Danish general election, 1953

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Danish general election, 1953

Flag of Denmark (state).svg


  1953 (Apr) 22 September 1953 1957  

All 179 seats to the Folketing
90 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout 80.6%

  First party Second party Third party
  Hans hedtoft.jpg Erik Eriksen.jpg Blank.png
Leader Hans Hedtoft Erik Eriksen Ole Bjørn Kraft
Party Social Democrats Venstre Conservative People's
Last election 61 seats, 40.4% 33 seats, 22.1% 26 seats, 17.3%
Seats won 74 42 30
Seat changeIncrease2.svg13Increase2.svg9Increase2.svg4
Popular vote 894,913 499,656 364,960
Percentage 41.3% 23.1% 16.8%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Aksel Larsen c 1959.jpg
Leader Jørgen Jørgensen Aksel Larsen ?
Party Social Liberals Communists Justice
Last election 13 seats, 8.6% 7 seats, 4.8% 9 seats, 5.6%
Seats won 14 8 6
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1Increase2.svg1Decrease2.svg3
Popular vote 169,295 93,824 75,449
Percentage 7.8% 4.3% 3.5%

  Seventh party
 
Leader ?
Party Schleswig
Last election 0 seats, 0.4
Seats won 1
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1
Popular vote 9,721
Percentage 0.5%

Prime Minister before election

Erik Eriksen
Venstre

Prime Minister-elect

Hans Hedtoft
Social Democrats

General elections were held in Denmark on 22 September 1953, [1] the first under the new constitution. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 74 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 80.6% in Denmark proper and 68.6% in Greenland. [2]

Denmark constitutional monarchy in Europe

Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million.

The Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution, is the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark, applying equally in Denmark proper, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. In its present form, the Constitutional Act is from 1953, but the principal features of the Act go back to 1849, making it one of the oldest constitutions.

The Social Democrats, officially Social Democracy, is a social-democratic political party in Denmark. It was the major coalition partner in government from the 2011 parliamentary election, with then-party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt as Prime Minister. After the 2015 parliamentary election, the party is no longer in government, though it regained the position as the largest party in the Danish parliament, the Folketing, with 47 of 179 seats. Helle Thorning-Schmidt withdrew as party leader on the night of the election as a direct consequence of the loss of government control, and she was succeeded on 28 June 2015 by the former vice leader, Mette Frederiksen.

Contents

Results

Denmark

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 894,91341.374+13
Venstre 499,65623.142+9
Conservative People's Party 364,96016.830+4
Danish Social Liberal Party 169,2957.814+1
Communist Party of Denmark 93,8244.38+1
Justice Party of Denmark 75,4493.56–3
Independent Party 58,5732.70New
Schleswig Party 9,7210.51+1
Invalid/blank votes5,645
Total2,172,036100175+26
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Popular vote
A
41.31%
D
23.06%
C
16.85%
B
7.81%
K
4.33%
E
3.48%
U
2.70%
Others
0.45%

Faroe Islands

Only two candidates ran in the two-seat Faroes constituency, one from the Union Party and one from the Social Democratic Party. Both were re-elected unopposed. [2]

Union Party (Faroe Islands) political party in the Faroe Islands

The Union Party is a conservative-liberal and agrarian political party in the Faroe Islands. The party wants to maintain the Faroe Islands union with Denmark. On 24 October 2015 Bárður á Steig Nielsen succeeded Kaj Leo Johannesen as party leader.

Social Democratic Party (Faroe Islands) political party in the Faroe Islands

The Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Faroe Islands, led by Aksel V. Johannesen.

Greenland

PartyVotes%Seats
Independents6,1831002
Invalid/blank votes232
Total6,4151002
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

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1968 Danish general election

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1966 Danish general election

General elections were held in Denmark on 22 November 1966, although in Greenland the elections were held on 6 December 1966. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 69 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 88.6% in Denmark proper, 48.8% in the Faroe Islands and 59.0% in Greenland.

1957 Danish general election

General elections were held in Denmark on 14 May 1957. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 70 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 83.7% in Denmark proper, 37.6% in the Faroe Islands and 61.8% in Greenland.

1960 Danish general election

General elections were held in Denmark on 15 November 1960. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 76 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 85.8% in Denmark proper, 57.1% in the Faroe Islands and 65.8% in Greenland.

1924 Danish Folketing election

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 11 April 1924. The result was a victory for the Social Democratic Party led by Thorvald Stauning, which won 55 of the 149 seats. Voter turnout was 78.6% in Denmark proper. In the Faroe Islands constituency there was only one candidate, who was returned unopposed.

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Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 2 December 1926, except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 20 December. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 53 of the 149 seats. Voter turnout was 77.0% in Denmark proper and 40.2% in the Faroes.

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1935 Danish Folketing election

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 22 October 1935, except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 11 November. The Social Democratic Party led by Prime minister Thorvald Stauning remained the largest in the Folketing, with 68 of the 149 seats. Voter turnout was 80.7% in Denmark proper and 55.4% in the Faroes. It was in this election that the Social Democrats used the famous slogan "Stauning or Chaos".

1943 Danish Folketing election

Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 23 March 1943 alongside Landsting elections, except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 3 May. They were the first elections during the German occupation, and although many people feared how the Germans might react to the election, the event took place peacefully. The voter turnout was at 89.5%, the highest of any Danish parliamentary election, and became a demonstration against the occupation. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 66 of the 149 seats. After the elections, leading German newspapers expressed disappointment and indignation with the lack of political evolution among the Danish voters.

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Folketing elections were held in Denmark on 5 September 1950, except in the Faroe Islands where they were held on 14 October. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 59 of the 151 seats. Voter turnout was 81.9% in Denmark proper but just 22% in the Faroes.

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p524 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. 1 2 Nohlen & Stöver, p541