The Christian Democrats (Danish: Kristendemokraterne, KD) are a political party in Denmark. The party was founded in April 1970 as the Christian People's Party (Danish: Kristeligt Folkeparti, KrF)[3] to oppose the liberalization of restrictions on pornography and the legalization of abortion.[4][5] The party renamed itself to its current name in 2003.[3] Originally, the party was not considered part of the European Christian-democratic tradition, and it was better known as a religious conservative party.[6]
The party was formed in 1970.[7] Since its inception, the party has enjoyed an intermittent presence in the Parliament of Denmark, rarely winning much more than the two percent minimum required to gain seats under Denmark's proportional representation system, and frequently falling below the threshold, as has happened in every election from the 2005 parliamentary election onwards. Despite its small size, the party has served in a number of coalition governments. From 1982 to 1988, it was in coalition with the Liberal Party, Conservative People's Party and Centre Democrats; from 1993 to 1994, it served in government with the Social Democrats, the Social Liberals and the Centre Democrats.[5]
From 2002 to 2005, the party was led by Marianne Karlsmose.[8] The name of the party was changed to the Christian Democrats in 2003. In October 2005, the party elected Bodil Kornbek as its new chairman.[9] Her attempt to introduce a more secular centre-left profile had some success in the beginning, but the party once again failed to win seats in the 2007 elections. In October 2008, Kornbek was replaced by Bjarne Hartung Kirkegaard from its more conservative and religious wing.[10]
In 2010, the Christian Democrats regained parliamentary representation when the Independent former Conservative MP Per Ørum Jørgensen joined the party.[11] Since he was not formerly known for having expressed opinions based on Christianity, these events once more softened the religious character of the party.
On 30 June 2011, it was announced that the Christian Democrats had started cooperating with Fælleslisten, a single-issue party fighting for decentralization, especially in health care policy,[12] with some success in regional and local elections. This means that candidates from the two parties appeared on a joint list at the 2011 Danish parliamentary election. The Christian Democrats had themselves taken a somewhat regionalist stance at a moment when Fælleslisten had surged in opinion polls.
In September 2012, Per Ørum Jørgensen resigned and subsequently left the party altogether in order to form a new party called the Democratic Party.[13]Egon Jakobsen was appointed as interim chairman, and on 27 October 2012, the former deputy chairman Stig Grenov was elected as new chairman.
The 2015 general election marked the first election with Stig Grenov as chairman. Although Grenov managed to make his mark during the campaign, it only resulted in slightly over 1000 more votes than four years earlier.[14]
The municipal and regional elections of 2017 saw a slight increase for the party, with the number of elected municipal council members rising from six to nine. Former national chairman Marianne Karlsmose was elected as a member of the regional council in the Central Denmark Region. However, the party failed to secure a mayor's position in Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality.[15]
Six days prior to the 2019 general election, Stig Grenov took temporary leave from his position as party chairman due to stress.[16] Vice-chair Isabella Arendt stepped in as acting party chairman, initially for a month, but Grenov's leave was subsequently extended until the party's congress in October 2019, where Isabella Arendt formally became the new chairman.[17]
Despite more than doubling the number of votes from 2015, the party was not represented in the Danish Parliament in the 2019 election. Less than 200 votes separated the party from securing a constituency mandate in West Jutland.[18]
In 2021, Jens Rohde joined the party, resulting in its representation in the Folketing once again.[19]
For the party, 2022 was characterized by several prominent figures retiring from national politics. In January, Kristian Andersen, the party's top vote-getter in the West Jutland constituency, announced that he would not run for the next parliament; the same was announced by Jens Rohde in May. Less than two weeks later, Isabella Arendt resigned from the chairmanship and left the party.[20] Marianne Karlsmose then assumed the role of acting national chairman, and in October, she was officially elected as chairman without any opposing candidates.[21] In the general election on November 1, the Christian Democrats received 0,5% of the votes and thus did not enter the Folketing.[22][23] On November 12, Karlsmose resigned from the chairman position.[24] Instead of electing a new chairman, the party's executive committee agreed to have Karlsmose replaced by organizational and political vice-chairmen, Jesper Housgaard and Henrik Hjortshøj, respectively, until the party's annual meeting in 2023. However, an extraordinary congress was held in March 2023, where Jeppe Hedaa was elected as the new national chairman.[25]
Madeley, John T.S. (2004). "Life at the Northern Margin: Christian Democracy in Scandinavia". In Steven Van Hecke; Emmanuel Gerard (eds.). Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War. Leuven University Press. pp.217–241. ISBN90-5867-377-4.
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