Pia Merete Kjærsgaard (; born 23 February 1947) is a
Danish politician who has been Speaker of the
Folketing, the parliament of Denmark, since 2015. She is a co-founder of the
Danish People's Party, a far-right
nativist,
national conservative political party in Denmark, and led the party from 1995 to 2012. She has become one of the best-known politicians in Denmark during recent years, both for her vocal and unwavering stance against
multiculturalism and immigration, and for her parliamentary support for the center-right governments of
Anders Fogh Rasmussen and
Lars Løkke Rasmussen from 2001 to 2011. Her success has been an inspiration for anti-immigration and anti-Islamic movements throughout Europe.