Danish general election, 2005

Danish general election, 2005

8 February 2005
All 179 seats to the Folketing 90 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	84.4%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen Mogens Lykketoft Pia Kjærsgaard Party Venstre Social Democrats Danish People's Last election 56 seats, 31.2% 52 seats, 29.1% 22 seats, 12.0% Seats won 52 47 24 Seat change 4 5 2 Popular vote 974,657 867,933 444,947 Percentage 29.0% 25.9% 13.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   150x150px Leader Bendt Bendtsen Marianne Jelved Holger K. Nielsen Party Conservative People's Social Liberals Socialist People's Last election 16 seats, 9.1% 9 seats, 5.2% 12 seats, 6.4% Seats won 18 17 11 Seat change 2 8 1 Popular vote 344,886 308,212 201,047 Percentage 10.3% 9.2% 6.0%   Seventh party   Leader Collective leadership Party Red-Green Last election 4 seats, 2.4% Seats won 6 Seat change 2 Popular vote 114,123 Percentage 3.4%
Prime Minister before election Anders Fogh Rasmussen Venstre PM-elect Anders Fogh Rasmussen Venstre

General elections were held in Denmark on 8 February 2005. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre retained the largest number of seats in parliament. The governing coalition between the Venstre and the Conservative People's Party remained intact, with the Danish People's Party providing the parliamentary support needed for the minority government. The Danish Social Liberal Party made the biggest gains of any party, although it remains outside the governing group of parties. The election marked the second time in a row that the Social Democrats were not the largest party in the parliament, a change from most of the 20th century. The party lost 5 seats and leader Mogens Lykketoft resigned immediately after the election.

The prime minister called the elections on 18 January. He claimed that he would have called it earlier, but the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake which killed a number of Danes delayed it. Rasmussen still had almost a year left in his term, but said he wanted to call the election before municipal elections in November. His reasoning was that he wanted a clear mandate for the municipal and county government restructuring that his government was implementing.

From the last election the governing coalition of Venstre and the Conservative People's Party had 94 of the 175 seats together with the supporting Danish People's Party. This number was unchanged after the 2005 election. Voter turnout was 84.5% in Denmark proper, 73.0% in the Faroe Islands and 59.4% in Greenland.

Results

Denmark
Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Venstre	974,636	29.0	52	–4
Social Democratic Party	867,349	25.8	47	–5
Danish People's Party	444,947	13.3	24	+2
Conservative People's Party	344,886	10.3	18	+2
Danish Social Liberal Party	308,212	9.2	17	+8
Socialist People's Party	201,047	6.0	11	–1
Red-Green Alliance	114,123	3.4	6	+2
Christian Democrats	58,071	1.7	0	–4
Centre Democrats	33,880	1.0	0	±0
Minority Party	8,850	0.3	0	New
Independents	1,211	0.0	0	±0
Invalid/blank votes	27,348	–	–	–
Total	3,384,560	100	175	0
Faroe Islands
Republican Party	6,301	25.4	1	±0
People's Party	5,967	24.0	1	+1
Social Democratic Party	5,518	22.2	0	±0
Union Party	5,333	21.5	0	–1
Centre Party	829	3.3	0	New
Self-Government Party	585	2.4	0	±0
Independents	309	1.2	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	94	–	–	–
Total	24,936	100	2	0
Greenland
Forward	7,761	34.3	1	±0
Inuit Ataqatigiit	5,774	25.5	1	0
Democrats	4,909	21.7	0	New
Feeling of Community	3,374	14.9	0	±0
Independents	841	3.7	0	±0
Invalid/blank votes	457	–	–	–
Total	23,516	100	2	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote
V			29.03%
A			25.84%
O			13.25%
C			10.27%
B			9.18%
F			5.99%
Ø			3.40%
K			1.73%
D			1.01%
Others			0.30%

63 out of the 179 members of the new folketing are newly elected. Although women make up 38% of the total, several women hold prominent positions, notably Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of the third largest party, Danish People's Party. Marianne Jelved (leader of the Danish Social Liberal Party), Connie Hedegaard (Minister of the Environment), Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil (front figure of Enhedslisten) and Helle Thorning-Schmidt (later elected as leader of Social Democrats) are other important woman in the parliament. A couple of parties, including the Social Democrats are holding leadership races, which may be won by women. 9 of the top 20 candidates, in terms of personal votes, were women.

Following the election, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen reformed his liberal-conservative cabinet as the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II with parliamentary support from Danish People's Party.

Platforms

Venstre, the party of the prime minister, campaigned on their municipal restructuring plan, as well as a continuation of the "tax-freeze" and tight immigration requirements. They also promised to see 60,000 jobs created during a second term.

The largest opposition party, the Social Democrats led by Mogens Lykketoft focused on employment, which they claim has decreased under the current government.

The Danish People's Party, who support the Venstre-Conservative coalition, criticized the "tax-freeze" but agreed, conditionally, to support it for another parliamentary term. They also wanted increasingly tough immigration restrictions.

External links

• Official info from Folketinget website
• Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker