Danish Social Liberal Party Samuelsen began his political career in the
Danish Social Liberal Party (
Radikale Venstre). He was the party's parliamentary candidate in the Horsens constituency from 1994 to 1998 and in the Holbæk constituency from 1998 to 2004. From 2004 to 2007 he was a member of the Parliament's
Committee on Budgets. As an MEP he also served as a substitute member of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, a member of the Delegation for relations with
Iran and a substitute for the Delegation for relations with the
People's Republic of China. He left the Folketing in 2004 in connection with his move to the European Parliament. He was elected to the Folketing for Ny Alliance at the
2007 Danish general election, representing the East Jutland constituency, and continued as a Liberal Alliance MP from 2008 until 2019. At the
2009 Danish local elections he was elected to
Horsens Municipal Council as Liberal Alliance's sole councillor, serving a single term from 2010 to 2013. In September 2016 he announced that the party was prepared to table a
motion of no confidence if the government did not reduce the top marginal income tax rate by five percentage points in the 2017 budget. The standoff ended in November 2016, when Rasmussen reshuffled his cabinet, bringing Liberal Alliance and the
Conservative People's Party into government in a new three-party coalition in which Liberal Alliance took charge of six ministries.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuelsen was appointed minister of foreign affairs on 28 November 2016, serving in that post until the government left office on 27 June 2019. Later that year the government decided to send an additional 55 soldiers to the
Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan following an attack on a Danish convoy in Kabul. From November 2017 to May 2018 Samuelsen served as president of the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, as Denmark held the rotating chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. During the Danish chairmanship the government prioritised, among other issues, reform of the Council of Europe's human rights system and strengthening the organisation's financial sustainability.
2019 election and resignation At the
2019 Danish general election Liberal Alliance's vote share fell sharply and the party was reduced from thirteen to four seats; Samuelsen himself failed to win re-election. In the aftermath of the election he faced public criticism from within the party, including from MP
Henrik Dahl, who accused his leadership of being characterised by
nepotism. On 6 June 2019 Samuelsen announced that he was stepping down as party leader, stating that Liberal Alliance should continue under new leadership following the election defeat. He was succeeded by
Alex Vanopslagh. ==Later career==