Danish People's Party
Danish People's Party Dansk Folkeparti | |
---|---|
Peter Kofod | |
Founded | 6 October 1995 |
Split from | Progress Party |
Headquarters | Christiansborg, 1240 Copenhagen |
Youth wing | Youth of the Danish People's Party |
Membership (2021) | 9,427[1] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Right-wing to far-right |
European Parliament group | Identity and Democracy |
Nordic Council affiliation | Nordic Freedom |
Colours | |
Folketing | 7 / 179[b] |
European Parliament | 1 / 14 |
Regional Councils[5] | 4 / 205 |
Municipal Councils[6] | 62 / 2,436 |
Mayors | 0 / 98 |
Election symbol | |
O | |
Website | |
danskfolkeparti | |
The Danish People's Party (Danish: Dansk Folkeparti, DF; or sometimes in English: DPP) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP).
The party saw a period of significant growth after its founding and lent its support to the
However, since 2015 the party has since seen a decline in support, falling to 3rd place and 10.8% of the vote in the 2019 European Parliament election in Denmark, and to just 8.7% in the 2019 Danish general election, resulting in a loss of 21 seats and a return to opposition. The party would later lose over half of its seats in the 2021 Danish local elections, losing 130 of the 221 it held before the election, achieving just 4.1% of the vote. Some commentators attributed the losses to internal conditions within the party and conflicts with the leadership, its perceived indecisiveness in government and rival parties adopting many of its policy ideas. The DF would also suffer a number of defections during 2022 following the rise of the Denmark Democrats party which many former DF members and supporters joined.[8][9][10][11] It would receive its worst general election result ever in 2022, when it only won five seats. As of February 2023[update], due to defections from Nye Borgerlige, DF now has seven of the seats in the Danish Folketing.
History
The party's popularity has grown since its inception, taking 25 seats in the 179-member
Kjærsgaard leadership (1995–2012)
Early years (1995–2001)
The Danish People's Party was founded on 6 October 1995, after Pia Kjærsgaard, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, broke out from the Progress Party.[14] Its first national convention was held in Vissenbjerg on 1 June 1996, where Pia Kjærsgaard was unanimously elected as the party's chairman.[15] The party was established in protest over the "anarchistic conditions" of the Progress Party, and its "all or nothing" policies. It was initially seen by many as a "clone" of the Progress Party, but this was soon proved false.[14] In a struggle to be respected as a responsible party able to cooperate with others and distance it from the conditions in the Progress Party, the leadership of the party struck down criticism from its members by means of expulsions.[7] The party saw a highly centralized party leadership as necessary, as it would not tolerate internal conflicts and disagreements with the official strategy.[16]
The party was the first successful parliamentary party in the Nordic countries to relate philosophically more closely to the French Nouvelle Droite, than to the previous Nordic form of right-wing populism. DF represented a synthesis of several political currents: the Lutheran movement Tidehverv and its related journal, an intellectual nationalist right from the Danish Association (Den Danske Forening) and conservative populists from the Progress Party.[17][18]
In 1997, the party won about 7% in the municipal elections, and did very well in traditional left-wing municipalities, potentially rivaling the
Venstre-Conservative coalitions (2001–2011)
In the
In the
In 2006, the party's popularity rose dramatically in
In the
In the
On 15 September 2012, Kristian Thuesen Dahl succeeded Kjærsgaard as chairman.[27]
Thulesen Dahl leadership (2012–2022)
During the 2015 election the DF won 21.08% of the national vote under the leadership of Kristian Thulesen Dahl, the highest since its founding and gained 37 seats putting the party in second place. In the aftermath, the party entered negotiations with Venstre to again provide parliamentary support in return for stricter policies on immigration and the EU. A minority government headed by Lars Løkke Rasmussen was subsequently formed with the DF, the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party providing support.[28]
The party suffered a major defeat in the 2019 election, recording its worst result since 1998. It won just 8.7% of the vote and 16 seats, a net loss of 21 seats since 2015; it fell to third place, just narrowly outpolling the Social Liberals. Some journalists and political commentators opined that the DF's loss in support was as a result of the party's refusal and indecisiveness on taking direct part in government and the main parties including the Social Democrats adopting many of the DF's policies on immigration and integration.[29]
In January 2022, Dahl stood down as leader and was replaced by Morten Messerschmidt in a leadership election where he won 499 out of the 828 delegators' votes against two other candidates.[30] After Messerschmidt a total of 11 out of 16 MPs had in June left the party including Thuelsen Dahl who was the only one of them who passed on his seat to the next in line.[31]
Messerschmidt leadership (2022–present)
At the
Policies
This article is part of a series on |
Conservatism in Denmark |
---|
DF is a
Immigration
DF is opposed to immigration.
Cooperation with the Conservative-Liberal coalition government resulted in the implementation of some of their key demands, most importantly strong restrictions in immigration policies, which have resulted in what is often described as Europe's strictest immigration laws.
Other domestic
The party wants to improve conditions for the
Economy
The party is considered to be the first pure example of a radical right-wing populist (RRP) party in Denmark; as such the party was described as the "pioneer of welfare chauvinism".[62] According to Scandinavian Political Studies, the success of the party in the 2015 election was not based only on its hardline stance towards immigration, but also its support for pro-welfare, redistributive policies that voters considered highly neglected by the Social Democrats. This made "economic insecurity, marginalization, regional core–periphery divides" the decisive factors of the 2015 election. In the 2019 Danish general election, Social Democrats were then able to regain voters they lost to Danish People's Party by sharply turning left on welfare and redistribution, as well as shifting right on social issues by adopting "left-conservative" stances. DPP was therefore classified as economically left and socially right-wing, as it shares its voter base with a “left conservative” social democratic party, which Social Democrats became between 2015 and 2019.[62]
Despite its right-wing orientation, Danish People's Party stands is left of center on the issues of economic and welfare, favouring staunchly left-wing policies towards the elderly. However, the party also has a strong welfare chauvinist policy, and has some conservative inclinations on income benefits. While the populist nature of the party could make its program appear blurry and constantly oscillating between the economic centre and economic left, its economic stance is much closer to Social Democrats and the Socialist People's Party than the centre-left Danish Social Liberal Party.[62] DPP largely tried to imitate the traditionally left-wing economic policies; this made DPP a "working-class party" that was able to attract manual workers at odds with the stance of left-wing Danish parties on socio-cultural issues. Prior to 2015, these voters would still vote for traditional left-wing parties as long as they identified with their economic positions and saw them as defenders of the working class.[63]
Norwegian political scientist Anders Ravik Jupskås described Danish People's Party as a unique right-wing populist party that appeals to "authoritarian working class" and presents a platform that is "a combination of left-wing economics and nativist immigration policies".[64] The party described itself as the "true defender of the Danish welfare state" and campaigned on excluding immigrants from the Danish welfare state as the best way to protect it.[65] However, the party also spoke in favour of increasing spending for Danish pensions and healthcare, and it was found that the party's voteres "most unanimously favour increasing expenditures, even in comparison with social democrats and left wing voters". The party warned against the creeping market liberalisation and attacked neoliberalism and globalization on both economic and social perspectives, which allowed it to make inroads with working-class voters. The party also promised to empower trade unions and entered cooperation agreements with minor unions and workers' associations.[66]
Under Messerschmidt's leadership, the party has moved in a more
Foreign
The party opposes a cession of Denmark's sovereignty to the European Union and opposes further EU integration and Eurofederalism. It also opposes the Euro currency and wants to maintain the Danish krone. It is also against the potential accession of Turkey to the European Union.[69] DF is Eurosceptic.[70][71]
The party initially voted in favour of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but in 2014, the foreign affairs spokesman Søren Espersen said this support had been mistaken and that the rule of former dictator Saddam Hussein was "far preferable" to the events that followed.[72] He claimed the party had "blindly followed" Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the time of the invasion.[73]
The party supported Danish enforcement of a no-fly zone during the 2011 military intervention in Libya,[74] but was initially sceptical of proposals for direct Danish military involvement. The party later supported the decision out of solidarity with NATO.[75] The party leadership subsequently supported extending the Danish mission in Libya, despite the disagreement of its defense spokesman Ib Poulsen.[76][77] Three years after the intervention, foreign affairs spokesman Espersen stated the party's support for the intervention was a "mistake" and predicated on a misunderstanding of the ideology of the Libyan rebels.[78]
The party supported Danish participation in France's
The party seeks international recognition of
Analysis of vote
This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. (November 2012) |
- An analysis by the trade union SiD after the 2001 election stated that among unskilled workers aged under 40, 30% voted for DF and only 25% for the Social Democrats.[85]
- Decreased importance of "economic cleavage": Several authors believe that the political "cleavages" of European societies have changed over recent decades[86] Contemporary Western European democracies are characterized by two major cleavage dimensions: the economic cleavage dimension, which pits workers against the capital, and which concerns the degree of state involvement in the economy, and the socio-cultural cleavage dimension.[citation needed]
- Referendums brought the rejection of the Maastricht Treaty and the Euro. The DF has managed to harness this scepticism more effectively than others.[87]
One feature, compared to other Danish parties, is that the Danish People's Party is usually underrepresented by about 1-1.5% in opinion polls. Election researchers have suggested that the party's voters may be less interested in politics, and therefore declining to talk to pollsters, or that voters are reluctant to reveal their support for the party to pollsters.[88]
Leaders
The party has had the following leaders since its foundation:
No. | Portrait | Leader | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pia Kjærsgaard (born 1947) | 6 October 1995 | 11 September 2012 | 16 years, 341 days | [89] | |
2 | Kristian Thulesen Dahl (born 1969) | 12 September 2012 | 23 January 2022 | 9 years, 133 days | [90] | |
3 | Morten Messerschmidt (born 1980) | 23 January 2022 | Incumbent | 2 years, 83 days | [91] |
Election results
Parliament
Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998
|
252,429 | 7.4 (#5) | 13 / 179
|
Opposition | |
2001
|
413,987 | 12.0 (#3) | 22 / 179
|
9 | External support |
2005
|
444,205 | 13.3 (#3) | 24 / 179
|
2 | External support |
2007
|
479,532 | 13.9 (#3) | 25 / 179
|
1 | External support |
2011
|
436,726 | 12.3 (#3) | 22 / 179
|
3 | Opposition |
2015 | 741,539 | 21.1 (#2) | 37 / 179
|
15 | External support |
2019 | 308,219 | 8.7 (#3) | 16 / 179
|
21 | Opposition |
2022 | 93,428 | 2.6 (#12) | 5 / 179
|
11 | Opposition |
Local elections
|
|
|
European Parliament
Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | 114,865 | 5.8 (#8) | 1 / 16
|
|
2004 | 128,789 | 6.8 (#6) | 1 / 14
|
0 |
2009 | 357,942 | 15.3 (#4) | 2 / 13
|
1 |
2014 | 605,889 | 26.6 (#1) | 4 / 13
|
2 |
2019 | 296,978 | 10.8 (#4) | 1 / 13
|
3 |
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.
See also
References
- ^ Hoffmann-Hansen, Henrik; Nilsson, Simone; Jespersen, Johan Storgaard; Krasnik, Benjamin; Fabricius, Kitte; Schmidt, Mara Malene Raun; Gosmann, Mie Borggreen Winther og Sara Mathilde (3 October 2022). "Overblik: Partierne i Danmark". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Farvekoder" (PDF). Danskfolkeparti.dk. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ KORT Da Dansk Folkeparti blev størst i hele Danmark. DR.
- ^ "DF står til markant tilbagegang i Sydjylland: S bliver størst" [DPP expected to decline in Southern Jutland: S will be biggest]. Berlingske Tidende. Ritzau. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Dansk Folkeparti". Den store dansk. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ "Tidligere DF'er Hans Kristian Skibby vil også være med i Støjbergs parti | Nyheder". DR (in Danish). 25 June 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Endnu en tidligere DF'er melder sig klar for Danmarksdemokraterne | Nyheder". DR (in Danish). 25 June 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl melder sig ind i Støjbergs nye parti - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 24 June 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Peter Skaarup forlader Dansk Folkeparti: Vil være kandidat i Inger Støjbergs nye parti". DR (in Danish). 24 June 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Danish centre-right wins election". BBC News. 14 November 2007.
- ^ "Folketingsvalg torsdag 15. september 2011". dst.dk. Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ a b Richter-Jørgensen, Christian Bjerre; Frøstrup, Freja; Abel Lytken, Louise; Gerion Johansen, Christina (2004). "Dansk Folkeparti - en succes" [The Danish people's party - a success]. Roskilde University Digital Archive (in Danish). p. 9. Archived from the original on 3 August 2007.
- ^ "Historie". Dansk Folkeparti. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
- ^ a b Meret, 2009, p. 99.
- ^ Khazaleh, Lorenz (29 March 2008). "- A symptom of large societal changes". CULCOM. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012.
- ^ Hervik, Peter. 2011. The Annoying Difference: The Emergence of Danish Neonationalism, Neoracism, and Populism in the Post-1989 World. Berghahn Books. p. 25.
- ^ a b Meret, 2009, p. 98.
- ^ Meret, 2009, p. 100.
- ^ a b "Denmark's immigration issue". BBC. 19 February 2005.
- ^ Valgretsalder – unges partivalg og deltagelse. DUF Fakta. 2009.
- ^ "Dansk Folkeparti sterkt fram". NRK (NTB) (in Norwegian). 3 March 2006.
- ^ "Intern EU-rapport retter skarp kritik af udgifter i Messerschmidts europæiske parti". 16 October 2015.
- ^ "DF-sejltur blev også støttet af dansk EU-kasse - TV 2". 20 October 2015.
- ^ "Personlige stemmer ved Europa-Parlamentsvalget 7. juni 2009" (PDF). Danmarks Statistik.
- ^ "Thulesen Dahl valgt til formand for DF". Altinget.dk. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Denmark's Rasmussen to form minority govt". Yahoo! News. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "Anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats celebrate election gains". Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
- ^ "Morten Messerschmidt bliver ny formand for Dansk Folkeparti". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 23 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Liste: De har forladt Dansk Folkeparti". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 26 June 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "DF mister over 100.000 stemmer på to valg i Sjællands Storkreds". Berlingske (in Danish). 2 November 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Morten Messerschmidt frifundet for svindel med EU-midler". DR (in Danish). 21 December 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ Jørgenssen, Steen A.; Redder, Anders (21 December 2022). "Morten Messerschmidt er frifundet for EU-svindel". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "I dag falder der dom – og det kan afgøre fremtiden for Messerschmidt og Dansk Folkeparti - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 21 December 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Morten Messerschmidt frifindes - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 21 December 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ Øgendahl, Rune (21 December 2022). "Morten Messerschmidt frifundet: - En gylden mulighed for et martyrium". avisendanmark.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ Kosiara-Pedersen, Karina (2 June 2023). "Dansk Folkeparti". Den Store Danske. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
I begyndelsen af 2023 steg mandattallet til syv, da to tidligere Nye Borgerlige-medlemmer tilsluttede sig Dansk Folkeparti; først Mikkel Bjørn Sørensen (f. 1995) den 24.1.2023 og siden Mette Thiesen (f. 1981) den 6.2.2023.
- ^ Kosiara-Pedersen, Karina (20 April 2023). "Nye Borgerlige". Den Store Danske. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
Den 24. januar 2023 brød også Mikkel Bjørn Sørensen med Nye Borgerlige og meldte sig ligeledes ind i Dansk Folkeparti
- OCLC 1309414429.
Sources
- Rydgren, Jens (May 2004). "Explaining the Emergence of Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties: The Case of Denmark". S2CID 55947108.
- Meret, Susi (2010). The Danish People's Party, the Italian Northern League and the Austrian Freedom Party in a Comparative Perspective: Party Ideology and Electoral Support (PhD thesis). SPIRIT PhD Series. Vol. 25. ISSN 1903-7783.
External links
- Quotations related to Danish People's Party at Wikiquote
- Media related to Dansk Folkeparti at Wikimedia Commons
- (in Danish) Dansk Folkeparti - Official site
- The Party Program of the Danish People's Party Official website (page in English).