A center-left coalition led by social Democrats is poised to sweep comfortably into power in Denmark after Thursday’s general elections, unseated the liberal-conservative government after 10 years of service, exit polls indicated.

Denmark is poised for a historic political power shift to the left that would unseat a center-right government and its anti-immigration ally and install a Social Democratic leader as the country’s first female prime minister, polls showed Wednesday.

The left-leaning opposition bloc led clearly over Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen’s center-right coalition in three surveys released Wednesday, the day before the parliamentary elections in Denmark.

Denmark celebrates the left power shift & a female prime minister

The result puts a woman in the prime minister’s office for the first time in Denmark’s politics history. Social Democrat leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt will be the female prime minister in Denmark. The succesful female politician restored her party to its historical position as the largest in Danish parliament.

The Social Democrats appeared set to lose 0.5 percentage point from the previous election in 2007 to land at 25.5% of total votes, while Loekke Rasmussen’s Liberal Party secured 24.6% in the exit poll, a loss of 1.8 percentage points from the preceding election.

Denmark expected to shift left in election

The Social Democrats have teamed up a coalation government with the Socialist People’s Party, once a hardline working-class party that has moved toward the center. They can count on the parliamentary support of the centrist Social Liberals and the small, left-wing Red-Green Alliance.