Denmark's prime minister-in-waiting, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, began the tricky task today of piecing together a disparate centre-left government after an election which ended 10 years of centre-right rule.
Danish newspapers immediately questioned the longevity of her coalition, pointing to sharp differences between parties in the so-called "Red bloc".
They range from mainstream centrists to the far-left.
Climbing rather than sweeping to victory yesterday, Ms Thorning-Schmidt tapped voter anger about the state of the economy and ejected prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen from power.
It was the latest in a series of defeats for incumbents in European countries.
Mr Rasmussen was set to tender his formal resignation later today, opening the way for Social Democrat Thorning-Schmidt to try to form a government and become prime minister, the first woman to hold the post in Denmark.
Ms Thorning-Schmidt's Red bloc won a slim majority of five seats, according to preliminary results in Denmark's 179-seat parliament. Turnout was a high 87.7 per cent.
Commentators did not doubt her ability to forge a coalition government, but foresaw difficulties in getting it to work.
"With a parliamentary basis consisting of parties in deep mutual dispute over the most important questions in society, the election victory last night could turn out to be a short-lived triumph for Thorning-Schmidt," daily Berlingske said.
One major complication is the fact the two biggest winners of the night were the far-left Red-Green Alliance and the centrist Social Liberals.
Both back Ms Thorning-Schmidt but agree on little else. Ms Thorning-Schmidt's own Social Democrats actually lost ground and will be the second largest party after Mr Rasmussen's Liberals.
"That is the political challenge," said Jorgen Elklit, political scientist at the University of Aarhus. "It will certainly take days, maybe weeks to form a government."
The economy will be the first task. Ms Thorning-Schmidt's platform included increased government spending, raising taxes on the wealthy and an unusual plan to make everyone work 12 minutes more per day. An extra hour each week, her group argues, would help kick-start economic growth.
Nordea, the Nordic region's largest bank, said in a note to clients the change of guard in Denmark could result in increased public spending.
Denmark has been spared much of the trauma suffered by other west European countries because it remains outside the euro zone. This means it was not involved in bailing out debt-laden countries like Greece, an issue that has stirred popular anger in neighbouring Germany.
But the economic crisis has turned Denmark's healthy surpluses into deficits, forecast to climb to 4.6 per cent of GDP next year.
Denmark was the latest European country to see incumbents thrown out in part because of the economic crisis.
Ireland, Britain, Portugal, Finland and The Netherlands have all seen changes.
Spain's Socialist government faces possible defeat in a November 20th general election and German chancellor Angela Merkel has lost a series of state elections since May 2010.
The new prime minister is part of an extended European political family, married to the son of Neil and Glenys Kinnock. Neil was a European commissioner and British Labour Party leader, Glenys a European parliamentary deputy and Europe minister in the last Labour government in Britain.
Reuters