Danish general election, 1981

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Danish general election, 1981

Flag of Denmark (state).svg


  1979 8 December 1981 1984  

All 179 seats to the Folketing
90 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout 82.8%

  First party Second party
  Anker-jorgensen-cropped.jpg Poul Schluter portrait 2005.jpg
Leader Anker Jørgensen Poul Schlüter
Party Social Democrats Conservative People's
Last election 68 seats, 38.3% 22 seats, 12.5%
Seats won 59 26
Seat changeDecrease2.svg9Increase2.svg4
Popular vote 1,026,726 451,478
Percentage 32.9% 14.5%

Prime Minister before election

Anker Jørgensen
Social Democrats

Prime Minister-elect

Anker Jørgensen
Social Democrats

General elections were held in Denmark on 8 December 1981. [1] The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 59 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 83.3% in Denmark proper, 55.4% in the Faroe Islands and 61.0% 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 1,026,72632.959–9
Conservative People's Party 451,47814.526+4
Socialist People's Party 353,37311.321+10
Venstre 353,28011.320–2
Progress Party 278,3838.916–4
Centre Democrats 258,5228.315+9
Danish Social Liberal Party 160,0535.19–1
Left Socialists 82,7112.75–1
Christian People's Party 72,1742.34–1
Justice Party of Denmark 45,1741.40–5
Communist Party of Denmark 34,6251.100
Communist Workers Party 4,2230.100
Socialist Workers Party 2,0340.10New
Independents8070.000
Invalid/blank votes19,881
Total3,143,4441001750
Faroe Islands
Union Party 4,39326.410
Social Democratic Party 4,07024.510
Republican Party 3,44120.700
People's Party 3,07318.500
Self-Government Party 8675.200
Progress and Fisheries Party 7734.700
Invalid/blank votes79
Total16,69610020
Greenland
Atassut 9,22348.910
Siumut 7,12637.710
Independents2,52913.40New
Invalid/blank votes925
Total19,80310020
Source: Nohlen & Stöver
Popular vote
A
32.87%
C
14.45%
F
11.31%
V
11.31%
Z
8.91%
M
8.28%
B
5.12%
Y
2.65%
Q
2.31%
E
1.45%
K
1.11%
Others
0.23%

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References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p525 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p545