![Christiansborg and election posters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Christiansborg_and_election_posters.jpg)
General elections were held in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
on 15 September 2011 to elect the 179 members of the
Folketing
The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
. Of those 179, 175 members were elected in Denmark, two in the
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
and two in
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
.
The incumbent centre-right coalition led by
Venstre lost power to a centre-left coalition led by the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
making
Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired 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 have held each p ...
the country's first female
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. The
Social Liberal Party and the
Socialist People's Party became part of the three-party government. The new parliament convened on 4 October, the first Tuesday of the month.
Background
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) 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 became CEO of politi ...
, who had been re-elected Prime Minister following the
2007 parliamentary election, resigned on 5 April 2009 to become the
Secretary General of NATO
The secretary general of NATO is the chief civil servant of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The officeholder is an international diplomat responsible for coordinating the workings of the alliance, leading NATO's international staff ...
in August. Polls indicated a preference for early elections over simply having Finance Minister
Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the lead ...
take over as PM; the
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
'
Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired 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 have held each p ...
was also suggested as the preferred candidate for PM. However,
Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Merete Kjærsgaard (; born 23 February 1947) is a Danish politician who was Speaker of the Danish Parliament from 2015 to 2019, and former leader of the Danish People's Party.
She is a co-founder of the Danish People's Party, and led the ...
, the leader of the
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP).
The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...
, had reiterated the DPP's continued support for the government, previously avoiding a new election and making Rasmussen the PM within the existing parliament. However, when Rasmussen resigned that support became moot.
Date
According to the Danish Constitution, the election had to take place no later than 12 November 2011 since the last Danish election was held on 13 November 2007. The prime minister can call the election at any date, provided it is no later than four years from the previous election. Danish media and political commentators speculated about the timing of the election since Rasmussen took office as Prime Minister in April 2009. The election was called on 26 August 2011, after heavy media speculation.
MPs not seeking re-election
The following had as of March 2010 announced that they would not seek re-election.
*
Malou Aamund (Venstre)
*
Britta Schall Holberg
Britta Schall Caroc Holberg (25 July 1941 – 23 February 2022) was a Danish politician. A member of the Venstre party, she served as Minister of the Interior from 1982 to 1986, Minister for Agriculture from 1986 to 1987, and was a member of the ...
(Venstre)
*
Preben Rudiengaard (Venstre)
*
Jens Vibjerg Jens may refer to:
* Jens (given name), a list of people with the name
* Jens (surname), a list of people
* Jens, Switzerland, a municipality
* 1719 Jens, an asteroid
See also
* Jensen (disambiguation)
* Jenssi
Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) ...
(Venstre)
*
Jens Kirk (Venstre)
*
Lone Møller (Social Democrats)
*
Vibeke Grave (Social Democrats)
*
Niels Sindal (Social Democrats)
*
Lise von Seelen (Social Democrats)
*
Jens Christian Lund Jens may refer to:
* Jens (given name), a list of people with the name
* Jens (surname), a list of people
* Jens, Switzerland, a municipality
* 1719 Jens, an asteroid
See also
* Jensen (disambiguation)
* Jenssi
{{disambiguation ...
(Social Democrats)
*
Jens Peter Vernersen (Social Democrats)
*
Søren Krarup
Søren Krarup (born 3 December 1937) is a Danish pastor, writer, and politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Danish People's Party from 2001 to 2011.. Retrieved on 10 May 2018.
Krarup is a significant and influential critic from ...
(Danish People's Party)
*
Jesper Langballe (Danish People's Party)
*
Lone Dybkjær
Lone Dybkjær (23 May 1940 – 20 July 2020) was a Denmark, Danish politician. She served three non-consecutive terms as a member of the Folketing.
Between 1988 to 1990, she was Minister for the Environment (Denmark), Minister for the Environ ...
(Social Liberal Party)
*
Niels Helveg Petersen
Niels Lolk Helveg Petersen (; informally Niels Helveg; 17 January 1939 – 3 June 2017) was a Danish politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2000, having previously held the role of Minister for Economic Affairs between 1988 ...
(Social Liberal Party)
*
Bente Dahl (Social Liberal Party)
*
Jørgen Poulsen (Social Liberal Party)
*
Line Barfod
Line Barfod (born 24 May 1964, in Copenhagen) is a lawyer and politician in Denmark. She is a former member of the Folketing (Denmark, Danish parliament) for the Red-Green Alliance (Denmark), Red-Green Alliance.
Line Barfod is the daughter of ret ...
(Red-Green Alliance)
Retired MPs
*
Mogens Camre
Mogens Niels Juel Camre (29 March 1936 – 5 December 2016) was a Danish politician and Member of the European Parliament with the Danish People's Party (Danish: Dansk Folkeparti), a Vice-Chairman of the Union for a Europe of Nations and sat on t ...
(DF)
*
Rikke Hvilshøj
Rikke Hvilshøj (born 5 May 1970 in Aarhus) is a Danish politician representing the liberal party Venstre. She was the Minister for Refugees, Immigrants and Integration in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II from 18 February 2005 to 23 Nove ...
(V)
*
Gitte Seeberg
Gitte Seeberg (born 25 June 1960 in Copenhagen) is a Denmark, Danish politician, lawyer, and current secretary general of the Danish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF. She was a member of the Danish Folketinget parliament for the Conser ...
(Independent)
*
Mia Falkenberg (DF)
*
Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) 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 became CEO of politi ...
(V)
*
Morten Messerschmidt
Morten Messerschmidt (born 13 November 1980) is a Danish politician and current leader of the Danish People's Party. He was a elected Member of the Folketing at the 2019 Danish general election having previously served from 2005 to 2009. At the 2 ...
(DF)
*
Bendt Bendtsen (K)
*
Svend Auken (S)
*
Morten Helveg Petersen
Morten Helveg Petersen (born 14 September 1966) is a Danish politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2014. He is a member of the Danish Social Liberal Party, which is affiliated to the Alliance of Liberal ...
(R)
*
Thomas Adelskov (S)
*
Lene Hansen
Lene Hansen is an international relations scholar who is a full professor at the University of Copenhagen. Hansen is most well known within academia for her critique of the absence of gender within the thinking of the Copenhagen School of security ...
(S)
*
Knud Kristensen
Knud Kristensen (26 October 1880 – 28 September 1962) was Prime Minister of Denmark from 7 November 1945 to 13 November 1947 in the first elected government after the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. After the October 1945 ...
(K)
*
Connie Hedegaard
Connie Hedegaard Koksbang (born 15 September 1960) is a Danish politician and public intellectual. She was European Commissioner for Climate Action in the ( second Barroso) European Commission from 10 February 2010 through 31 October 2014.
O ...
(K)
*
Søren Gade
Søren Gade Jensen (born 27 January 1963) is a Danish politician who has been Speaker of the Folketing since November 2022, representing the Liberal party, Venstre. He was a Liberal member of the Folketing from 2001 to 2019 and again in 2022. Be ...
(V)
Contesting parties
Coalitions
The former Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, led a
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
minority government consisting of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
and the
Conservative People's Party. This coalition government worked with regular parliamentary support from the
national conservative
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, f ...
Danish People's Party and often gained the necessary 90th seat for a majority in the ''
Folketing
The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
'' through negotiations with the sole MP from the
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
Ørum-Jørgensen and
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
MP Christmas Møller, both elected in 2007 as conservative MPs and since having defected.
Since the 2007 election, the
Liberal Alliance (previously Ny Alliance) had gained momentum in opinion polls, and since early 2010, the governing coalition had not been able to gather a majority in the polls without the support of the Alliance. The continuing rise in the polls was to an extent the result of the internal crisis in the Conservative People's Party over the leadership
Lene Espersen
Lene Espersen (born 26 September 1965) is a former Danish politician, a former leader of Conservative People's Party and a former Minister of Justice. She is the current CEO at the Danish Association of Architectural Firms. From 1 July 2016 to J ...
and the continuing debate over a lack of true liberal/conservative ideology in government policy.
On 13 January, the continuing turmoil within the Conservative group in the Folketing caused Lene Espersen to resign as political leader of the party and focus on her role as
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
. A leadership election between
Brian Mikkelsen
Brian Arthur Mikkelsen (born 31 January 1966) is CEO of The Danish Chamber of Commerce. He is former Minister and former member of the Conservative People's Party, and was in The Danish Parliament (Folketinget) from 21 September 1994 to 21 June ...
, the
Minister of Economic and Business Affairs and
Lars Barfoed
Lars Barfoed (; born 4 July 1957) is a Denmark, Danish politician representing the Conservative People's Party (Denmark), Conservative People's Party and was the party's leader from 2011 to 7 August 2014. He was Justice Minister of Denmark from F ...
, the
Justice Minister
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
, was widely expected, but on 14 January the Conservative group in the
Folketing
The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
unanimously elected Barfoed as their new political leader. He was formally elected as chairman of the party at a party convention within a few weeks.
The Social Democrats, under the leadership of Helle Thorning-Schmidt, had enjoyed continuing majorities in opinion polls since late 2009 and hoped to form a
centre-left
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...
government coalition consisting of the
Socialist People's Party and the
Social Liberal Party with parliamentary support from the small
Red-Green Alliance.
Both
Margrethe Vestager
Margrethe Vestager (; born 13 April 1968) is a Danish politician currently serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age since December 2019 and European Commissioner for Competition since ...
(Social Liberal Party) and
Villy Søvndal
Villy Søvndal (born 4 April 1952) is a Danish politician who served as Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2011 to 2013. He represented the Socialist People's Party (''Socialistisk Folkeparti'') in Parliament (''Folketinget'') from 1 ...
(Socialist People's Party) pledged their support to Thorning-Schmidt before the election. But there has been considerable debate about the future politics of this coalition, mainly because the Social Liberal Party demands a more
liberal economic
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalis ...
agenda. Also on immigration issues there are political differences between the three coalition parties. This led some observers to believe that the Social Liberal Party would not join a government coalition but instead opt to be a part of the parliamentary support of a new, centre-left government. In the event the Social Liberals did join the new three-party coalition government formed on 3 October.
Opinion polls
Results
Reactions
Helle Thorning-Schmidt told a group of supporters: "We did it. Make no mistake: We have written history. Today there’s a change of guards in Denmark." Incumbent Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen congratulated Thorning-Schmidt after conceding defeat: "So tonight I hand over the keys to the prime minister’s office to Helle Thorning-Schmidt. And dear Helle, take good care of them. You’re only borrowing them."
The
Copenhagen Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Copenhagen, formerly known as the Copenhagen Stock Exchange ( da, Københavns Fondsbørs), is an international marketplace for Danish securities, including shares, bonds, treasury bills and notes, and financial futures and options.
...
did not react adversely despite a fear of increased public spending and higher taxes because the election result was largely expected.
Analysis
The result was seen as leading to a possible roll back of some austerity programmes initiated by the previous government amidst the
European sovereign debt crisis
The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone membe ...
. The new majority for the leftist block deprived the Danish People's Party of the
kingmaker
A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...
role it held under the previous government and used to tighten Danish immigrations policy. However, fundamental changes were not expected, as
the Danish political consensus would maintain the
welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
system in Denmark that is financed by high taxes.
The state of the
economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
was also seen as a key factor for the
anti-incumbent vote.
Danish newspapers such as ''
Berlingske
''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, ''Berling's Times''), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749,
''Berlingske'' ...
'' also asked if a Red Bloc coalition could survive its tenure with the "sharp differences between
heparties." It wrote that "with a parliamentary basis consisting of parties in deep mutual dispute over the most important questions in society, the election victory last night could turn out to be a short-lived triumph for Thorning-Schmidt."
Government formation
Though the Liberal Party remained the single largest party with the addition of one seat and the Social Democrats lost a seat, a three-party coalition of opposition parties together with the supporting
Red-Green Alliance had a larger share of seats than the incumbent liberal-conservative coalition with support of the
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP).
The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– C ...
. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen then tendered the cabinet's resignation to
Queen Margrethe II
Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...
on 16 September, following which she met with the various parties and tasked Social Democrat leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt with the formation of a new government.
Rasmussen's cabinet would remain in office as a
caretaker government
A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...
until 3 October, when
Thorning-Schmidt's cabinet, announced on 2 October, would be sworn in making her the country's first ever female
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
.
The
Social Liberal Party and the
Socialist People's Party also became a part of the governing coalition.
The new parliament, by law, convened on the first Tuesday in October.
See also
*
List of members of the Folketing, 2011–2015
References
External links
Election polling and trends on politiken.dkNSD: European Election Database - Denmarkpublishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990–2011
{{Danish elections
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
2011 elections in Denmark
Elections in Denmark
September 2011 events in Europe