- Socialist People's Party (Denmark)
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Socialist People's Party
Socialistisk Folkeparti
Leader Villy Søvndal Founded 15 February 1959 Headquarters Christiansborg
1240 Copenhagen KIdeology Eco-socialism,
Popular socialism,
Soft euroscepticismPolitical position Left-wing International affiliation Global Greens (observer) European affiliation Nordic Green Left Alliance, European Green Party (observer) European Parliament Group European Greens–European Free Alliance Official colours Red, Green Parliament: 16 / 179European Parliament: 2 / 13Regions:[1] 32 / 205Municipalities:[2] 340 / 2,468Election symbol F Website www.sf.dk Politics of Denmark
Political parties
Elections
Core topicsSchoolsOrganizationsin Africa
in the Americas
Asia-Pacific Green Network
European Green Party
Young European Greens
Global Greens
Global Young Greens
Green Zionist Alliance
Green parties
Institute for Social EcologyRelated topicsThe Socialist People's Party[3] (SF) is a green and socialist[4] political party in Denmark.
Contents
History
1959–69
Denmark 
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
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The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP) and CIA agent.[5][6] Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the Soviet intervention in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Larsen and the new SF sought to form a third way between Denmark's United States-oriented social democracy and Soviet Union–oriented communism, which sought to combine democracy with socialism. He was joined by a large share of the members of the DKP.
In the 1960 elections the party entered the Folketing with eleven seats. The DKP lost all of its six seats. In the 1964 elections the party lost one seat. During the 1960s the SF became involved in the peace movement and the movements which opposed nuclear weapons and nuclear power. It sought to "walk on two legs", by combining its parliamentary work with involvement in grass roots movements.
In the 1966 elections the Social Democrats and the SF won a combined majority in parliament, in which the SF doubled its amount of seats from 10 to 20. A Social Democrat minority government was formed, which was supported by the SF. The cooperation lasted only one year, but lead to considerable conflict within the SF: in 1967 the Left Socialists (VS) broke away from the SF. In the subsequent 1968 elections the SF lost nine seats and the VS entered parliament with four. In 1969 the party chairperson Larsen stood down, he was replaced by Sigurd Ømann.
1969–91
In the 1971 elections the party regained ground on the VS, winning six seats, while the VS left the Folketing. In 1972 the party led the referendum campaign against Denmark's entry into the European Economic Community. The Danish voters voted in favour of the European by a narrow margin. Because of its opposition to the EEC however boosted the SF's membership and support. In the subsequent 1973 "landslide" elections, the SF lost six seats (reducing the party's share to 11), and re-entered the Folketing with six seats. In 1974 Ømann stood down as party chairperson in favour of Gert Petersen. In the 1975 elections the SF lost two seats and the VS re-entered the Folketing as well. In 1977 the party reached an all-time low with only seven seats. During the 1970s the SF began to change its program and electoral appeal. Where it had been a male-domined workers' party it became broader left-wing political party that was oriented towards new voters and new social movements. It became more focused on the environment and gender politics.
In 1979 the party won four seats as the DKP lost its six seats. In the 1981 elections the party almost doubled from eleven to twenty-one. In the 1984 elections it remained stable. In the 1986 referendum on the Single European Act the SF campaigned together with the Social Democrat sand the Social Liberal Party against the European Community. The SEA was adopted by a narrow margin. In the subsequent 1987 it reached its all-time peak with twenty seven seats. In 1988 it lost three seats and in 1990 it lost another nine, leaving only fifteen. In 1991 the party leader Petersen stood down in favour of Holger K. Nielsen. Between 1982 and 1993 a centre-right government led by Poul Schlüter formed by the Conservatives, the Liberals and allies was in power even though the Social Democrats, SF and the Social Liberals formed a majority in parliament. This, combined with its links with the peace and environmental movement gave the SF the power to force alternative security and environmental policies.
1991–2001
In 1991 Petersen stood down as party chairperson, he was replaced by Holger K. Nielsen, who was compared to the other candidate Sten Gade, closer to the party's socialist past.
In the 1992 referendum on the treaty of Maastricht the SF campaigned for the "no"-vote. The Danish people voted against the referendum. In 1993 the SF formed a historic compromise with the other parties in the Folketing. It accepted the concessions made to the Danes in the Edinburgh Agreement and to the SF in the National Compromise. Therefore it campaigned to vote "yes" in the second referendum. Just before the referendum in 1991 the SF's party congress had adopted a new program of action and principles, "Mod Nye Tider (Towards New Times)", which departed from the old anti-EU line. As a group in the SF became more positive of the EU, the SF became increasingly divided on the issue.
In 1994 it lost another two seats and the Red-Green Alliance an alliance which included the DKP and the VS entered parliament with six seats. In the 1998 elections the party remained stable. During the 1998 referendum on the Treaty of Amsterdam it led the No-camp again, unsuccessfully. Between 1993 and 2001 the SF supported a Social Democrat/Social Liberal minority government led by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.
In the 2000 referendum on the euro, the SF was able to convince the voters to vote "no".
Since 2001
In the 2001 elections the party lost one seat and after Venstre, the Conservative People's Party and the Danish People's Party gained a majority SF lost almost all political influence in parliament. There were some local bright spots with great support to SF mayors in Vejle, Them, Nakskov, Kalundborg and Maribo caused by charismatic candidates.
In 2004 the party's sole MEP again decided to sit with The Greens–European Free Alliance group instead of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left, leading to considerable internal conflict. The party has since then come around to her point of view, and in 2008 it was decided that future SF MEPs should sit in the Green Group, though SF still remains only an observer in the European Green Party and not a member.
In the 2005 elections SF gained the worst election result since 1979 and lost yet another seat in parliament. On election night Holger K. Nielsen stepped down as party chairman in favour of a new chair. When Holger K. Nielsen announced that he would step down as chairman three candidates for the post came forth: Pia Olsen, Meta Fuglsang and Villy Søvndal. At an at times chaotic process on the party congress resulted in the decision to hold a ballot among the party members to decide who should be chairman. Søvndal, running on a platform of moving the party further to the left won the ballot with 60 % of the vote.
The election of Søvndal brought major changes to the party. Greater emphasis was placed on professionalism, the use of focus groups and a change in electoral strategy. The number of key issues was reduced to three to better penetrate in the media with fewer slogans.
In a 2006 internal referendum 66% of the SF-members declared that the party should participate in the "yes"-camp in a referendum on the European Constitution, a historic break from its Eurosceptic past.
In the 2007 election SF more than doubled its seats in parliament and became the fourth-largest party with increased support across the country. In itself this did not bring about any major change in political influence since the centre-right was able to maintain its majority. However the increase in votes and members of parliament brought optimism and new resources to the party. The media had also discovered Søvndal's ability to make an impact and gave him the opportunity to use that in many cases. The number of party members also greatly increased during this period.
At the 2006 party congress Søvndal took exception to anti-democratic groups, mostly Hizb-ut-Tahrir using a for the party unusually harsh language. He repeated these statements on his blog in 2008 which led to great attention to the party and some internal criticism. Right-wing politicians praised Søvndal's statements and rhetoric which caused insecurity in somme parts of the party who felt they were being embraced by some of SF's main political opponents on the right wing. The polls during these months showed a constant rise in support for the party which combined with a decline in support for the Social Democrats showed an almost equal support to the two parties. For the first time ever some polls showed greater support for SF than for the Social Democrats. In the spring of 2008 this however changed so that SF got 16 % in the polls and the Social Democrats 23 %.
In 2008 SF voted in favour for the national budget for 2009. This was the first time the SF had voted in favour of a national budget by the Fogh cabinet. This was widely regarded as an attempt to disprove the frequent accusations of SF not being "economically responsible".
Before the 2011 election SF announced that its goal was to be part of a cabinet consisting of SF, the Social Democrats and the Social Liberal Party. While the Social Democrats were positive to the idea the Social Liberals were initially more sceptical, due to differences in economic policies. This became a reality with the formationcabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt: for the first time SF was part of a cabinet, with six cabinet ministers.
Election results
Election Votes Procent Mandates 1960 149.440 6,1 % 11 1964 151.697 5,8 % 10 1966 304.437 10,9 % 20 1968 174.553 6,1 % 11 1971 262.756 9,1 % 17 1973 183.522 6,0 % 11 1975 150.963 5,0 % 9 1977 120.357 3,9 % 7 1979 187.284 5,9 % 11 1981 353.373 11,3 % 21 1984 387.122 11,5 % 21 1987 490.176 14,6 % 27 1988 433.261 13,0 % 24 1990 268.759 8,3 % 15 1994 242.398 7,3 % 13 1998 257.406 7,6 % 13 2001 219.842 6,4 % 12 2005 201.047 6,0 % 11 2007 450.975 13,0 % 23 2011 326.082 9,2 % 16 [7] Representation
Year Folketing EP Party Chairperson 1960 11 n/a Aksel Larsen 1961 11 n/a Aksel Larsen 1962 11 n/a Aksel Larsen 1963 11 n/a Aksel Larsen 1964 10 n/a Aksel Larsen 1965 10 n/a Aksel Larsen 1966 20 n/a Aksel Larsen 1967 20 n/a Aksel Larsen 1968 11 n/a Aksel Larsen 1969 11 n/a Sigurd Ømann 1970 11 n/a Sigurd Ømann 1971 17 n/a Sigurd Ømann 1972 17 n/a Sigurd Ømann 1973 11 n/a Sigurd Ømann 1974 11 n/a Gert Petersen 1975 9 n/a Gert Petersen 1976 9 n/a Gert Petersen 1977 7 n/a Gert Petersen 1978 7 n/a Gert Petersen 1979 11 1 Gert Petersen 1980 11 1 Gert Petersen 1981 21 1 Gert Petersen 1982 21 1 Gert Petersen 1983 21 1 Gert Petersen 1984 21 2 Gert Petersen 1985 21 2 Gert Petersen 1986 21 2 Gert Petersen 1987 27 2 Gert Petersen 1988 24 2 Gert Petersen 1989 24 1 Gert Petersen 1990 15 1 Gert Petersen 1991 15 1 Gert Petersen 1992 15 1 Gert Petersen 1993 15 1 Gert Petersen 1994 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 1995 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 1996 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 1997 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 1998 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 1999 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 2000 13 1 Holger K. Nielsen 2001 12 1 Holger K. Nielsen 2002 12 1 Holger K. Nielsen 2003 12 1 Holger K. Nielsen 2004 12 1 Holger K. Nielsen 2005 11 1 Villy Søvndal 2006 11 1 Villy Søvndal 2007 23 1 Villy Søvndal 2008 23 1 Villy Søvndal 2009 23 2 Villy Søvndal Members of the Folketing
In the 2007 election, the SF went from 11 to 23 seats in the Folketing[8]:
- Anne Baastrup
- Anne Grete Holmsgaard
- Astrid Krag
- Eigil Andersen
- Flemming Bonne
- Hanne Agersnap
- Holger K. Nielsen
- Ida Auken
- Jesper Petersen
- Jonas Dahl
- Kamal Qureshi
- Karina Lorentzen
- Karl Bornhøft
- Karsten Hønge
- Kristen Touborg
- Nanna Westerby
- Ole Sohn
- Pernille Frahm
- Pernille Vigsø Bagge
- Pia Olsen Dyhr
- Steen Gade
- Villy Søvndal
- Özlem Cekic
Members of the European Parliament
In the period 2004–2009 SF had one member in the European Parliament, Margrete Auken. Without the approval of the party's board she joined the Greens/European Free Alliance parliamentary group instead of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left in 2004. Since then, the party has come around to her point of view and at the national congress in 2008, it was decided that future SF MEPs will stay in the Green/EFA group in the European Parliament, but SF will only join the European Green Party as an observer and not as a member. In the 2009 European elections the party increased its share or vote to 15,6% and got an additional seat which went to Emilie Turunen.
Municipal and Regional Government
Currently the party has approximately 236 elected representatives in local town councils and 21 representatives in Denmark's fourteen regional councils. During the 1990s the party gained its first mayors
Ideology and Issues
Socialism 
DevelopmentIdeasEconomic planning · Free association
Equality of opportunity Economic democracy
Adhocracy · Technocracy
Self-management · Direct democracy
Public ownership · Common ownership
Social dividend · Basic income
Production for use
Calculation in kind · Labour voucher
Industrial democracy · Collaboration
Material balance accounting
Social ownership · EconomicsPeopleCharles Hall · Henri de Saint-Simon
Robert Owen · Charles Fourier
William Thompson
Thomas Hodgskin
Louis Blanc · Moses Hess
Karl Marx · Friedrich Engels
Ferdinand Lassalle
William Morris · Mary Harris Jones
Eugene V. Debs · John Dewey
Enrico Barone · Ben Tillett
Edvard Kardelj · Robin Hahnel
Michael AlbertSocialism portal
Politics portalSF's ideological base is Popular Socialism, inspired by democratic socialism and green politics. The party sees a democratic socialist Denmark as the end goal of its politics. The party is a strong supporter of human rights, the rights of minorities and democracy.
An important issue dividing the party is the European Union. Historically the party was highly Eurosceptic. However, during the 1990s, when the EU began to implement policies oriented at regional development, environmental protection and social protection, the SF became more positive about the EU. Currently, this issue is still dividing the party internally.
Other important issues for the SF are globalisation based on solidarity. To that extent, it seeks to reform the WTO, as well as environmental protection, as well as support feminism.
Organization
The SF has a strong grassroots organization: all members can participate in the party congresses but only delegates have voting rights. In May 2010 the party had 17,883 members. Its youth organization is the Youth of the Socialist People's Party. The linked Socialist Popular Education Organisation organizes a yearly political summer meeing for members and non-members in Livø.
Relationships to other parties
The SF has good relationships with the Social Liberal Party and the Social Democrats who have cooperated in minority governments supported by the SF.
International organizations
SF is a member of the Nordic Green Left Alliance and has observer status in the European Greens. Between 1979 and 1989 its MEPs sat in the Communists and Allies group. Between 1989 and 1994 its sole MEP was member of the European United Left parliamentary group. Between 1994 and 1999 its sole MEP sat in the Green Group. Between 1999 and 2004 its sole MEP sat in the European United Left - Nordic Green Left group. After 2004 election, SF's sole MEP, Margrete Auken, controversially chose to sit in the European Greens - European Free Alliance group.
International Comparison
The SF is a Nordic Green Left party like the Swedish Left Party, the Norwegian Socialist Left Party, the Finnish Left Alliance and the Icelandic Left-Green Movement. These were also influenced by feminism and green politics in the 1970s and 1980s. Similar parties in Western Europe were French Unified Socialist Party and the Dutch Pacifist Socialist Party.
Members of the Folketing 2005
- Anne Baastrup
- Steen Gade
- Pernille Vigsø Bagge
- Poul Henrik Hedeboe
- Anne Grete Holmsgaard
- Morten Homann
- Kristen Touborg Jensen
- Holger K. Nielsen
- Kamal Qureshi
- Ole Sohn
- Villy Søvndal
See also
References
- ^ "AKVA3: Valg til regions råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. http://www.statistikbanken.dk/akva3. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ^ "VALGK3: Valg til kommunale råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. http://www.statistikbanken.dk/valgk3. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ^ Danish: Socialistisk Folkeparti.
- ^ http://parti.sf.dk/default.aspx?func=article.view&id=31332 § 2 Stk. 1
- ^ Aksel Larsen var en betydningsfuld agent for CIA, dr.dk P1, 1 July 2005
- ^ "Denmark During the Cold War: Highlights of the DIIS report". Danish Institute for International Studies. 30 June 2005. http://www.diis.dk/sw26673.asp.
- ^ http://valget.tv2.dk/landsresultat/?forside
- ^ SF's Folketingsmedlemmer
External links
- Socialistisk Folkeparti – Official site
Political parties in DenmarkBracketed numbers indicate numbers of seats in the respective parliaments.The Folketing Venstre (47) · Social Democrats (44) · Danish People's Party (22) · Danish Social Liberal Party (17) · Socialist People's Party (16) · Red-Green Alliance (12) · Liberal Alliance (9) · Conservative People's Party (8) · Siumut (Greenland) (1) · Inuit Ataqatigiit (Greenland) (1) · Social Democratic Party (Faroe Islands) (1) · Union Party (Faroe Islands) (1) ·European
ParliamentSocial Democrats (4) · Venstre (3) · Socialist People's Party (2) · Danish People's Party (2) · Conservative People's Party (1) · People's Movement against the EU (1)Danish parliamentary election, 2007 Parties running in Denmark proper Venstre · Social Democrats · Danish People's Party · Conservative People's Party · Danish Social Liberal Party · Socialist People's Party · Red-Green Alliance · Christian Democrats · New AllianceParties running in the Faroe Islands Parties running in Greenland Candidates for Prime Minister Other notable candidates Categories:- Political parties established in 1959
- Nordic Green Left Alliance
- Political parties in Denmark
- Feminism in Denmark
- European Green Party
- Green political parties
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