Karsten Hønge (born 25 September 1958) is a Danish politician, who is member of the

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 ...

for the Socialist People's Party. Karsten Hønge is one of few people who has been elected to city councils, county councils, regional council, Folketing, and the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

Political career

He joined SF and its youth wing SFU in 1973. He was a member of the national leadership of SFU in 1974-1977. He was politically active during his time at Thisted Gymnasium, and from 1977 to 1978 was the vice-chairman of ''Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning'', the Danish association of gymnasium students. From 1978 to 1979, Hønge was a soldier at Skive Garrison; he was a member of the executive committee for the conscripts. Until 2007 he was chairman of the Fynes chapter of the trade union TIB (Træ Industri Byg), who later merged with 3F. He was a member of the County Council in Fynen County from 2001 to 2006, and served on the city council of

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

from 2005 to 2007, where he was leader of the group and member of the employment committee. In the public debate, Hønge was one of the first on the left wing to criticize Asmaa Abdol-Hamid from the Red-Green Alliance. He did so at the 2005 local elections, when they both ran for the city council in Odense. In 2006 he wrote the

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

against

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

. A defense for free thoughts." (Danish: ”En bandbulle mod fundamentalisme. Et forsvar for frisind"), critical of religious fundamentalism. Hønge had been a candidate to the Folketing since 1993, and at the 2007 general election, he was elected to the Folketing. In 2013 he was elected to the regional council in the

Region of Southern Denmark The Region of Southern Denmark (, ; , ; ) is an administrative region of Denmark established on Monday 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform, which abolished the traditional counties ("amter") and set up five larger regions ...

as the lead candidate from SF. In January 2014, he joined the Folketing again as a substitute for Anne Baastrup who was on sick leave. As a substitute, he made critical statements concerning the imminent sale of part of Dong to

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

, which SF supported as part of the government. His statements contributed to the resignation of party leader Annette Vilhelmsen and the departure of SF from the government a week later. Due to his role in this, he was given the nickname "the substitute from hell" by the press. At the 2015 general election, Hønge was reelected to the Folketing in

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

constituency. He was reelected in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2019 election to the European Parliament

In May 2019, Hønge was a candidate to the European Parliament election, as SF's second candidate on the list after Margrete Auken. The party won two seats, and Hønge won the second. However, since he was also running for reelection to the Folketing at the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

10 days later, he decided not to take his seat, who instead went to Kira Marie Peter-Hansen. This was criticized by the voters who voted for him. In 2018, Hønge said to a number of media outlets, that he would leave the Folketing, if he were elected to the European Parliament. In weeks prior to the election, Hønge had said to local media on Funen, that the general elections had first priority. Hønge later apologized that he was unclear in the process, and called it an "election-blunder". Several members of the Folketing later criticized SF and Hønge's decision, calling it to making fun of the voters and increasing the political alienation.

Personal life

Karsten Hønge was born on 25 September 1958 in Nykøbing Mors. He is the son of Anker Hønge, a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

and Inger Hønge, a cleaning assistant. He graduated from Thisted Gymnasium in 1978, and became a carpenter in 1983. In 2013 he became journalist from Danish School of Media and Journalism.

External links

Biography on the website of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hønge, Karsten 1958 births Living people People from Morsø Municipality Danish carpenters Socialist People's Party (Denmark) politicians Danish municipal councillors Members of the Folketing 2007–2011 Members of the Folketing 2015–2019 Members of the Folketing 2019–2022 Members of the Folketing 2022–2026