Lokke Rasmussen named new Danish prime minister

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Finance Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Sunday he would become prime minister and do his best to guide Denmark through the global economic crisis, replacing his namesake who has been appointed head of NATO.

"The Queen has asked me to form a government with the Liberal Party and the Conservatives and that is a task I have accepted," Lokke Rasmussen told reporters after meeting Queen Margrethe at the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen.

He had already won the backing of his ruling Liberal Party's coalition allies to head a new government after Anders Fogh Rasmussen stepped down to prepare for his new post as secretary-general of the western military alliance NATO.

Both the Conservatives, his junior coalition parter, and the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party, their ally, have given 44-year-old Lokke Rasmussen their backing, enabling him to take over without calling a general election.

"I will work day and night and use the experience I have gained in more than 20 years in politics to try and guide Denmark through the international crisis," Lokke Rasmussen said.

"I feel very humbled by this task and I will try my utmost to live up to the expectations of the Danish people."

The two Rasmussens, who are not related, will meet at the prime minister's office later in the day for a symbolic handover of power.

The cabinet will resign, leaving Lokke Rasmussen free to appoint a new ministerial team. He said he would not make many changes and hoped to complete the cabinet in the next few days.

Analysts are tipping Fogh Rasmussen's key aide and party strategist, Claus Frederiksen, to become finance minister, and his successor will need a new welfare minister to replace Karen Jespersen, who resigned unexpectedly on Friday.

Lokke, one of Denmark's youngest prime ministers, is expected to continue his predecessor's pro-growth, tax-cutting policies and also inherits the task of leading negotiations for a global climate treaty in Copenhagen in December and steering Denmark through the economic crisis.

(Additional reporting by Erik Matzen and Kim McLaughlin)