Danish general election, 1998

Danish general election, 1998
All 179 seats to the Folketing ; 90 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	85.6%
Prime Minister before election; Poul Nyrup Rasmussen ; Social Democrats	PM-elect; Poul Nyrup Rasmussen ; Social Democrats

Last updated March 23, 2019

General elections were held in Denmark on 11 March 1998.^[1] Although the centre-right parties led by Venstre had been expected to win, the Social Democratic Party-led government of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen remained in power in a very close vote that required several recounts.

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.

Venstre, full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti, is a conservative-liberal, agrarian political party in Denmark. Founded as part of a peasants' movement against the landed aristocracy, today it espouses an economically liberal pro-free market ideology.

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.

Venstre leader Uffe Ellemann-Jensen resigned as party leaders a few days after the election. The new Danish People's Party made a successful electoral debut. Voter turnout was 85.9% in Denmark proper, 66.1% in the Faroe Islands and 63.2% in Greenland.^[2]

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (Danish pronunciation: [ufə ɛləmæn ˈjɛnsn̩], informal: [ufə ˈɛləˌmænˀ] was Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark in the Conservative led Poul Schlüter Administration 1982–1993. He was leader of the Danish Liberal Party, Venstre 1984–1998 and President of the European Liberals 1995–2000. Since 1998, Ellemann-Jensen has been Chairman of Baltic Development Forum, a non-profit networking organisation dedicated to the business development of the Baltic Sea region. He is non-executive director of various boards of international companies.

The Danish People's Party (DPP) is a political party in Denmark which is generally described as right-wing populist by academics and far-right by international media. It has also been described in academia and the media as a nativist and anti-immigrant party. The party was founded in 1995 by Pia Kjærsgaard, who was the leader of the party until 2012, when she passed the leadership on to Kristian Thulesen Dahl. The DPP lent its support to the Liberal-Conservative government from the general election of 2001 until the 2011 election defeat. While not part of the cabinet, DPP cooperated closely with the governing coalition on most issues and received support for key political stances in return, to the point that the government was commonly referred to as the "VKO-government".

The Faroe Islands, or the Faeroe Islands—a North Atlantic archipelago located 200 miles (320 km) north-northwest of the United Kingdom and about halfway between Norway and Iceland—are an autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Total area is about 1,400 square kilometres (540 sq mi) with a population of 50,322 in October 2017.

Results

Denmark proper
Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Social Democratic Party	1,223,620	35.9	63	+1
Venstre	817,894	24.0	42	±0
Conservative People's Party	303,965	8.9	16	–11
Socialist People's Party	257,406	7.6	13	±0
Danish People's Party	252,429	7.4	13	New
Centre Democrats	146,802	4.3	8	+3
Danish Social Liberal Party	131,254	3.9	7	–1
Red-Green Alliance	91,933	2.7	5	–1
Christian People's Party	85,656	2.5	4	+4
Progress Party	82,437	2.4	4	–7
Democratic Renewal	10,768	0.3	0	New
Independents	1,833	0.1	0	–1
Invalid/blank votes	25,929	–	–	–
Total	3,431,926	100	175	0
Faroe Islands
People's Party	5,569	26.9	1	±0
Social Democratic Party	4,689	22.7	1	+1
Union Party	4,510	21.8	0	–1
Republican Party	4,325	20.9	0	±0
Self-Government Party	1,603	7.7	0	±0
Invalid/blank votes	146	–	–	–
Total	20,842	100	2	0
Greenland
Siumut	8,502	36.5	1	New
Atassut	8,404	36.1	1	±0
Inuit Ataqatigiit	4,988	21.4	0	New
Centre Party	99	0.4	0	±0
Independents	1,293	5.6	0	–1
Invalid/blank votes	891	–	–	–
Total	24,117	100	2	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote

A			35.93%
V			24.01%
C			8.92%
F			7.56%
O			7.41%
D			4.31%
B			3.85%
Ø			2.70%
Q			2.51%
Z			2.42%
Others			0.37%

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References

↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p525 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p549

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

[NS-2] Nohlen & Stöver, p549

v t e Elections and referendums in Denmark
Folketing elections	1849 1852 1853 (Feb) 1853 (May) 1854 1855 1858 1861 1864 1865 1866 (Jun) 1866 (Oct) 1869 1872 1873 1876 1879 1881 (May) 1881 (Jul) 1884 1887 1890 1892 1895 1898 1901 1903 1906 1909 1910 1913 1915 1918 1920 (Apr) 1920 (Jul) 1920 (Sep) 1924 1926 1929 1932 1935 1939 1943 1945 1947 1950 1953 (Apr) 1953 (Sep) 1957 1960 1964 1966 1968 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1984 1987 1988 1990 1994 1998 2001 2005 2007 2011 2015 Next
Landsting elections	1849 1853 1855 1859 1863 1866 (Jun) 1866 (Oct) 1870 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1915 1918 1920 (Aug) 1920 (Oct) 1924 1928 1932 1936 1939 1943 (1945) 1947 1951 1953
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Local elections	1900 1901 1902 1903 1906 1909 1913 1917 1921 1925 1929 1933 1935 1937 1943 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Other elections	Constituent Assembly 1848 Rigsraadet 1856
Referendums	1916 1920 1939 1953 1961 1963 1969 1971 1972 1978 1986 1992 1993 1998 2000 2009 2014 2015
See also: Elections and referendums in the Faroe Islands Elections and referendums in Greenland

v t e Elections and referendums in the Faroe Islands
Løgting elections	1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1943 1945 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1980 1984 1988 1990 1994 1998 2002 2004 2008 2011 2015
Folketing elections	1920 (Apr) 1920 (Jul) 1920 (Sep) 1924 1926 1929 1932 1935 1939 1943 1945 1947 1950 1953 (Apr) 1953 (Sep) 1957 1960 1964 1966 1968 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1984 1987 1988 1990 1994 1998 2001 2005 2007 2011 2015 Next
Referendums	1907 1946 1973 2009 2018
See also: Elections and referendums in Denmark

v t e Elections and referendums in Greenland
Inatsisartut elections	1951 1955 1959 1964 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1984 1987 1991 1995 1999 2002 2005 2009 2013 2014 2018
Folketing elections	1953 1957 1960 1964 1966 1968 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1984 1987 1988 1990 1994 1998 2001 2005 2007 2011 2015 Next
European elections	1979 1984
Local elections	1979 1983 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2008 2013 2017
Referendums	1972 1978 1979 1982 2008 2009
See also: Elections and referendums in Denmark Elections and referendums in the Faroe Islands