2015 Danish general election
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All 179 seats in the Folketing 90 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 85.89%[1] (1.85 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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General elections were held in the
Background
Following the
The government had rocky relations with the Red–Green Alliance, relying on their ad hoc support to pass bills instead of a formalized alliance. As a result, they occasionally preferred to cooperate with Venstre to pass legislation. Symbolically, Red–Green deputy Frank Aaen told Finance Minister Bjarne Corydon "Happy New Year" on 28 February 2013, because the government had failed to meet with his party since the beginning of 2013.[4]
On 3 February 2014, the Socialist People's Party left the government in protest over the sale of shares in the public energy company
The incumbent government prior to the elections consisted of a coalition between the Social Democrats and Social Liberal Party, with Helle Thorning-Schmidt continuing as Prime Minister. The cabinet was composed of 14 Social Democratic ministers and 6 Social Liberal ministers.[7][8]
Electoral system
The 179 members of the Folketing were elected in Denmark (175), the Faroe Islands (2) and Greenland (2). The 175 seats in Denmark included 135 seats elected in ten multi-member constituencies by proportional representation, using a modified version of the Sainte-Laguë method and Hare quota, and 40 "top-up" seats, allocated to parties in order to address any imbalance in the distribution of the constituency seats.[9]
According to the Danish Constitution, the election had to be held no later than 14 September 2015, as the last election was held on 15 September 2011. The Prime Minister was able to call the election at any date, provided it was no later than four years from the previous election, and this is often cited as a tactical advantage to the sitting government, as it can call an early election when polls are favourable. On 27 May Thorning-Schmidt announced that the elections would be held on 18 June 2015.[10]
Opinion polls
Polls notably underestimated the vote share received by the Danish People's Party.[11][12]
Polling Firm | Date | V | A | O | B | F
|
Ø | I | C | K | Å
|
Lead | Red (A+B+F+Ø+Å) |
Blue (V+O+I+C+K) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gallup | June 17 | 20.6 | 25.9 | 18.1 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 49.2 | 50.7 |
Greens | June 17 | 20.9 | 24.4 | 18.5 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 8.5 | 7.6 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 49.1 | 50.9 |
Voxmeter | June 17 | 19.6 | 25.9 | 17.2 | 4.6 | 6.3 | 9.8 | 7.7 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 6.3 | 51.1 | 48.9 |
Epinion | June 17 | 20.6 | 24.5 | 18.0 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 9.3 | 7.5 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 49.2 | 50.7 |
Megafon | June 17 | 20.6 | 25.5 | 17.9 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 8.6 | 7.7 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 48.9 | 51.0 |
Results
Partii Naleraq 1,058 | 5.24 | 0 | New | | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 20,206 | 100.00 | 2 | 0 | |||||
Valid votes | 20,206 | 97.67 | |||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 482 | 2.33 | |||||||
Total votes | 20,688 | 100.00 | |||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 41,048 | 50.40 | |||||||
Source: DST |
By constituency
Denmark | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constituency | A | O | V | Ø | I | Å | B | F
|
C
|
Copenhagen | 22.3 | 11.4 | 10.3 | 16.4 | 8.8 | 11.2 | 9.4 | 6.5 | 3.1 |
Greater Copenhagen | 29.1 | 20.1 | 14.8 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.5 |
North Zealand | 22.6 | 18.8 | 20.6 | 6.3 | 11.4 | 4.5 | 6.1 | 3.9 | 5.3 |
Bornholm | 33.5 | 19.9 | 20.3 | 8.4 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 1.7 |
Zealand | 27.9 | 25.6 | 19.6 | 6.7 | 6.2 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 2.9 |
Funen | 28.9 | 21.8 | 18.2 | 8.5 | 6.5 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 3.5 |
South Jutland | 23.5 | 28.4 | 23.5 | 5.1 | 7.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 2.2 |
East Jutland | 27.3 | 18.9 | 18.7 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 6.1 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 2.8 |
West Jutland | 24.5 | 21.3 | 27.4 | 4.5 | 5.9 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 4.9 |
North Jutland | 30.0 | 21.9 | 23.2 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 2.7 |
Total | 26.3 | 21.1 | 19.5 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 3.4 |
Aftermath and government formation
Although the Social Democrats increased their share of the vote and won the most seats for the first time since 2001, the "Blue" opposition bloc led by Venstre's Rasmussen (Venstre, Danish People's Party, Liberal Alliance, Conservative People's Party, and Christian Democrats) gained a parliamentary majority over the "Red" Social Democrat-led bloc (Social Democrats, Red–Green Alliance, The Alternative, Social Liberals, and Socialist People's Party). Within an hour of the election result being declared, Thorning-Schmidt announced her government would step down on 19 June, and that she would also resign as party leader on the same day.[11]
In accordance with the Danish Constitution, on the day after the election each party submitted their recommendation to
Negotiations began on 20 June, but it was not thought likely that a majority government involving all the "blue bloc" parties was possible. The Conservative People's Party indicated they would rather stay out of a government coalition.[14]
The Danish People's Party set out four conditions for their involvement in a coalition: a Eurosceptic approach to the EU, the re-introduction of border controls, further restrictions on immigration and asylum policy, and 0.8% growth in public spending. Meanwhile, the Liberal Alliance also indicated willingness to be in a coalition, but the party supports reductions in public spending,[14] as does Venstre.[15]
On 21 June, Rasmussen concluded that, having tried, it would not be possible to form a majority government and he announced his intention to seek a new negotiation mandate allowing a minority government. On 28 June, Lars Løkke Rasmussen's new government assumed office with a cabinet composed solely of Venstre ministers.[16]
See also
Notes
- ^ Formally, the Red-Green Alliance have collective leadership, but Schmidt-Nielsen was their political spokesperson, and de facto leader of the party.[2]
References
- ^ "Folketingsvalg torsdag 18. juni 2015". Statistics Denmark. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- ^ "Det strammer til for Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
- ^ Priesler, Marie (6 October 2011). "Helle Thorning-Schmidt: Danes must work more". Nordic Labour Journal. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ Kristensen, Kim (4 April 2013). "Det røde ægteskab er gået i stykker". Dagbladet Information (in Danish). Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ Hakim, Danny (30 January 2014). "Goldman Deal Threatens Danish Government". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "SF leaves government, Vilhelmsen steps down". The Copenhagen Post. 30 January 2014. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- Ministry of the State of Denmark. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ Rømer, Mikel (1 September 2014). "Benny Engelbrecht bliver ny skatteminister" (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "Folketinget (The Danish Parliament)". Inter-Parliamentary Union. 10 April 1991. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "Danish PM calls general election, saying voters must have say on spending". The Guardian. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ a b "Danish election: Opposition bloc wins". BBC News. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ Rose, Flemming (19 June 2015). "Six takeaways from the Danish elections". Politico. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- China.org.cn. 20 June 2015.
- ^ a b "Rasmussen begins govt negotiations". The Local. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "Denmark's Rasmussen to form minority govt". Yahoo! News. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "Her er hele Lars Løkkes ministerhold" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. 28 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
External links
- Election polling and trends Politiken.dk
- Greenland Folketing Election Results Qinersineq
Further reading
- Hansen, Kasper M.; Stubager, Rune (2017). Oprør fra udkanten : Folketingsvalget 2015 (in Danish). København. OCLC 1001966223.)
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