is asking about the case.

Juhl criticized the party's lack of self-reflection and the prolonged use of the individual as an external consultant. When pressed by journalists on Thursday, Dyhr again declined to answer, referring to it as a personnel issue. Group leader Theresa Berg Andersen also voiced frustration, noting that reporters were focusing on this scandal rather than concrete policy discussions.

There are many other things we could have talked about, but you have chosen that we should talk about it.

— Pia Olsen DyhrAddressing the press during a press conference.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Berlingske in Danish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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