The Christian Democrats (

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

: ''Kristendemokraterne'') (KD) are a political party in Denmark. The party was founded in April 1970 as the Christian People's Party (''Kristeligt Folkeparti'') to oppose the liberalization of restrictions on

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

and the legalization of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. The party renamed itself to its current name in 2003. Originally, the party was not considered part of the European

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

tradition, and it was better known as a

religious conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...

party. The Christian Democrats are a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...

(EPP) and the

Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian D ...

History

The party was formed in 1970. Since its inception, the party has enjoyed an intermittent presence in the

Parliament of Denmark 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 ...

, rarely winning much more than the two percent minimum required to gain seats under Denmark's

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system, and frequently falling below the threshold, as has happened in every election from the 2005 parliamentary election onwards. Despite its small size, the party has served in a number of coalition governments. From 1982 to 1988, it was in coalition with 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 ...

, Conservative People's Party and Centre Democrats; from 1993 to 1994, it served in government with 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 ...

, the

Social Liberals Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

and the Centre Democrats. From 2002 to 2005, the party was led by

Marianne Karlsmose Marianne Karlsmose (born 6 June 1973) is a Danish politician who was leader of the party the Christian Democrats from 2002 to 2005 and again in 2022. Education and career Karlsmose graduated from the (Fredericia Amtsgymnasium) high school in 1 ...

. The name of the party was changed to the Christian Democrats in 2003. In October 2005, the party elected Bodil Kornbek as its new chairman. Her attempt to introduce a more secular centre-left profile had some success in the beginning, but the party once again failed to win seats in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

. In October 2008, Kornbek was replaced by

Bjarne Hartung Kirkegaard Bjarne is a Nordic male name, a variant of Bjorn, and can refer to the following people: *Bjarne Andersson, a cross-country skier * Bjarne Berg-Sæther, a Norwegian politician *Bjarne Berntsen, a Norwegian football coach and former player *Bjar ...

from its more conservative and religious wing. In 2010, the Christian Democrats regained parliamentary representation when the

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 ...

former Conservative MP

Per Ørum Jørgensen Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math ...

joined the party. Since he was not formerly known for having expressed opinions based on Christianity, these events once more softened the religious character of the party. On 30 June 2011, it was announced that the Christian Democrats had started cooperating with Fælleslisten, a

single-issue party Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of faction ...

fighting for

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, especially in

health care policy Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(Web archive)/ref> According to the ...

, with some success in regional and local elections. This means that candidates from the two parties appeared on a joint list at the 2011 Danish parliamentary election. The Christian Democrats had themselves taken a somewhat regionalist stance at a moment when Fælleslisten had surged in opinion polls. In September 2012, Per Ørum Jørgensen resigned and subsequently left the party altogether in order to form a new party called the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Egon Jakobsen was appointed as interim chairman, and on 27 October 2012, the former deputy chairman Stig Grenov was elected as new chairman.

Christian Democratic Politicians

Party chairmen

Jacob Christensen Jacob Steen Christensen (born 25 June 2001), also known as Jaxe, is a Danish professional footballer who plays for 1. FC Köln in Germany's Bundesliga. Club career Christensen played for Akademisk Boldklub (AB) before moving to FC Nordsjælland ...

: 1970–1973 *

Jens Møller 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) Jensen may refer to: People *Jensen (surn ...

: 1973–1979 * Flemming Kofod-Svendsen: 1979–1990 *

Jann Sjursen Jann Sjursen (born 23 October 1963, in Næstved) is a teacher and a Danish politician representing the Christian People's Party. In 1986 he was elected secretary general of the Nordic Christian Democratic Youth and from 1987 till 1989 he was chair ...

: 1990–2002 *

: 2002–2005 * Bodil Kornbek: 2005–2008 *

: 2008–2011 *

: 2011–2012 * Egon Jakobsen: 2012 (a.i.) * Stig Grenov: 2012–2019 * Isabella Arendt: 2019–2022 *

: 2022–2022

Ministers

* Christian Christensen: Minister for the Environment and Nordic Cooperation (1982–88). * Flemming Kofod-Svendsen: Minister for Housing (1987–88). Minister for Housing, Nordic Cooperation and Baltic Sea Questions (1993–1994). *

: Minister of Energy (1993–1994).

Election results

Parliament

Local elections

European Parliament

References

External links

* in Danish {{European People's Party Christian democratic parties in Europe Protestant political parties Political parties in Denmark Political parties established in 1970 Member parties of the European People's Party 1970 establishments in Denmark Centrist parties in Denmark Regionalist parties