Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
Conservative People's Party Det Konservative Folkeparti | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | K C[a] |
Chairperson | Mona Juul |
Founded | 22 February 1916 |
Preceded by | Højre[1] Free Conservatives Moderate faction of Venstre |
Headquarters | Christiansborg 1240 København K |
Youth wing | Young Conservatives |
Student wing | Conservative Students |
Membership (2022) | 13,600[2] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Centre-right[7] |
European affiliation | European People's Party |
European Parliament group | European People's Party Group |
International affiliation | International Democracy Union |
Nordic affiliation | Conservative Group |
Colours |
|
Folketing | 10 / 179[b] |
European Parliament | 1 / 14 |
Regions[9] | 31 / 205 |
Municipalities[10] | 399 / 2,436 |
Mayors | 14 / 98 |
Election symbol | |
Website | |
www | |
The Conservative People's Party (Danish: Det Konservative Folkeparti, DKF), also known as The Conservatives (De Konservative) is a centre-right political party in Denmark. The party is a member of the International Democracy Union and the European People's Party.
History
The party was founded in 1916[11] based mostly on its predecessor, Højre ("Right") after its downfall, but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of the liberal party Venstre ("Left"). The party was a part of the coalition government during World War II, where the leader John Christmas Møller provided the voice for BBC London's daily radio to Denmark. However, while a number of conservatives participated in the resistance movement, some conservatives were sympathetic to fascist ideology, and the youth wing of the party praised several fascist movements in Europe during the 1930s.[12]
Since World War II, the party has participated in several coalition governments, but only one Prime Minister of Denmark, Poul Schlüter, has come from this party; he served as prime minister from 1982 to 1993. His government had to resign after the Tamil Case, when the Justice Minister, Erik Ninn-Hansen (himself a former Conservative leader), was impeached.[13]
The party used its first logo in 1950, consisting of the serif-letter "C" coloured green. On 24 August 2000, the Conservative People's Party rebranded itself as the Conservatives, and at the same time retired its 50-year-old green serif-letter "C" logo, thus launching a new logo for the first time since 1950. The new logo was a circle which contains a chartreuse circle with the letter "C".
From the
In the
At the 2015 election, the party did badly and was reduced to a mere six seats, which made it the smallest party in the Folketing. But Søren Pape Poulsen (who had taken over as leader the previous year) managed to double the party's seats to 12 in the 2019 election with 6.6% of the vote.[14] After that election, several opinion polls indicated that the party enjoyed wider popular support than Venstre,[15][16][17] but at the 2022 election gained just 5.5%, following an election campaign significantly influenced by affairs concerning Pape Poulsen's personal life.[18] Poulsen died suddenly at the age of 52 on 2 March 2024, leaving the party leadership vacant.[19]
Organization
The youth branch of the Conservative People's Party, albeit an independent organisation, is Young Conservatives, the earliest formed youth organisation in Denmark, founded in December 1904, and believed to be one of the oldest in the world,[20] preceding the Conservative People's Party by 10 years. The student branch is Conservative Students, likewise an independent organisation, which has branches at all Danish Universities.
The party remains committed to a
Ideology and policies
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in Denmark |
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The party's current purpose clause states: "The Conservative People's Party aims to gather everyone who joins the party's program and to work for the spread of conservative views."[21] The party has named Edmund Burke as one of its intellectual sources.[22]
The Conservative People's Party presently advocates individual freedom and responsibility, a
List of leaders
Political leaders
John Christmas Møller | 1928–1947 |
Ole Bjørn Kraft | 1947–1955 |
Aksel Møller | 1955–1958 |
Poul Sørensen | 1958–1969 |
Poul Møller |
1969–1971 |
Erik Ninn-Hansen | 1971–1974 |
Poul Schlüter | 1974–1993 |
Henning Dyremose | 1993 |
Hans Engell | 1993–1997 |
Per Stig Møller | 1997–1998 |
Pia Christmas-Møller | 1998–1999 |
Bendt Bendtsen | 1999–2008 |
Lene Espersen | 2008–2011 |
Lars Barfoed | 2011–2014 |
Søren Pape Poulsen | 2014–2024 |
Mona Juul | 2024–present |
Party chairmen
Emil Piper | 1916–1928 |
Charles Tvede | 1928–1932 |
John Christmas Møller | 1932–1939 |
Vilhelm Fibiger | 1939–1948 |
Halfdan Hendriksen | 1948–1957 |
Einar Foss | 1957–1965 |
Knud Thestrup | 1965–1972 |
Erik Haunstrup Clemmensen | 1972–1974 |
Poul Schlüter | 1974–1977 |
Ib Stetter | 1977–1981 |
Poul Schlüter | 1981–1993 |
Torben Rechendorff | 1993–1995 |
Hans Engell | 1995–1997 |
Per Stig Møller | 1997–1998 |
Poul Andreassen | 1998–2000 |
Bendt Bendtsen | 2000–2008 |
Lene Espersen | 2008–2011 |
Lars Barfoed | 2011–2014 |
Søren Pape Poulsen | 2014–2024 |
Mona Juul | 2024–present |
Notable members
- John Christmas Møller – World War II resistance figure in exile in England.
- Poul Schlüter – The longest-serving Danish prime minister since Thorvald Stauning. Schlüter is the Conservative People's Party's only prime minister to date. He led the Conservative People's Party to its best-ever result at a national election, reaching 23.4% of the national vote. After his term as prime minister ended he was elected to the European Parliament in 1994, reaching a record breaking number of 247,956 personal votes.
- Danish Parliament as a member for the Conservative People's Party in 1984 at the age of 23, becoming the youngest Danish MP ever at that time. In 1989, Hedegaard became first spokesperson for the Conservative People's Party, but left politics for journalism in 1990.[25]
- SAS flight 751 on 27 December 1991, in which there were no fatalities. He then entered politics, serving in the Danish Folketingfrom 1994 to 1996.
Electoral performance
Parliament
Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1918 | 167,865 | 18.3 (#4) | 22 / 140
|
14[c] | Opposition |
Apr 1920 |
201,499 | 19.6 (#3) | 28 / 140
|
6 | External support |
Jul 1920 |
180,293 | 18.9 (#3) | 26 / 140
|
2 | External support |
Sep 1920 |
216,733 | 17.9 (#3) | 27 / 149
|
1 | External support |
1924 | 242,955 | 18.9 (#3) | 28 / 149
|
1 | Opposition |
1926 | 275,793 | 20.6 (#3) | 30 / 149
|
2 | External support |
1929 | 233,935 | 16.5 (#3) | 24 / 149
|
6 | Opposition |
1932 | 358,509 | 17.3 (#3) | 27 / 149
|
3 | Opposition |
1935 | 293,393 | 17.8 (#2) | 26 / 149
|
1 | Opposition |
1939 | 301,625 | 17.8 (#3) | 26 / 149
|
Opposition (1939–1940) | |
Coalition (1940–1943) | |||||
1943 | 421,523 | 21.0 (#2) | 31 / 149
|
5 | Coalition |
1945 | 373,688 | 18.2 (#3) | 26 / 149
|
5 | External support |
1947 | 259,324 | 12.4 (#3) | 17 / 150
|
9 | Opposition |
1950 | 365,236 | 17.8 (#3) | 27 / 151
|
10 | Coalition |
Apr 1953 |
358,509 | 17.3 (#3) | 26 / 151
|
1 | Coalition |
Sep 1953 |
383,843 | 16.6 (#3) | 30 / 179
|
4 | Opposition |
1957
|
383,843 | 16.6 (#3) | 30 / 179
|
Opposition | |
1960
|
435,764 | 17.9 (#3) | 32 / 179
|
2 | Opposition |
1964
|
527,798 | 20.1 (#3) | 36 / 179
|
4 | Opposition |
1966
|
522,028 | 18.7 (#3) | 34 / 179
|
2 | Opposition |
1968
|
581,051 | 20.4 (#2) | 37 / 179
|
3 | Coalition |
1971
|
481,335 | 16.7 (#2) | 31 / 179
|
6 | Opposition |
1973
|
279,391 | 9.2 (#5) | 16 / 179
|
15 | External support |
1975
|
168,164 | 5.5 (#5) | 10 / 179
|
6 | Opposition |
1977
|
263,262 | 8.5 (#4) | 15 / 179
|
5 | Opposition |
1979
|
395,653 | 12.5 (#3) | 22 / 179
|
7 | Opposition |
1981
|
451,478 | 14.5 (#2) | 26 / 179
|
4 | Opposition (1981–1982) |
Coalition (1982–1984) | |||||
1984
|
788,224 | 23.4 (#2) | 42 / 179
|
16 | Coalition |
1987
|
700,886 | 20.8 (#2) | 38 / 179
|
4 | Coalition |
1988
|
642,048 | 19.3 (#2) | 35 / 179
|
3 | Coalition |
1990
|
517,293 | 16.0 (#2) | 30 / 179
|
5 | Coalition (1990–1993) |
Opposition (1993–1994) | |||||
1994
|
499,845 | 15.0 (#3) | 27 / 179
|
3 | Opposition |
1998
|
303,965 | 8.9 (#3) | 16 / 179
|
11 | Opposition |
2001
|
312,770 | 9.1 (#4) | 16 / 179
|
Coalition | |
2005
|
344,886 | 10.3 (#4) | 18 / 179
|
2 | Coalition |
2007
|
359,404 | 10.4 (#5) | 18 / 179
|
Coalition | |
2011
|
175,047 | 4.9 (#8) | 8 / 179
|
10 | Opposition |
2015 | 118,015 | 3.4 (#9) | 6 / 179
|
2 | External support (2015–2016) |
Coalition (2016–2019) | |||||
2019 | 233,349 | 6.6 (#7) | 12 / 179
|
6 | Opposition |
2022 | 194,820 | 5.5 (#7) | 10 / 179
|
2 | Opposition |
Local elections
|
|
|
European Parliament
Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | 245,309 | 14.0 (#4) | 2 / 15
|
2 | |
1984 | 414,177 | 20.7 (#1) | 4 / 15
|
2 | |
1989 | 238,760 | 13.3 (#4) | 2 / 16
|
2 | |
1994 | 368,890 | 17.7 (#2) | 3 / 16
|
1 | |
1999 | 166,884 | 8.5 (#5) | 1 / 16
|
2 | |
2004 | 214,972 | 11.3 (#3) | 1 / 14
|
||
2009 | 297,199 | 12.7 (#5) | 1 / 13
|
||
2014 | 208,262 | 9.1 (#5) | 1 / 13
|
||
2019 | 170,544 | 6.2 (#6) | 1 / 14
|
||
2024 | 216,357 | 8.8 (#4) | 1 / 15
|
Notes
- ^ Official party letter on voting ballot
- ^ Only 175 of the 179 seats in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, are obtainable by Danish political parties as Greenland and the Faroe Islands are assigned two seats each due to their status as territories in the Kingdom of Denmark.
- ^ Compared to Højre in the 1915 election
References
- ISBN 978-1-85743-152-0. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ Hoffmann-Hansen, Henrik; Nilsson, Simone; Jespersen, Johan Storgaard; Krasnik, Benjamin; Fabricius, Kitte; Schmidt, Mara Malene Raun; Gosmann, Mie Borggreen Winther og Sara Mathilde (2022-10-03). "Overblik: Partierne i Danmark". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-01-04.
- ISBN 978-82-00-12799-4.
- OCLC 1256593260.
- ^ "Det Konservative Folkeparti". Lex.dk. 4 November 2022.
- ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Denmark". Parties and Elections in Europe.
- ISBN 978-1-134-07354-2.
- ^ "Oversigt over Folketingssalen". Folketinget (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-12-24.
- ^ "AKVA3: Valg til regions råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ^ "VALGK3: Valg til kommunale råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-85743-152-0. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ Knud Holt Nielsen (Information), 29 January 2004: "Danske konservative var fascineret af fascismen"
- ^ Thi kendes for ret. Dokument. Rigsrettens dom over forhenværende justitsminister Erik Ninn- Hansen afsagt 22. juni 1995. Weekendavisen, 23 June 1995, 1._sektion, Side 3
- ^ Konservativ folketingsgruppe nikker ja til Pape, Politiken, 7 August 2014
- TV 2 / Nyheder. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
- ^ Thue Ahrenkilde Holm (30 January 2021). "Gallup: Venstre ligger lavere end i tre årtier". Berlingske. p. 10.
- ^ Politiken (20 January 2022). "Grafik: Se den nyeste samt årtiers Megafon-målinger i grafik"
- ^ "Pape er blot et kapitel i historien om et parti plaget af selvbedrag og selvskadekultur". Altinget.dk. 2023-09-21. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
- ^ Ørbæk, Kristian Skovby. "Søren Pape Poulsen er død". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). Ritzau. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ Kosiara-Pedersen, Karina (3 June 2020). "Det Konservative Folkeparti". Den Store Danske (in Danish). Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Vedtægter" Archived 2016-08-21 at the Wayback Machine. Det Konservative Folkeparti.
- ^ "Om konservatisme". Det Konservative Folkeparti (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
- ^ "EU-program 2019–2024".
- ^ "Det Konservative Folkeparti | lex.dk". 4 November 2022.
- ^ "Dead link". Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
External links
- Official website (in Danish)