This conversation was recorded before Søren Pape Poulsen died on 2 March 2024.
In this episode, we’re joined by Søren Pape Poulsen, who at the time was a Member of the Danish Parliament and leader of the Conservative People’s Party. Søren came into the studio to talk about his political career, the downside of politics and the mindset behind a politician.
Søren opens the conversation by describing himself as a quiet, calm man with a positive outlook, who believes it matters to behave decently. He says some might say he lacks a certain cynicism, and that he is very reflective. All of these qualities helped shape Søren’s political career, his philosophy of leadership and the values of the Conservative People’s Party.
Being conservative is a way of life
Safe surroundings, love and politics
Søren grew up in safe surroundings in Jutland, almost too safe, he says himself. He explains that as an adult he has had to challenge himself not to be a security junkie. According to Søren, our surroundings shape who we are and who we become. He says he didn’t always know he would be a politician, but politics was always a big interest at home.
His political career took him a long way, from mayor of Viborg to Minister of Justice in the VLAK government, political leader of the Conservative People’s Party and candidate for prime minister at the 2022 general election. In the episode, Søren talks about the biggest challenges of his political career and which political office was his greatest success.
“The more you need to stress how much of a boss you are, the less of a boss you are”
When the conversation was recorded, Søren was political leader of the Conservative People’s Party, which he led with a clear philosophy of leadership. Søren thinks it’s old-fashioned to lead in a way that makes people afraid of you. He prefers to lead so that people want to follow him.
He explains that being a party leader is a very lonely job, and that all the sour and negative things often end up with the leader. Søren says the party leaders at Christiansborg are good at looking out for each other and use each other as sounding boards across party lines.
Søren also shares insight into the difficult duties that come with being a political leader, the decisions you have to be able to make as a party in government, and everyday life at Christiansborg. In Søren’s own words, his most important job was to build an organisation where people thrive and feel motivated to contribute, and to make sure the party is strong and gains as much influence as possible.
“It always ends up with you, success and failure alike”
As a politician, Søren experienced both success and failure. He says you should never go looking for a higher justice, even if you feel something is unfair, because the world doesn’t necessarily see the situation the way you do. During his political career, Søren went through failures that were extremely hard and frustrating.
According to Søren, being a politician takes a heavy toll on both body and mind. He shares his thoughts on what he could have done differently, how the body reacts to an election campaign, and how he kept a balance in everyday life. Søren says he had never considered stepping back from politics, because he was convinced he could do better than at the last election.