Conservative People's Party (Denmark) Explained

Country:Denmark
Chairperson:Mona Juul
Abbreviation:K
C
Conservative People's Party
Native Name:Danish: Det Konservative Folkeparti
Predecessor:Højre[1]
Free Conservatives
Moderate faction of Venstre
Headquarters:Christiansborg
1240 København K
Membership: 13,600[2]
Membership Year:2022
Position:Centre-right[3]
European:European People's Party
Europarl:European People's Party Group
Affiliation1 Title:Nordic affiliation
Affiliation1:Conservative Group
Youth Wing:Young Conservatives
Wing1 Title:Student wing
Wing1:Conservative Students
Seats1 Title:Folketing
Seats2 Title:European Parliament
Seats3 Title:Regions[4]
Seats4 Title:Municipalities[5]
Seats5 Title:Mayors

The Conservative People's Party (Danish: Det Konservative Folkeparti, DKF), also known as The Conservatives (Danish: 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[1] 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.[6]

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.[7]

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 2001 parliament elections until 2011, the Conservative People's Party was the junior partner in a coalition government led by Venstre. In the 2004 European parliament elections, the party won a seat. Four months later, on 23 October 2004, it adopted a logo consisting of a green circle-squared box that contains a dark-green screen with the letter "C" that is coloured green; the "Konservative" wordmark is placed below the symbol, though it too is also coloured green. The member is currently Bendt Bendtsen, who is a member of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. In the 2014 European election, the party garnered 9.1% of the national vote, retaining Bendtsen's seat as MEP.

In the 2011 parliamentary election for the Folketing (Danish national parliament), the Conservative People's Party won eight seats, 10 fewer than it had won in the previous election in 2007, and it received 4.9% of the vote, placing the party in eighth place nationally. On 27 September 2013, the Conservative People's Party received the current version of its logo: the colour of the letter "C" was changed to white, the circle-square retained its dark-green colour, and the circle-squared line was removed from it. At the same time, the party gave up being known as the Conservatives, reverting to its former name as the Conservative People's Party.

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.[8] After that election, several opinion polls indicated that the party enjoyed wider popular support than Venstre,[9] [10] [11] but at the 2022 election gained just 5.5%, following an election campaign significantly influenced by affairs concerning Pape Poulsen's personal life.[12] Poulsen died suddenly at the age of 52 on 2 March 2024, leaving the party leadership vacant.[13]

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,[14] 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 centre-right alliance, working most closely with the liberal Venstre and somewhat less closely with the right-wing populist Danish People's Party. The Conservative People's Party cooperated with the Social Liberal Party during its time in power in the 1980s, and also with the centre-left government under Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s.

Ideology and policies

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."[15] The party has named Edmund Burke as one of its intellectual sources.[16]

The Conservative People's Party presently advocates individual freedom and responsibility, a free market economy, respecting private property, the importance of community for the individual, modernization of the public sector, decentralization, ensuring up-to-date military defense, and an emphasis on protecting Denmark's national history and traditions. In foreign policy, the party supports economic cooperation with the European Union to aid Denmark's economic growth and keep peace in Europe, but maintains the EU must also respect the right to national identity and calls for a less centralized EU in which member states can maintain sovereignty over their national, regional and local decision making powers.[17] The party also highlights environmentalism as one of its core philosophies in accordance to green conservatism.[18]

List of leaders

Political leaders

John Christmas Møller1928–1947
Ole Bjørn Kraft1947–1955
Aksel Møller1955–1958
Poul Sørensen1958–1969
Poul Møller1969–1971
Erik Ninn-Hansen1971–1974
Poul Schlüter1974–1993
Henning Dyremose1993
Hans Engell1993–1997
Per Stig Møller1997–1998
Pia Christmas-Møller1998–1999
Bendt Bendtsen1999–2008
Lene Espersen2008–2011
Lars Barfoed2011–2014
Søren Pape Poulsen2014–2024
Mona Juul2024–present

Party chairmen

Emil Piper1916–1928
Charles Tvede1928–1932
John Christmas Møller1932–1939
Vilhelm Fibiger1939–1948
Halfdan Hendriksen1948–1957
Einar Foss1957–1965
Knud Thestrup1965–1972
Erik Haunstrup Clemmensen1972–1974
Poul Schlüter1974–1977
Ib Stetter1977–1981
Poul Schlüter1981–1993
Torben Rechendorff1993–1995
Hans Engell1995–1997
Per Stig Møller1997–1998
Poul Andreassen1998–2000
Bendt Bendtsen2000–2008
Lene Espersen2008–2011
Lars Barfoed2011–2014
Søren Pape Poulsen2014–2024
Mona Juul2024–present

Notable members

Electoral performance

Parliament

ElectionVotes% Seats+/-Government
1918167,86518.3 (#4) 14
1920
(Apr)
201,49919.6 (#3) 6style=background:#dcdcdc;text-align:center Caretaker government
1920
(Jul)
180,29318.9 (#3) 2
Sep
1920
216,73317.9 (#3) 1
1924242,95518.9 (#3) 1
1926275,79320.6 (#3) 2
1929233,93516.5 (#3) 6
1932358,50917.3 (#3) 3
1935293,39317.8 (#2) 1
1939301,62517.8 (#3)
1943421,52321.0 (#2) 5
1945373,68818.2 (#3) 5
1947259,32412.4 (#3) 9
1950365,23617.8 (#3) 10
1953
(Apr)
358,50917.3 (#3) 1
1953
(Sep)
383,84316.6 (#3) 4
1957383,84316.6 (#3)
1960435,76417.9 (#3) 2
1964527,79820.1 (#3) 4
1966522,02818.7 (#3) 2
1968581,05120.4 (#2) 3
1971481,33516.7 (#2) 6
1973279,3919.2 (#5) 15
1975168,1645.5 (#5) 6
1977263,2628.5 (#4) 5
1979395,65312.5 (#3) 7
1981451,47814.5 (#2) 4
1984788,22423.4 (#2) 16
1987700,88620.8 (#2) 4
1988642,04819.3 (#2) 3
1990517,29316.0 (#2) 5
1994499,84515.0 (#3) 3
1998303,9658.9 (#3) 11
2001312,7709.1 (#4)
2005344,88610.3 (#4) 2
2007359,40410.4 (#5)
2011175,0474.9 (#8) 10
2015118,0153.4 (#9) 2
2019233,3496.6 (#7) 6
2022194,8205.5 (#7) 2

Local elections

Municipal elections
YearSeats
No.±
1925
1929 294
1933 83
1937 59
1943 122
1946 132
1950 55
1954 38
1958 6
1962 104
1966 135
Municipal reform
1970 192
1974 211
1978 69
1981 132
1985 184
1989 222
1993 109
1997 12
2001 37
Municipal reform
2005 187
2009 5
2013 57
2017 20
2021 178
 
Regional elections
YearSeats
No.±
1935
1943 4
1946 5
1950 6
1954 1
1958 3
1962 8
1966 12
Municipal reform
1970 13
1974 27
1978 7
1981 8
1985 17
1989 24
1993 9
1997 4
2001 5
Municipal reform
2005 15
2009 0
2013 5
2017 0
2021 16
 
Mayors
YearSeats
No.±
2005
2009 1
2013 1
2017 5
2021 6

European Parliament

ElectionVotes%Seats+/-Notes
1979245,30914.0 (#4) 2
1984414,17720.7 (#1) 2
1989238,76013.3 (#4) 2
1994368,89017.7 (#2) 1
1999166,8848.5 (#5) 2
2004214,97211.3 (#3)
2009297,19912.7 (#5)
2014208,2629.1 (#5)
2019170,5446.2 (#6)
2024216,3578.8 (#4)

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Western Europe 2003 . 8 May 2016 . 30 November 2002 . Psychology Press . 978-1-85743-152-0 . 133.
  2. Web site: 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 . 2023-01-04 . . da.
  3. Book: Josep Colomer . Josep M. Colomer . Political Institutions in Europe . 25 July 2008 . Routledge . 978-1-134-07354-2 . 260.
  4. Web site: AKVA3: Valg til regions råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn . Statistics Denmark . 13 June 2010.
  5. Web site: VALGK3: Valg til kommunale råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn. Statistics Denmark. 13 June 2010.
  6. Knud Holt Nielsen (Information), 29 January 2004: "Danske konservative var fascineret af fascismen"
  7. 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
  8. http://politiken.dk/indland/politik/ECE2360131/konservativ-folketingsgruppe-nikker-ja-til-pape/ Konservativ folketingsgruppe nikker ja til Pape
  9. Web site: Nu er Det Konservative Folkeparti størst i blå blok – vælgerne flygter fra Venstre . . 21 January 2021 . Anne Sofie Møller Petersen . March 16, 2022.
  10. News: Gallup: Venstre ligger lavere end i tre årtier . . 30 January 2021 . Thue Ahrenkilde Holm . 10.
  11. Politiken (20 January 2022). "Grafik: Se den nyeste samt årtiers Megafon-målinger i grafik"
  12. Web site: 2023-09-21 . Pape er blot et kapitel i historien om et parti plaget af selvbedrag og selvskadekultur . 2023-09-24 . Altinget.dk.
  13. News: Ørbæk . Kristian Skovby . Søren Pape Poulsen er død . 2 March 2024 . nyheder.tv2.dk . Ritzau . da.
  14. Web site: Kosiara-Pedersen. Karina. 3 June 2020. Det Konservative Folkeparti. 27 June 2020. Den Store Danske. da.
  15. http://www.konservative.dk/partiet/organisation/vedtaegter "Vedtægter"
  16. Web site: Om konservatisme . Det Konservative Folkeparti . da . 20 January 2021 . 31 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031221232/https://konservative.dk/partiet/historie/om-konservatisme/ . live.
  17. Web site: EU-program 2019–2024.
  18. Web site: Det Konservative Folkeparti | lex.dk. 4 November 2022 .
  19. Web site: Dead link . 18 March 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110308165742/http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/hedegaard/about/bio_en.htm . 8 March 2011.