The Green Left ( da, Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) is a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

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 = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. It was formerly known in English as the Socialist People's Party, the literal translation of its Danish name.

History

1959–1969

The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by

Aksel Larsen Aksel Larsen (5 August 1897 – 10 January 1972) was a Danish politician who was chairman of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) and chairman and founder of the Socialist People's Party. He is remembered today for his long service in the C ...

, a former leader of the

Communist Party of Denmark The Communist Party of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP) is a communist party in Denmark. The DKP was founded on 9 November 1919 as the Left-Socialist Party of Denmark (, VSP), through a merger of the Socialist Youth League and ...

(DKP). Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

intervention in the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

. Larsen and the new SF sought to form a third way between Denmark's United States-oriented

social democracy 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 s ...

and

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

–oriented

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

, which sought to combine democracy with

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. He was joined by a large share of the members of the DKP. They all supported the idea of independence from the Soviet Union. In the 1960 elections, the party entered 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 ...

with eleven seats. The DKP lost all of its six seats. In the 1964 elections the party lost one seat. During the 1960s the SF became involved in the

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

and the movements which opposed nuclear weapons and

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

. It sought to "walk on two legs", by combining its parliamentary work with involvement in grass roots movements. In the 1966 elections, 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 ...

and the SF won a combined majority in parliament, in which the SF doubled its number of seats from 10 to 20. A Social Democrat minority government was formed, which was supported by the SF. The cooperation lasted only one year, but led to considerable conflict within the SF: in 1967 the

Left Socialists Left Socialists ( da, Venstresocialisterne) was a political party in Denmark. The party worked on what it called an "undogmatic revolutionary and Marxist basis". It was formed in 1967 as a split from the Socialist People's Party (SF). In 1989 ...

(VS) broke away from the SF. In the subsequent 1968 elections, the SF lost nine seats and the VS entered parliament with four. In 1969 the party chairperson Larsen stood down, he was replaced by Sigurd Ømann.

1969–1991

In the 1971 elections, the party regained ground on the VS, gaining six seats, while the VS left the Folketing. In 1972, the party participated in the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

campaign against Denmark's entry into the European Economic Community. The Danish voters voted in favour of the European by a narrow margin. Because of its opposition to the EEC however boosted the SF's membership and support. In the subsequent 1973 "landslide" elections, the SF lost six seats (reducing the party's share to 11), and the DKP re-entered the Folketing with six seats. In 1974, Ømann stood down as party chairperson in favour of Gert Petersen. In the 1975 elections, the SF lost two seats and the VS re-entered the Folketing as well. In

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

the party reached an all-time low with only seven seats. During the 1970s, the SF began to change its program and electoral appeal. Where it had been a male-domined workers' party it became broader

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

political party that was oriented towards new voters and

new social movements The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy) which are cl ...

. It became more focused on the environment and

gender politics Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...

. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, the party won four seats as the DKP lost its six seats. In the 1981 elections, the party almost doubled from eleven to twenty-one. In the 1984 elections it remained stable. In the 1986 referendum on the

Single European Act The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a single market by 31 December 1992, and a forerunner of the European Union's Common Forei ...

, the SF campaigned together with the Social Democrats and the Social Liberal Party against the European Community. The SEA was adopted by a narrow margin. In the subsequent

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

, it reached its all-time peak with twenty seven seats. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

, it lost three seats, and in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, it lost another nine, leaving only fifteen. In 1991, the party chairman Petersen stood down in favour of

Holger K. Nielsen Holger Kirkholm Nielsen, known as Holger K. Nielsen (born 23 April 1950), is a Danes, Danish politician, member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party (Denmark), Socialist People's Party. He was Denmark's Minister for Foreign Affairs ( ...

. Between 1982 and 1993, a centre-right government led by

Poul Schlüter Poul Holmskov Schlüter (; 3 April 1929 – 27 May 2021) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1982 to 1993. He was the first member of the Conservative People's Party to become Prime Minister, as well as the first ...

formed by the

Conservatives 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 in ...

, the Liberals, and allies was in power, even though the Social Democrats, SF, and the Social Liberals formed a majority in parliament. This, combined with its links with the peace and environmental movement, gave the SF the power to force alternative security and environmental policies.

1991–2001

In 1991, Petersen stood down as party chairman; he was replaced by

, who was – compared to the other candidate Steen Gade – closer to the party's socialist past. In the 1992 referendum on the

treaty of Maastricht The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the pr ...

, the SF campaigned for the "no"-vote. The Danish people voted against the referendum. In 1993, the SF formed a historic compromise with the other parties in the Folketing. It accepted the concessions made to the Danes in the Edinburgh Agreement and to the SF in the National Compromise. Therefore, it campaigned to vote "yes" in the second referendum. Just before the referendum in 1991, the SF's party congress had adopted a new program of action and principles, "Mod Nye Tider (Towards New Times)", which departed from the old anti-EU line. As a group in the SF became more positive of the EU, the SF became increasingly divided on the issue. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, it lost another two seats and the Red-Green Alliance an alliance which included the DKP and the VS entered parliament with six seats. In the 1998 elections the party remained stable. During the 1998 referendum on the

Treaty of Amsterdam The Treaty of Amsterdam, officially the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts, was signed on 2 October 1997, and entered into force on 1 May 1999; i ...

, it led the No-camp again, unsuccessfully. Between 1993 and 2001, the SF supported a

Social Democrat 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 soc ...

Social Liberal 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 ...

minority government led by

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Poul Oluf Nyrup Rasmussen (, informally Poul Nyrup, born 15 June 1943) is a retired Danish politician. Rasmussen was Prime Minister of Denmark from 25 January 1993 to 27 November 2001 and President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) from ...

. In the 2000 referendum on the euro, the SF was part of the successful "no" campaign.

In opposition, 2001–2011

In the

2001 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2001. Africa * 2001 Beninese presidential election * 2001 Cape Verdean parliamentary election * 2001 Cape Verdean presidential election * 2001 Chadian presidential election * 2001 Gabonese legislative ...

, the party lost one seat and after

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 ...

, the Conservative People's Party and 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 ...

gained a majority SF lost almost all political influence in parliament. There were some local bright spots with great support to SF mayors in

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and th ...

, Them,

Nakskov Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is situated in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 12,495 (1 January 2022). To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the L ...

, Kalundborg, and

Maribo Maribo is a town in Lolland Municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Lolland in south Denmark. It was the municipal seat of the former Maribo Municipality, until 1 January 2007, and then it became the seat of the current Lolland Muni ...

caused by charismatic candidates. In 2004, the party's sole MEP again decided to sit with

The Greens–European Free Alliance ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

group, instead of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, leading to considerable internal conflict. The party has since then come around to her point of view, and in 2008, it was decided that future SF MEPs should sit in the Green Group, although at the time SF was still only an observer in the

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

and not a full member. In the 2005 elections, SF gained the worst election result since 1979, and lost yet another seat in parliament. On election night Holger K. Nielsen stepped down as party chairman in favour of a new chair. When

announced that he would step down as chairman, three candidates for the post came forth:

Pia Olsen Dyhr Pia Olsen Dyhr (born 30 November 1971 in Vallensbæk, Copenhagen) is a Danish politician who has been a member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party since the 2007 general elections. Dyhr has served as Minister for Trade and Investm ...

, Meta Fuglsang, 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 ...

. At an at times chaotic process on the party congress resulted in the decision to hold a ballot among the party members to decide who should be chairman. Søvndal, running on a platform of moving the party further to the

political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

won the ballot with 60% of the vote. The election of Søvndal brought major changes to the party. Greater emphasis was placed on professionalism, the use of focus groups and a change in electoral strategy. The number of key issues was reduced to three to better penetrate in the media with fewer slogans. In a 2006 internal referendum, 66% of the SF-members declared that the party should participate in the "yes"-camp in a referendum on the

European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

, a historic break from its Eurosceptic past. In the 2007 election, SF more than doubled its seats in parliament and became the fourth-largest party with increased support across the country. In itself this did not bring about any major change in political influence since the centre-right was able to maintain its majority. However the increase in votes and members of parliament brought optimism and new resources to the party. The media had also discovered Søvndal's ability to make an impact and gave him the opportunity to use that in many cases. The number of party members also greatly increased during this period. At the 2006 party congress, Søvndal took exception to anti-democratic groups, mostly

Hizb-ut-Tahrir Hizb ut-Tahrir (Arabicحزب التحرير (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Isl ...

using unusually harsh language. He repeated these statements on his blog in 2008 which led to great attention to the party and some internal criticism. Right-wing politicians praised Søvndal's statements and rhetoric which caused insecurity in some parts of the party who felt they were being embraced by some of SF's main political opponents on the right wing. The polls during these months showed a constant rise in support for the party which combined with a decline in support for the Social Democrats showed an almost equal support to the two parties. For the first time ever some polls showed greater support for SF than for the Social Democrats. In the spring of 2008 this however changed so that SF got 16% in the polls and the Social Democrats 23%. In 2008, SF voted in favour for the national budget for 2009. This was the first time the SF had voted in favour of a national budget by the Fogh cabinet. This was widely regarded as an attempt to disprove the frequent accusations of SF not being "economically responsible".

In government, 2011–2014

Before the 2011 election, SF announced that its goal was to be part of a cabinet consisting of SF, the

, and the Social Liberal Party. While the Social Democrats were positive to the idea the Social Liberals were initially more sceptical, due to differences in economic policies. This became a reality with the formation cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt: For the first time, SF was part of a cabinet, with six cabinet ministers. In September 2012 Villy Søvndal announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the party. After a protracted election for the party chair

Annette Vilhelmsen Annette Lilja Vilhelmsen (born 24 October 1959) is a Danish politician who served as chairperson of the Socialist People's Party from 2012 to 2014. She served as Minister for Social Affairs and Integration from August 2013 to February 2014 and ...

was elected chairwoman with 66% of the constituency, against the 34% achieved by her competitor Astrid Krag. Since Krag had the backing of most of the party leadership, Vilhelmsen's election was widely interpreted as a display of dissatisfaction with the leadership's approach to participating in government. Vilhelmsen never managed to provide stable leadership for the party however. In January 2014, the party left the coalition government over a dispute involving the sale of shares in the state-owned energy company DONG Energy to Goldman Sachs, stating that they would instead provide

confidence and supply In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of par ...

. Vilhelmsen and a considerable part of the party leadership subsequently resigned.

was subsequently elected new chairman of the party.

Supporting the government, since 2019

The 2019 general election saw a victory for the 'red bloc' consisting of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, SF, the Red-Green Alliance, the Faroese Social Democratic Party, and Siumut. SF received 7.7% of the vote, a 3.5% increase from 2015, netting them 14 seats. Following the results, Vice President Signe Munk stepped down to serve in the Folketing and Serdal Benli was elected to take Munk's place. Prior to the election, SF spoke with leader of the Social Democrats

Mette Frederiksen Mette Frederiksen (; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has been Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019, and Leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. The second woman to hold either office, she is also the youngest prime ...

and brought a list of policy demands. These included strong climate action and the abolishment of the cash assistance ceiling, though the latter was abandoned during negotiations. Ultimately it was decided that the Social Democrats would form a one-party minority government supported by SF and the rest of the red bloc. In 2022, the congress of the party voted for the official English name of the party to be "Green Left".

Ideology and issues

SF's ideological base is

, inspired by

green politics Green politics, or ecopolitics, is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Wall 2010. p. 12-13. It b ...

and democratic socialism. The party sees a democratic-socialist Denmark as the end goal of its politics. The party is a strong supporter of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

, the rights of minorities, and democracy. An important issue dividing the party is the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Historically, the party was highly Eurosceptic; during the 1990s, when the EU began to implement policies oriented at regional development, environmental protection and social protection, the SF became more positive about the EU. In 2004 the party shifted towards a more

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Politi ...

stance. Other important issues for the SF are a

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

based on solidarity. To that extent, it seeks to reform the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

, as well as

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

protection, and support feminism.

International comparison

The SF is a Nordic Green Left party like the Swedish Left Party, the Norwegian Socialist Left Party, the Finnish Left Alliance, and the Icelandic

Left-Green Movement The Left-Green Movement ( is, Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt framboð), officially the Left Movement – Green Candidature and also known by its short-form name ''Vinstri græn'' (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland. The Left-Gree ...

. These were also influenced by

and

in the 1970s and 1980s. Similar parties in Western Europe were the French Unified Socialist Party and the Dutch

Pacifist Socialist Party The Pacifist Socialist Party ( nl, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, PSP) was a democratic socialist Dutch socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft. Party histor ...

Relationships to other parties

The SF has good relationships with the Social Liberal Party and the

who, in the past, have cooperated in minority governments supported from the outside by the SF, although now the party is in opposition to a centrist government.

International organizations

SF is a member of the

Nordic Green Left Alliance da, Nordisk Grønne Venstre Alliance no, Nordisk Grønt Venstre Allianse is, Norræna vinstri-græna bandalagið , logo = Logo of the Nordic Green Left Alliance.svg , abbreviation = , colorcode = , general_secretary ...

and the

European Greens The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

. Between 1979 and 1989, its MEPs sat in the

Communist and Allies Group The Communist and Allies Group was a communist political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1989. History The "Communist and Allies Group" was the first communist group in the European Parliament, founded on 16 October ...

. Between 1989 and 1994, its sole MEP was member of the European United Left parliamentary group. Between 1994 and 1999, its sole MEP sat in the

Green Group Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

. Between 1999 and 2004, its sole MEP sat in the European United Left/Nordic Green Left group. After 2004 election, SF's sole MEP,

Margrete Auken Margrete Helle Auken (born 6 January 1945) is a Danish politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2004. She is a member of the Socialistisk Folkeparti, part of the European Green Party. She was also former ...

, controversially chose to sit in The Greens-European Free Alliance group. SF became a full member of the

Global Greens The Global Greens (GG) is an international network of political parties and movements which work to implement the Global Greens Charter. It consists of various national Green political parties, partner networks, and other organizations associate ...

in 2014.

Organization

The SF has a strong grass-roots organization: All members can participate in the

party congress The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...

es, but only delegates have voting rights. In May 2010, the party had 17,883 members. Its youth organization is the

Youth of the Socialist People's Party Socialistisk Folkepartis Ungdom (Popular Socialist Youth of Denmark) is the youth wing of the Green Left of Denmark, founded in 1969. In 1995, the leftist section of the SFU (essentially the Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, Københ ...

. The linked Socialist Popular Education Organisation organizes a yearly political summer meeting for members and non-members in

Livø Livø () is a 320-hectare Danish island with approximately 10-year-round residents. The island is located centrally in the Limfjord, about 20 minutes by boat from Rønbjerg, and approximately midway between Nykøbing Mors, Løgstør, Fjerritslev ...

Election results

Parliament

Local elections

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Representation

Party Chairperson

The chairman of the SF has always been its party leader, which can't be taken for granted in Danish party politics. *

, 1959–1968 * Sigurd Ømann, 1968–1974 * Gert Petersen, 1974–1991 *

, 1991–2005 *

, 2005–2012 *

, 2012–2014 *

, 2014–present

Members of the Folketing

The party currently has 15 members of the Danish parliament. In the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in coun ...

, SF doubled the amount of seats won in the

2015 Danish general election General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 18 June 2015 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. 175 members were elected in the Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. Although the ruling Social Democrats ...

, going from 7 to 14 seats. *

Jacob Mark Jacob Rene Mark (born 16 October 1991 in Køge) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. He was elected into parliament at the 2015 Danish general election. Political career Mark sat in the munic ...

* Kirsten Normann Andersen * Signe Munk *

Karina Lorentzen Dehnhardt Karina Lorentzen Dehnhardt (born 26 October 1973 in Kolding) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. She was elected into parliament at the 2019 Danish general election General elections were ...

* Ina Strøjer-Schmidt * Trine Torp *

Karsten Hønge Karsten Hønge (born 25 September 1958 in Nykøbing Mors) is a Danish politician, who is member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. Karsten Hønge is one of few people who has both been elected to city councils, county councils, ...

* Lisbeth Bech Poulsen * Charlotte Broman Mølbæk * Astrid Carøe * Carl Valentin * Anne Valentina Berthelsen *

Halime Oguz Halime Oguz (born 15 June 1970 in Tavsancali, Turkey) is a Turkish-Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. She was elected into parliament at the 2019 Danish general election General elections w ...

Rasmus Nordqvist Rasmus Nordqvist (born 18 July 1975 in Copenhagen) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. He was elected into parliament in the 2015 Danish general election as a member of The Alternative, but ...

(joined the party after leaving The Alternative)

Members of the European Parliament

The SF has always been represented in the European Parliament. It gained one seat in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

(one additional seat on 1 January 1985),

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

and 2004. Since 2004, the elected candidate was

. Without the approval of the party's board, she joined The Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group, instead of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left in 2004. Since then, the party has come around to her point of view, and at the national congress in 2008, it was decided that future SF MEPs will stay in the Greens–EFA group in the European Parliament, but SF will only join the

as an observer, and not as a member. In the 2009 European elections, the party increased its share of votes to 15,6%, and got an additional seat which went to Emilie Turunen, who became a member of the

in March 2013. For the 2019 European Election, SF won back the 2nd seat and is now also represented by

Kira Marie Peter-Hansen Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (born 23 February 1998) is a Danish politician. She is a Socialist People's Party (part of the Greens–European Free Alliance group) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) elected in the 2019 European parliamentary e ...

, who is the youngest parliamentarian ever elected for the European Parliament.

Municipal and regional government

Currently the party has approximately 236 elected representatives in local town councils and 21 representatives in Denmark's fourteen regional councils. During the 1990s, the party gained its first mayors.

Former Members of the Folketing

2005–2007

* Anne Baastrup *

Steen Gade The Dutch word Steen means "stone", and is used for "castle" or "fortress", as in the Gravensteen in Ghent, Belgium. It is also an alternative spelling of the Swedish and Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country o ...

Pernille Vigsø Bagge Pernille is a Danish and Norwegian female given name derived from ''Petronella'', and may refer to: *Pernille Dupont, retired female badminton player from Denmark * Pernille Fischer Christensen (born 1969), Danish film director and sister of actor ...

* Poul Henrik Hedeboe * Anne Grete Holmsgaard * Morten Homann * Kristen Touborg Jensen *

Kamal Qureshi Kamal Hameed Qureshi ( ur, کمال حمید قریشی; born 29 July 1970) is a Danish-Pakistani politician. Life Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, he moved with his parents to Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of four. After attending Tårnby Hig ...

Ole Sohn Ole Christian Liep Sohn (born 12 September 1954) is a Danish politician and author. He was a member of the Parliament of Denmark for the Social Democrats (until 2015) and was Denmark's Minister for Business and Growth until he announced his resigna ...

2007–2011

* Anne Baastrup * Anne Grete Holmsgaard * Astrid Krag * Eigil Andersen * Flemming Bonne * Hanne Agersnap *

Ida Auken Ida Margrete Meier Auken (born 22 April 1978, in Frederiksberg) is a Danish politician and member of the Folketing for the Social Democrats political party. She has been a member of parliament since 2007. She was Minister for the Environment o ...

* Jesper Petersen * Jonas Dahl *

* Karina Lorentzen *

Karl Bornhøft Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

Kristen Touborg Kristen may refer to: *Kristen (given name), includes a list of people with the name *ITC Kristen, a typeface created by George Ryan for the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) *"Kristen", the alias used by Ashley Alexandra Dupré Ashley is a ...

Nanna Westerby Nanna may refer to: *Grandmother Mythology * Sin (mythology), god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen * Nanna (Norse deity), goddess associated with the god Baldr in Norse mythology * Nana Buluku, Fon/Dahomey androgynous deity cre ...

* Pernille Frahm *

* Özlem Cekic