Danish PM's Popularity Rebounding After Implementing Reforms

Had faced protests because of welfare cuts

(Reuters) - Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt alienated her center-left voters when she started cutting one of Europe's most generous welfare systems shortly after she was elected.

Two years later there are signs the reforms by "Gucci Helle" - as the elegantly-dressed leader is known to critics - are paying dividends and her popularity has rebounded.

Denmark, along with similar ones other Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland and Norway, has long cherished a welfare system that includes living allowances for students and generous parental leaves, part of decades-long social policies focused on egalitarianism.