Danish general election, 1979

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Danish general election, 1979

Flag of Denmark (state).svg


  1977 23 October 1979 1981  

All 179 seats to the Folketing
90 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout 85.2%

  First party Second party
  Anker-jorgensen-cropped.jpg
Leader Anker Jørgensen Henning Christophersen
Party Social Democrats Venstre
Last election 65 seats, 37.0% 21 seats, 12.0%
Seats won 68 22
Seat changeIncrease2.svg3Increase2.svg1
Popular vote 1,213,456 396,484
Percentage 38.3% 12.5%

Prime Minister before election

Anker Jørgensen
Social Democrats

Prime Minister-elect

Anker Jørgensen
Social Democrats

General elections were held in Denmark on 23 October 1979. [1] The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 68 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 85.6% in Denmark proper, 65.4% in the Faroe Islands and 50.3% 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 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.

Folketing Parliament of Denmark

The Folketing, also known as the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national parliament (legislature) of Denmark. Established in 1849, until 1953 the Folketing was the lower house of a bicameral parliament, called the Rigsdag; the upper house was Landstinget. It meets in Christiansborg Palace, on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen.

Results

Denmark
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 1,213,45638.368+3
Venstre 396,48412.522+1
Conservative People's Party 395,65312.522+7
Progress Party 349,24311.020–6
Socialist People's Party 187,2845.911+4
Danish Social Liberal Party 172,3655.410+4
Left Socialists 116,0473.76+1
Centre Democrats 102,1323.26–5
Justice Party of Denmark 83,2382.65–1
Christian People's Party 82,1332.65–1
Communist Party of Denmark 58,9011.90–7
Communist Workers Party 13,0700.40New
Independents9960.000
Invalid/blank votes23,343
Total3,194,3451001750
Faroe Islands
Union Party 5,70030.510
Social Democratic Party 4,43523.710
Republican Party 3,38618.100
People's Party 3,00516.100
Progress and Fisheries Party 8784.70New
Self-Government Party 7974.30New
Invalid/blank votes80
Total18,78110020
Greenland
Atassut 6,39044.91New
Siumut 6,27344.11New
Labour Party 1,57211.00New
Invalid/blank votes957
Total15,19210020
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Popular vote
A
38.27%
V
12.50%
C
12.48%
Z
11.01%
F
5.91%
B
5.44%
Y
3.66%
M
3.22%
E
2.62%
Q
2.59%
K
1.86%
Others
0.44%

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p524 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p545