 On 12 September 2007 she replaced Eva Kjer Hansen as Social Minister and Minister for Equal Rights in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II, thus becoming the first Danish politician to have represented both political wings as a government minister.On 23 November 2007, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs and the Social Ministry were merged into a Ministry of Welfare, and Jespersen became Minister of Welfare in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen III.She held this post until April 2009 when Denmark changed prime ministers to Lars Løkke Rasmussen.