The Social Democratic Party (, , JF) (, JF) is a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

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

on the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, led by Aksel V. Johannesen.

History

The Social Democratic Party was founded on 25 September 1925 by members of Faroese trade unions. Its youth organization '' Sosialistiskt Ungmannafelag'' (Socialist Youth) was founded in 1965. At the 2004 general election on 20 January 2004, the party received 21.8% of the popular vote and therefore won 7 out of 33 seats in the

Løgting The Løgting (pronounced ; ) is the unicameral parliament of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Danish Realm. The name literally means "''Law Thing''"—that is, a law assembly—and derives from Old Norse ''lǫgþing ...

. At the 2008 general election on 19 January 2008, the party received 19.3% of the popular vote and therefore won 6 out of 33 seats. In the 2011 election for the Danish

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), 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 and Greenland. E ...

, the party improved its vote share to 21.0%, and took one of the two Faroese seats previously held by

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. The elected representative of the Social Democratic Party in the Folketing is

Sjúrður Skaale Sjúrður Skaale (born 8 March 1967) is a Faroe Islands, Faroese politician, comedian and former journalist currently serving as one of the two Faroese members of the Folketing for the Social Democratic Party (Faroe Islands), Social Democratic Par ...

, who received 1539 personal votes.Kringvarp.fo
At the 2011 general election on 29 October 2011, the party received 17.8% of the popular vote and therefore won 6 out of 33 seats. At the 2015 general election on 1 September 2015, the party received 25.1% of the vote, winning a plurality of 8 seats in the Løgting.

Ideology

The party is officially neutral on the matter of independence from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, but generally leans towards remaining in the union. In the Danish Folketing, the Social Democratic Party supports the "Red Bloc" led by the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

of Denmark.

Party leaders

* Aksel V. Johannesen 2011–present * Jóannes Eidesgaard 1996–2011 * Marita Petersen 1993–1996 * Atli Dam 1972–1993 * Jákup Frederik Øregaard 1969–1972 * Einar Waag 1968–1969 * Peter Mohr Dam 1936–1968 * Maurentius Viðstein 1926–1936

Current members of the Løgting

As of the 2022 general snap election:

Election results

:a. The Social Democratic Party ran on a joint electoral coalition with the Self-Government Party in the 1946 general election (the former ended up winning 4 seats with the latter winning 2 seats).

References

External links

Official web site
{{Faroese political parties Political parties in the Faroe Islands Social democratic parties in Europe Centre-left parties in Europe Socialist parties in Denmark Socialism in the Faroe Islands Political parties established in 1925 1925 establishments in the Faroe Islands