The Red–Green Alliance or Unity List (,
, EL) is an
eco-socialist political party in Denmark.
It was founded in 1989 with the merger of three
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
parties and is the most left-wing party in 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 ...
, where it advocates for the expansion of the
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...
and
social justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
as well as the
socialist transformation of Denmark and the entire globe.
During the
2021 Copenhagen City Council election the party placed first, with 24.6% of the votes. The party is also active in various trade unions within Denmark.
Ideological position
The party describes itself as a democratic and socialist
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
party, which represents
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.#Wal10, Wall 2010. p. 12-13. ...
, among the Danish
peace
Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
,
civil and political rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
, and
labour movements. The party's ideological position is set out in a manifesto from 2014.
It proposes that a socialistic society of the future "neither can nor should be described in detail, but rather be developed and shaped by the people living in it". It describes socialism as "an answer to the problems caused by capitalism such as non-sufficient democracy, crises, destruction of nature, inequality, racism and war".
Holding
anti-capitalist
Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...
and
soft Eurosceptic views, it states this about the economic system:
A new and actually democratic system of society requires fundamental changes in the ownership of the means of production, such as companies, land and natural resources. Collective forms of ownership will be dominating. We propose that public authorities, co-workers, local communities and other collectives of persons should own and run institutions and companies. ... A democratic economy means a democratic work life as well. The work place should be characterized by democracy, and the employees must have a constitutional right to decisive influence on the organization of work in the workplace.
The Red–Green Alliance recognizes that methods achieving this may differ depending on the course of class struggle, but will eventually require a revolution—one that must be supported by a majority of the population manifested through democratic and free elections.
The party often adopts particular views in relation to the other parties in the Folketing and opt out of many of the settlements reached, seen as an expression of class collaboration. Until the conditions for the party's long-term goal are presented, the party will use its seats in parliament to vote for any improvement and against any deterioration of working-class people's lives. In line with this, the party agreed at its national conference in 2010 that if
Helle Thorning-Schmidt became Prime Minister after the 2011 election, the party would vote for a "red" budget bill that did not contain obvious flaws.
Policies
Social policy
The party places great emphasis on the fight against
social inequality
Social inequality occurs when resources within a society are distributed unevenly, often as a result of inequitable allocation practices that create distinct unequal patterns based on socially defined categories of people. Differences in acce ...
and poverty, and is in favour of strengthening and expanding the
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the State (polity), state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal oppor ...
. The party believes there is a place in society for all forms of diversity, including gender, sexuality, disability and ethnic background. It also advocates for a larger public sector, among other things, to improve quality of life for public sector employees.
The party believes people should be free to choose when they want to get an education and is opposed to
tuition fees
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...
, which they believe harm opportunities for everyone to acquire an education. The party does not see unemployment as being equal to laziness and seeks to abolish the Danish equivalent of
workfare
Workfare is a governmental plan under which welfare recipients are required to accept public-service jobs or to participate in job training. Many countries around the world have adopted workfare (sometimes implemented as "work-first" policies) t ...
.
Economic policy
The party is decisively anti-capitalist and has particularly distinguished itself as an opponent of
transfer pricing
Transfer pricing refers to the rules and methods for pricing transactions within and between enterprises under common ownership or control. Because of the potential for cross-border controlled transactions to distort taxable income, tax authorit ...
, whereby multinational companies minimise the amount they pay in tax by attributing their profits to countries with lower tax rates.
In response to the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009. of 2007–2009, the Red–Green Alliance urged stricter control of loans, the introduction of a
Tobin tax, and the
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
of banks and
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
companies. It also believes that the
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...
must be expanded, the wages of the lowest-paid workers raised, and that the insurance-based unemployment benefit period should be extended to a minimum of four years. At the same time, it believes that students should be given a greater grant to be used in state education. At minimum, all benefits should be raised to 13,500 kroner per month before taxes.
Foreign policy
The party advocates for
foreign policy
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
based on the respect for human rights, which it believes has never been appropriately prioritised in the past. It also proposes greater support for developing countries through a doubling of
foreign aid
In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. The ...
, and campaigns for Denmark's withdrawal from
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
. In March 2019, the party announced it would no longer campaign for a referendum to leave the EU, pointing to
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
illustrating the need for clarity before withdrawal can be considered.
The party operates on the fundamental belief that peace is preferable to war, and opposed to Denmark's participation in the wars in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
from the onset of them. That principle was challenged in 2011, when the party's parliamentary group voted in favour of Denmark's participation in the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
-sanctioned military action in
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
on the basis that it was a humanitarian action. However, the decision led to significant backlash, and the party's support was pulled back after the military intervention began.
History

The party was formed in 1989 as an
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
of three left-wing parties:
Left Socialists (VS),
Communist Party of Denmark (DKP), and
Socialist Workers Party (SAP). Originally the plan was to unite these parties alongside
The Greens (De Grønne),
Common Course, and Humanist to form a broad-based
progressive movement, but this did not materialize. A fourth party, the
Communist Workers Party (KAP), succeeded in joining the alliance in 1991, but its involvement was vetoed a year later by DKP.
Prior to the
2007 Danish general election, the party enlisted
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, a Danish
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
candidate who identified herself as a feminist, democrat, and socialist.
She is endorsed by some
imams
Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, and provide relig ...
, opposed by others (including those in
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT; ) is an international pan-Islamist and Islamic fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community (called ''ummah'') and implement sharia glo ...
, a fundamentalist organization). She wears a hijab and does not shake hands with men.
[Imamer anbefaler Asmaa](_blank)
, Kristeligt Dagblad, 1 May 2007 These facts, and some of her statements regarding politics and religion, made her the target of some criticism across the political spectrum, particularly from the
Danish People's Party. Some left-wing figures cited her candidacy as a reason for withdrawing their support from the party.
[Kære Asmaa](_blank)
, Information, 1 September 2007 An anti-religious network was created within the party with the stated goal of turning the party into a solely
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
party with a
materialist
Materialism is a form of philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materia ...
–
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
basis.
[Religionskrig hos Enhedslisten](_blank)
aalborg.dk, 20 September 2007
During the campaign, there was some speculation as to whether her candidacy would attract or repel voters.
[Asmaa kan sprænge Enh's partiliste i København](_blank)
, Politiken, 2 November 2007[Ekspert: Asmaa har skræmt marxisterne](_blank)
, Politiken, 1 November 2007 The results of the election were 2.2% for the party, down from 3.4% in the
2005 Danish general election. Although not elected, Abdol-Hamid maintained that she had attracted voters to the party. The four seats won by the party went to
Frank Aaen,
Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen,
Line Barfod, and Per Clausen.
In the
2011 Danish general election, the party received 6.7% of the vote and tripled its representation from 4 seats to 12 seats.
The party contested the
2013 local elections on a platform of improving public transport and making greater public investment.
As part of the left-leaning "Red bloc" coalition with 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 ...
, the Red–Green Alliance accepted the
government budget
A government budget is a projection of the government's revenues and expenditure for a particular period, often referred to as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year. Government revenues mostly incl ...
twice and was in opposition twice in the period from 2011 to 2015. But at no point did they report direct opposition to the government. In the
2015 general election, the party received 7.8% of the vote and increased its representation from 12 to 14 seats.
Organization
Leadership
The party is the only one in 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 ...
which does not have an official party leader, instead having collective leadership. However, since 2009 it has had a political spokesperson, who has served as the party's ''de facto'' representative, and serves as its leader in party leader debates.
List of political spokespersons
*
Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen (2009–2016)
*
Pernille Skipper (2016–2021)
*
Mai Villadsen (2021–2023)
*
Pelle Dragsted (2023–present)
Elected representatives
2022 general election
*
Jette Gottlieb
*
Peder Hvelplund
*
Rosa Lund
*
Søren Egge Rasmussen
*
Søren Søndergaard
*
Victoria Velásquez
*
Mai Villadsen
*
Pelle Dragsted
*
Trine Mach
Membership
Electoral performance
Parliament
Red–Green Alliance tends to have a higher vote share in large urban areas, and especially in
Copenhagen Municipality
Copenhagen Municipality (), also known in English language, English as the Municipality of Copenhagen, located in the Capital Region of Denmark, is the largest of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (), the other three ...
. In the
2022 Danish general election
General elections were held in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark on 1 November 2022, except in the Faroe Islands, where they were held on 31 October as 1 November was a national day of mourning for victims at sea. Of the 179 members of the Fo ...
, it became the largest party in 4 nomination districts of the municipality, namely
Inner City
The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...
,
Nørrebro
Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current N ...
,
Bispebjerg and
Vesterbro. The party is much more weakly positioned in rural parts of Denmark, having received only 2.9% of the vote outside the
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of the three largest
cities
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
.
Local elections
European Parliament
Prior to 2016, the Red–Green Alliance never directly contested elections to 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 ...
, preferring to support the
People's Movement against the EU
The People's Movement against the EU () is a far-left political association in Denmark against the European Union. It was founded in 1972 as a cross-party campaign platform for a 'no' vote in Denmark's referendum on EEC membership. The People's ...
, the
Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...
party sits in
The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL group now. Some of the party's MPs considered running an independent list for the
2014 elections, but this idea was dismissed by a majority in the party's yearly meeting.
In a historic decision in the party's yearly meeting in May 2016, a majority decided to directly contest the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...
.
The 2024–2029 MEP is
Per Clausen.
Notes
See also
*
Politics of Denmark
The politics of Denmark take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state in which the monarch of Denmark, King Frederik X, is the head of state. Denmark ...
*
Pelle Dragsted
References
External links
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red-Green Alliance (Denmark)
1989 establishments in Denmark
Eco-socialist parties
Political parties established in 1989
Party of the European Left member parties
Socialist parties in Denmark
Eurosceptic parties in Denmark
Anti-capitalist political parties
Green political parties in Denmark
Nordic Green Left Alliance