She left the Folketing on April 17. 2023 to become a lobbyist for DI.
Political career
In an interview with Naturejobs, Nielsen mentioned that she originally did not plan to become involved in politics.[1] She started her career at the European Parliament as a consultant from 2002 to 2004 before becoming a deputy minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality until 2009.[2] After a brief position at the Danish Society of Engineers, Nielsen was elected to the Folketing for the Greater Copenhagen riding at the 2011 Danish general election. During her term, Nielsen was a spokesperson for several topics including gender equality and the European Union.[3]
With the Danish Social Liberal Party, Nielsen became their vice-chairperson in 2011 before being promoted to chair in 2012.[2] After holding her chair position for two years, Nielsen became the Minister for Higher Education and Science in 2014.[3] As Minister for Higher Education and Science, Nielsen declared in 2014 that 4,000 student admissions to low turnover programs would be cut.[4] Universities Denmark later negotiated a deal with her to have the number of cuts lowered and implemented starting in 2018.[5] On 28 June 2015, Nielsen was replaced by Esben Lunde Larsen for the position of Minister for Higher Education and Science.[6]
After her minister position ended, Nielsen returned to her position as the Danish Social Liberal Party's vice-chairperson in 2015.[2] In October 2020, Nielsen was named Morten Østergaard's replacement as head of the Danish Social Liberal Party after Østergaard resigned from his leadership position.[7]
The Social Liberal Party went on to lose 9 out of 16 seats in the election. Receiving only a fourth of the votes she received in 2019, Nielsen took responsibility for the poor result and resigned as leader the day after on 2 November 2022.[12] She was succeeded by Martin Lidegaard one day later.[13]