Social Democrats (Denmark)

Social Democrats Socialdemokraterne
Leader	Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Founded	1871 (1871)
Headquarters	Danasvej 7 1910 Frederiksberg C
Student wing	Frit Forum - Social Democratic Students of Denmark
Youth wing	Social Democratic Youth of Denmark
Ideology	Social democracy, Third Way
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
European Parliament Group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Nordic affiliation	SAMAK
Official colours	Red
Parliament:	44 / 179
European Parliament:	4 / 13
Regions:	68 / 205
Municipalities:	801 / 2,468
Election symbol
Website
www.socialdemokraterne.dk
Politics of Denmark Political parties Elections

Social Democratic election poster, October 1945

The Social Democrats (Danish: Socialdemokraterne/Socialdemokratiet), is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark. It is the second largest party with 44 of 175 seats in the Danish parliament, the Folketing.

The party first entered the Folketing in 1884. By 1924 it had become the largest party, a distinction it would hold for 77 years.

It is a member of the Party of European Socialists and the Socialist International. It had four MEPs in the European Parliament, an increase of three after the 2004 election. The increase was mainly supported by the large number of voters who voted for former party leader and Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. He received 400,000 personal votes.

Recent history

In government 1993–2001

The Social Democrats' social policy through the 1990s and continuing in the 21st century involved a significant redistribution of income and the maintenance of a large state apparatus with collectively financed core public services such as public healthcare, education and infrastructure.

Social Democrat-led coalition governments (the Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I, II, III, IV) implemented the system known as flexicurity (flexibility and social security), mixing strong Scandinavian unemployment benefits with deregulated employment laws, making it easier for employers to fire and rehire people in order to encourage economic growth and reduce unemployment. It is required for people to continually try to remain an active part of the job force in order to receive benefits if they lose their job. This plan has proven to be successful at reducing unemployment,^{[citation needed]} and it has been proposed as a plausible model for other European countries such as France.^{[citation needed]}

The Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen maintained a parliamentary majority during the period from 1993 to 2001 by virtue of their support from the Socialist People's Party and the Red-Green Alliance.

Towards the end of the 1990s, a trade surplus of 30 billion kroner (USD 4.9 billion) turned into a deficit.^{[citation needed]} To combat this, the government increased taxes, limiting private consumption. The 1998 initiative, which was dubbed the Whitsun Packet (Danish: Pinsepakken) from the season it was issued, was not universally popular with the electorate, which may have been a factor in the Social Democrats' defeat in the 2001 parliamentary election.

In opposition 2001–2011

After being defeated by the Liberal Party in the 2001 election, the party chairmanship went to former finance and foreign minister Mogens Lykketoft. Following another defeat in the January 2005 election, Lykketoft announced his resignation as party leader, and at an extraordinary congress on 12 March, it was decided that all members of the party would cast votes in an election of a new party leader. The two contenders for the leadership represented the two wings in the party, with Helle Thorning-Schmidt being viewed as centrist and Frank Jensen being viewed as slightly more left-wing. On 12 April 2005 Helle Thorning-Schmidt was elected as the new leader.

In government 2011–present

The incumbent centre-right coalition led by the Liberal Party lost power to a centre-left coalition led by the Social Democrats making Helle Thorning-Schmidt the country's first female Prime Minister. The Social Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party became part of the three-party government. The new parliament convened on 4 October.

100 days after the election, the government has been accused of breaking a historically high number of election promises,^{[citation needed]} at least 100, leading the support for the party to drop to a historical low of just 20.5%.

In the end of February 2012, the government also had to drop their plans for a toll ring in Copenhagen, which had been a pillar in their electoral campaign.

Leaders of the Social Democrats

• 1871 – 1872: Louis Pio
• 1872 – 1873: Carl Würtz
• 1874 – 1875: Ernst Wilhelm Klein
• 1875 – February 1877: Louis Pio
• 1877 February – July 1878: Chresten Hørdum
• 1878 February – July: A.C. Meyer
• 1878 – 1879: Saxo W. Wiegell
• 1880 – 1882: Chresten Hørdum
• 1882 – 1910: Peter Christian Knudsen
• 1910 – 1939: Thorvald Stauning
• 1939 – 1955: Hans Hedtoft (Alsing Andersen as de-facto leader in 1941-1945)
• 1955 – 1960: H. C. Hansen
• 1960 – 1962: Viggo Kampmann
• 1962 – 1972: Jens Otto Krag (Erling Dinesen as de-facto leader from October 1972 to September 1973)
• 1973 – 1987: Anker Jørgensen
• 1987 – 1992: Svend Auken
• 1992 – 2002: Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
• 2002 – 2005: Mogens Lykketoft
• 2005 – : Helle Thorning-Schmidt

International affiliations

The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.

See also

• Politics of Denmark
• List of political parties in Denmark
• Social Democratic Youth of Denmark - DSU

External links

• The Danish Social Democrats — official English website