Danish general election, 2007

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Danish general election, 2007
Flag of Denmark (state).svg
←  2005 13 November 2007 2011  →
All 179 seats to the Folketing
90 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout86.6%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the Nordic Council Session in Helsinki 2008-10-28.jpg Danmarks statsminister Helle Thorning-Schmidt vid de nordiska statsministrarnas mote vid Nordiska Radets session i Kopenhamn (1).jpg PiaKjaersgaard 2x3.jpg
Leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen Helle Thorning-Schmidt Pia Kjærsgaard
Party Venstre Social Democrats Danish People's
Last election52 seats, 29.0%47 seats, 25.9%24 seats, 13.3%
Seats won464525
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 6Decrease2.svg 2Increase2.svg 1
Popular vote908,472881,037479,532
Percentage26.2%25.5%13.9%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.8%Decrease2.svg0.4%Increase2.svg0.6%
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Villy Sovndal.jpg Bendt Bendtsen, okonomi- og erhvervsminister Danmark talar vid konferencen, Global outsourcing - Nordic insourcing.jpg Margrethe Vestager 2.jpg
Leader Villy Søvndal Bendt Bendtsen Margrethe Vestager
Party Socialist People's Conservative People's Social Liberals
Last election11 seats, 6.0%18 seats, 10.3%17 seats, 9.2%
Seats won23189
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 12Steady2.svg 0Decrease2.svg 8
Popular vote450,975359,404177,161
Percentage13.0%10.4%5.1%
SwingIncrease2.svg7.0%Increase2.svg0.1%Decrease2.svg4.1%
 Seventh partyEighth party
  Naser Khader-2011-09-09.jpg Dnk party o.svg
Leader Naser Khader Collective leadership
Party New Alliance Red-Green
Last electionNew party6 seats, 3.4%
Seats won54
Seat changeNew partyDecrease2.svg 2
Popular vote97,29574,982
Percentage2.8%2.2%
SwingNew PartyDecrease2.svg1.4%
Prime Minister before election

Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Venstre

PM-elect

Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Venstre

Election posters in Copenhagen. Folketing election posters 2007.jpg
Election posters in Copenhagen.

General elections were held in Denmark on 13 November 2007. [1] [2] The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's Party. [3]

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.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen former Prime Minister of Denmark and NATO secretary general

Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a Danish politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the 12th Secretary General of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He is now CEO of political consultancy Rasmussen Global and a senior advisor at The Boston Consulting Group's Copenhagen office.

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.

Contents

Coalitions

According to the Constitution of Denmark, Denmark is governed according to the principle of negative parliamentarism, meaning that while a government doesn't need the majority of seats in parliament, it must never have a majority of seats against it in a vote of no confidence. Before the ongoing elections, this was relevant since the government, consisting of the Conservative People's Party and the Liberals did not have a majority of seats, but depended on the support of the Danish People's Party. Early opinion polls showed that neither a right-wing or a left-wing government could gather enough seats to be in government without the support of the newly established New Alliance. [4] [5] This caused a lot of interest, since New Alliance had stated that they would first give the government the opportunity to propose a programme for government, but that they would not definitely support a right-wing government prior to seeing how many of their political agendas they could work together on. [6] Many people were unsure how this would be possible, since New Alliance was originally formed to limit the influence of the Danish People's Party, without whom a right-wing government did not seem possible in opinion polls. [7] [8] [9] After the elections, however, it was clear that New Alliance did not get enough seats in parliament to break the previous right-wing majority. [3]

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 Conservative People's Party, also known as the Conservatives is a conservative centre-right political party in Denmark. The party is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and International Democrat Union.

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 opposition

Shortly after the elections were called, the Social Liberal Party stated that they supported a government led by the Social Democrats. [10] The Red-Green Alliance support a left-wing government almost by default. [11] The Socialist People's Party also support a left-wing government, and have stated that they wish to not only support such a government but to be a part of it. [12] In spite of a dramatic increase in support of the Socialist People's Party in opinion polls, these four parties never stood to get enough seats in parliament to head a government. [4] [5] Consequently, prior to the election, Helle Thorning-Schmidt (the leader of the Social Democrats) invited both New Alliance and the Conservative People's Party to participate in a centre-left government, but both parties refused. [13] [14]

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.

Socialist Peoples Party (Denmark) political party in Denmark

The Socialist People's Party is a green and popular socialist political party in Denmark.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Danish politician, former Danish Prime Minister

Helle Thorning-Schmidt is a retired Danish politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to hold each post. Following defeat in 2015, she announced that she would step down as both Danish Prime Minister and Social Democratic party leader. Ending her political career in April 2016, she is the chief executive of the NGO Save the Children.

Early election

Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced this election date on 24 October 2007. The election was held ahead of time in the sense that by law, the election needed to be held before 8 February 2009, four years after the previous election.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen explained that the elections were called early in order to allow the parliament to work on important upcoming topics without being distracted by a future election. Referring specifically to welfare reform, he said rival parties would then try to outdo each other with expensive reforms which would damage the Danish economy. [2]

Parties that had previously declared their intention to run

The Centre Democrats lacked about 2,000 - 3,000 of the required 20,000 signatures in order to run in the 2007 election when Anders Fogh Rasmussen called it on 24 October, meaning that they won't be able to run. [15] The Liberalists had reached 5,000 signatures. [16] The Danish Ministry of Welfare has registered more than 70 parties that had not handed in the required number of signatures. [17]

Centre Democrats (Denmark) Danish political party

The Centre Democrats was a Danish political party.

Campaign

Several topics have been mentioned as central to the election. These include welfare, taxes, immigration, and the health system. [18] The election also clears the Rasmussen government from having a potentially unpopular parliamentary debate on the European Union Treaty of Lisbon, [19] as it will become a topic in the election instead. [20]

Results

PartyLeaderVotes%Seats+/–
Denmark proper
Venstre Anders Fogh Rasmussen 908,47226.246–6
Social Democrats Helle Thorning-Schmidt 881,03725.545–2
Danish People's Party Pia Kjærsgaard 479,53213.925+1
Socialist People's Party Villy Søvndal 450,97513.023+12
Conservative People's Party Bendt Bendtsen 359,40410.418±0
Danish Social Liberal Party Margrethe Vestager 177,1615.19–8
New Alliance Naser Khader 97,2952.85New
Red-Green Alliance Collective leadership74,9822.24–2
Christian Democrats Bodil Kornbek 30,0130.90±0
Independents5490.00±0
Invalid/blank votes24,113–––
Total3,483,5331001750
Faroe Islands
Republic Høgni Hoydal 5,84925.41±0
Union Party Kaj Leo Johannesen 5,41423.51+1
People's Party Jørgen Niclasen 4,72820.50–1
Social Democratic Party Jóannes Eidesgaard 4,70220.40±0
Centre Party Álvur Kirke 1,5736.80±0
Self-Government Party Kári P. Højgaard 7993.500
Invalid/blank votes149–––
Total23,21410020
Greenland
Inuit Ataqatigiit Josef Motzfeldt 8,06832.51±0
Siumut Hans Enoksen 8,06832.51±0
Democrats Per Berthelsen 4,58418.50±0
Atassut Finn Karlsen 4,09416.50±0
Invalid/blank votes500–––
Total25,58910020
Source: Nohen & Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook
Party Votes% of votes MPs swing % of MPsMPs %/votes %
Total100179Steady2.svg01001.00
3 biggest65.6116Decrease2.svg764.80.99
The cabinet 50.590Decrease2.svg550.30.98
The opposition 49.589Increase2.svg549.71.02
Popular vote
V
 
26.26%
A
 
25.47%
O
 
13.86%
F
 
13.04%
C
 
10.39%
B
 
5.12%
I
 
2.81%
Ø
 
2.17%
K
 
0.87%
Others
 
0.02%

The Socialist People's Party had the election's largest gain, securing 23 seats in the new parliament compared to 11 in the 2005 elections. The Danish People's Party gained one additional seat, leaving it at 25. The New Alliance secured five seats in its first election, a result lower than projected in earlier opinion polls.

The biggest setback was suffered by the Danish Social Liberal Party which was reduced from 17 seats to 9. The Liberals lost six seats leaving it at 46, and the party remains the biggest party for the third consecutive election. The Social Democrats lost two seats, leaving it at 45. The Red-Green Alliance lost two seats leaving it at four seats, just above the 2% threshold.

The Conservative People's Party ensured marginal gains, but no additional seats, leaving it at 18 seats. The Christian Democrats did not ensure representation.

Greenland's vote resulted in one seat for Siumut and one for Inuit Ataqatigiit. The Faroe Islands returned Høgni Hoydal representing the Republican Party, its second seat went to the Union Party, a seat gained from the People's Party which did not achieve representation.

Aftermath

The ruling Liberal-Conservative coalition secured 64 seats. The support of the Danish People's Party (DPP), with 25 seats, left the coalition needing one more seat. Finally, the coalition-friendly Union Party of former Faroese prime minister Edmund Joensen won the needed seat in the Faroese elections.

Parties backing Helle Thorning-Schmidt, in opposition, won 84 seats. (This includes remaining three seats of the overseas territories.)

The New Alliance won the remaining five (5) seats.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced that the party composition of cabinet would remain as before, but that parties not in cabinet that support his premiership will have influence over policy. This statement apparently was aimed at the New Alliance. Rasmussen's capacity to accommodate both the New Alliance and the Danish People's Party going forward is not assured – the New Alliance was established, in part, to limit the Danish Peoples's Party's influence. With the DPP in coalition, Rasmussen is able to govern: a New Alliance-supported opposition would be short of a majority by one vote. Edmund Joensen's pledge to abstain on matters related to internal affairs of Denmark and would alter this, giving the New Alliance the balance of power and risking conflict with the DPP, [21] but Joensen has also pledged that if doing so would risk giving the opposition a majority, he would not abstain, but instead vote with the government.

As after the last election, where Rasmussen also secured continuing power, there were some shuffling of minister posts in the cabinet. The resulting Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen III was presented a few days after the election.

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References

  1. ↑ "Danish Premier Calls Early Elections". Associated Press. 2007-10-24.[ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "Fogh: Luften skal renses med valg" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  3. 1 2 "Færøerne sikrer Fogh nyt VKO-flertal" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
  4. 1 2 "Opinion" (in Danish). TV 2. 2007-10-25. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
  5. 1 2 "Opinion". Politiken. 2007-10-24. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  6. ↑ "Ny Alliance udelukker at pege på Fogh inden valget" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-28. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  7. ↑ "Pia K. forudser nyvalg om et halvt år" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-25. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  8. ↑ "Den ustabile koalition med DF og NA". Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  9. ↑ "Fogh hæmmes af bred koalition". TV 2. Archived from the original on 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  10. ↑ "R peger på Helle Thorning" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-24. Archived from the original on 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  11. ↑ "EL peger på Helle Thorning-Schmidt" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-26. Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  12. ↑ "Søvndal: "Der skal bare flyttes fem mandater"" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-25. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  13. ↑ "Khader: Vi er ikke til fals for ministerposter" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-29. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  14. ↑ "Thorning bejler til de konservative" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-28. Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  15. ↑ "CD ude af valgkampen på forhånd" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  16. ↑ "Liberalister når ikke at opstille" (in Danish). TV 2. 2007-10-24. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  17. ↑ "Lists of other registered parties" (in Danish). Danish Ministry of the Interior and Health. 2007-10-04. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  18. ↑ "Valgets hovedtemaer er klar" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-10-24. Archived from the original on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
  19. ↑ "Rasmussen Calls Early Danish Election for Nov. 13". Bloomberg. 2007-10-24.
  20. ↑ "Moving the Majority". The Copenhagen Post. 2007-10-26.
  21. ↑ "Færing stemmer ikke indenrigspolitisk" (in Danish). Politiken. 2007-11-14. Archived from the original on 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2007-11-14.

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