Green Left (Denmark)

The Green Left[13] (Danish: Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) is a democratic socialist political party in Denmark.[3] It was formerly known in English as the Socialist People's Party, the literal translation of its Danish name.

Green Left
Socialistisk Folkeparti
AbbreviationSF
F [lower-alpha 1]
LeaderPia Olsen Dyhr
FounderAksel Larsen
Founded15 February 1959
Split fromCommunist Party of Denmark
HeadquartersChristiansborg Palace 1240 Copenhagen K
Youth wingPopular Socialist Youth of Denmark[1]
Membership (2022)8,995[2]
IdeologyDemocratic socialism[3]
Green politics[3][4]
Political positionCentre-left[5] to left-wing[6][7]
European affiliationEuropean Green Party
International affiliationGlobal Greens (associate)
European Parliament groupGreens–European Free Alliance
Nordic affiliationNordic Green Left Alliance
Colours  Red
  Green
  Hot Pink (customary)[8][9][10]
Folketing
European Parliament
2 / 13
Regions[11]
15 / 205
Municipalities[12]
126 / 2,432
Mayors:
2 / 98
Election symbol
F
Website
sf.dk

History

1959–1969

The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP).[14] 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. They all supported the idea of independence from the Soviet Union.[15]

In the 1960 elections, the party entered the Folketing with eleven seats. The DKP lost all six of its 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 number 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 led 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.

1969–1991

In the 1971 elections, the party regained ground on the VS, gaining six seats, while the VS left the Folketing. In 1972, the party participated in 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 the DKP 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 Democrats and 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 chairman 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 chairman; he was replaced by Holger K. Nielsen, who was – compared to the other candidate Steen 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 part of the successful "no" campaign.

In opposition, 2001–2011

In the 2001 elections, the party lost one seat and after Liberal Party, 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, although at the time SF was still only an observer in the European Green Party and not a full 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 Dyhr, 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 political 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 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 some 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".

In government, 2011–2014

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 formation cabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt: For the first time, SF was part of a cabinet, with six cabinet ministers. In September 2012 Villy Søvndal announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the party. After a protracted election for the party chair Annette Vilhelmsen was elected chairwoman with 66% of the constituency, against the 34% achieved by her competitor Astrid Krag. Since Krag had the backing of most of the party leadership, Vilhelmsen's election was widely interpreted as a display of dissatisfaction with the leadership's approach to participating in government.

Vilhelmsen never managed to provide stable leadership for the party however. In January 2014, the party left the coalition government over a dispute involving the sale of shares in the state-owned energy company DONG Energy to Goldman Sachs, stating that they would instead provide confidence and supply. Vilhelmsen and a considerable part of the party leadership subsequently resigned. Pia Olsen Dyhr was subsequently elected new chairman of the party.

Supporting the government, 2019–2022

The 2019 general election saw a victory for the 'red bloc' consisting of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, SF, the Red-Green Alliance, the Faroese Social Democratic Party, and Siumut. SF received 7.7% of the vote, a 3.5% increase from 2015, netting them 14 seats. Following the results, Vice President Signe Munk stepped down to serve in the Folketing and Serdal Benli was elected to take Munk's place.[16]

Prior to the election, SF spoke with leader of the Social Democrats Mette Frederiksen and brought a list of policy demands. These included strong climate action and the abolishment of the cash assistance ceiling, though the latter was abandoned during negotiations.[17] Ultimately it was decided that the Social Democrats would form a one-party minority government supported by SF and the rest of the red bloc.

Return to opposition, 2022-present

The incumbent red bloc government won a narrow majority in the 2022 general election. However, both before and after the election, Prime Minister Frederiksen instead called for the formation of a unity government with the centre-right Liberal Party as well as the newly formed centrist Moderates.[18] The formation of this grand coalition would make SF the largest party in the opposition with 15 seats, an increase of one compared to the 2019 election.[19]

In 2022, the congress of the party voted for the official English name of the party to be "Green Left".[13]

Ideology and issues

SF's ideological base is socialism, inspired by green politics and democratic socialism.[20] The party sees a democratic-socialist Denmark as the end goal of its politics. The party is a strong supporter of feminism, human rights, the rights of minorities, and democracy. Other important issues for the SF are a globalization based on solidarity. To that extent, it seeks to reform the World Trade Organization, as well as environmental protection, and support feminism.

The European Union

Historically, the European Union has divided the party. The party was highly Eurosceptic; during the 1990s, where the Green Left was the main architect of the four Danish "opt-outs" of the European Union. When the EU began to implement policies oriented at regional development, environmental protection and social protection, the SF became more positive about the EU. In 2004 the party shifted towards a more pro-European stance. This EU-positive stance was emphasized in 2022, where a broad coalition of Danish parties made a historic Defence-agreement that included a referendum of the Danish EU-defense opt-out. Here, the Green Left recommended to abolish the very same opt-out, they had been an architect of in the 1990s.

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 the French Unified Socialist Party and the Dutch Pacifist Socialist Party.

Relationships to other parties

The SF has good relationships with the Social Liberal Party and the Social Democrats who, in the past, have cooperated in minority governments supported from the outside by the SF, although now the party is in opposition to a centrist government.

International organizations

SF is a member of the Nordic Green Left Alliance and the European Greens. Between 1979 and 1989, its MEPs sat in the Communist 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 Greens-European Free Alliance group. SF became a full member of the Global Greens in 2014.

Organization

The Green Left has a strong grass-roots organization: All members can participate in the party congresses, but only delegates have voting rights. In May 2010, the party had 17,883 members. It's youth organization is the Popular Socialist Youth of Denmark. The linked Socialist Popular Education Organisation organizes a yearly political summer meeting for members and non-members in Livø.

Election results

Parliament

Year Votes  % Seats +/- Government
1960 149,440 6.1 (#4)
11 / 179
N/A Opposition
1964 151,697 5.8 (#4)
10 / 179
Decrease 1 Opposition
1966 304,437 10.9 (#4)
20 / 179
Increase 10 External support (1966–1967)
Opposition (1967–1968)
1968 174,553 6.1 (#5)
11 / 179
Decrease 9 Opposition
1971 262,756 9.1 (#5)
17 / 179
Increase 6 External support
1973 183,522 6.0 (#7)
11 / 179
Decrease 6 Opposition
1975 150,963 5.0 (#7)
9 / 179
Decrease 2 External support
1977 120,357 3.9 (#6)
7 / 179
Decrease 2 Opposition
1979 187,284 5.9 (#5)
11 / 179
Increase 4 External support
1981 353,373 11.3 (#3)
21 / 179
Increase 10 Opposition
1984 387,122 11.5 (#4)
21 / 179
Steady 0 Opposition
1987 490,176 14.6 (#3)
27 / 179
Increase 6 Opposition
1988 433,261 13.0 (#3)
24 / 179
Decrease 3 Opposition
1990 268,759 8.3 (#4)
15 / 179
Decrease 9 Opposition
1994 242,398 7.3 (#4)
13 / 179
Decrease 2 External support
1998 257,406 7.6 (#4)
13 / 179
Steady 0 External support
2001 219,842 6.4 (#5)
12 / 179
Decrease 1 Opposition
2005 201,047 6.0 (#6)
11 / 179
Decrease 1 Opposition
2007 450,975 13.0 (#4)
23 / 179
Increase 12 Opposition
2011 326,082 9.2 (#5)
16 / 179
Decrease 7 Coalition (2011–2014)
External support (2014–2015)
2015 148,027 4.2 (#8)
7 / 179
Decrease 9 Opposition
2019 272,093 7.7 (#5)
14 / 179
Increase 7 External support
2022 293,186 8.3 (#4)
15 / 179
Increase 1 Opposition
Source: Folketingets Oplysning

Local elections

Municipal elections
Year Seats
No. ±
1962
45 / 11,414
New
1966
74 / 10,005
Increase 29
Municipal reform
1970
27 / 4,677
Decrease 47
1974
78 / 4,735
Increase 51
1978
80 / 4,759
Increase 2
1981
155 / 4,769
Increase 75
1985
320 / 4,773
Increase 165
1989
301 / 4,737
Decrease 19
1993
228 / 4,703
Decrease 73
1997
233 / 4,685
Increase 5
2001
237 / 4,647
Increase 4
Municipal reform
2005
162 / 2,522
Decrease 75
2009
340 / 2,468
Increase 178
2013
116 / 2,444
Decrease 224
2017
126 / 2,432
Increase 10
2021
168 / 2,436
Increase 42
 
Regional elections
Year Seats
No. ±
1962
1 / 301
New
1966
1 / 303
Steady 0
Municipal reform
1970
1 / 366
Steady 0
1974
9 / 370
Increase 8
1978
12 / 370
Increase 3
1981
24 / 370
Increase 12
1985
40 / 374
Increase 16
1989
35 / 374
Decrease 5
1993
30 / 374
Decrease 5
1997
25 / 374
Decrease 5
2001
23 / 374
Decrease 2
Municipal reform
2005
12 / 205
Decrease 11
2009
32 / 205
Increase 20
2013
10 / 205
Decrease 22
2017
15 / 205
Increase 5
2021
14 / 205
Decrease 1
 
Mayors
Year Seats
No. ±
2005
1 / 98
2009
2 / 98
Increase 1
2013
1 / 98
Decrease 1
2017
1 / 98
Steady 0
2021
2 / 98
Increase 1

European Parliament

Year Group Votes  % Seats +/-
1979 COM 81,991 4.7 (#7)
1 / 15
N/A
1984 183,580 9.2 (#5)
1 / 15
Steady 0
1989 162,902 9.1 (#5)
1 / 16
Steady 0
1994 NGLA 178,543 8.6 (#6)
1 / 16
Steady 0
1999 GUE/NGL 140,053 7.1 (#7)
1 / 16
Steady 0
2004 G/EFA 150,766 8.0 (#5)
1 / 14
Steady 0
2009 371,603 15.9 (#3)
2 / 13
Increase 1
2014 249,305 11.0 (#4)
1 / 13
Decrease 1
2019 364,895 13.2 (#3)
2 / 14
Increase 1

Representation

Party Chairperson

The chairman of the SF has always been its party leader, which can't be taken for granted in Danish party politics.[21]

Members of the Folketing

The party currently has 15 members of the Danish parliament.[22] In the 2022 elections, SF gained 1 seat, and won 15 seats in total, the best result with Pia Olsen Dyhr as leader to date.[23]

Members of the European Parliament

The SF has always been represented in the European Parliament. It gained one seat in 1979, 1984 (one additional seat on 1 January 1985), 1989 and 2004. Since 2004, the elected candidate was 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 Greens–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 of votes to 15,6%, and got an additional seat which went to Emilie Turunen, who became a member of the Social Democrats in March 2013. For the 2019 European Election, SF won back the 2nd seat and is now also represented by Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, who is the youngest parliamentarian ever elected for the European Parliament.

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.

2005–2007

2007–2011

Elected in 2011 and left the party

2015–2019

Notes

  1. Official party letter on voting ballot
  2. Only 175 of the 179 seats in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, are obtainable by Danish political parties as Greenland and the Faroe Islands are assigned two seats each due to their status as territories in the Kingdom of Denmark.

See also

References

  1. "The statutes of Popular Socialist Youth of Denmark" (PDF).
  2. Hoffmann-Hansen, Henrik; Nilsson, Simone; Jespersen, Johan Storgaard; Krasnik, Benjamin; Fabricius, Kitte; Schmidt, Mara Malene Raun; Gosmann, Mie Borggreen Winther og Sara Mathilde (3 October 2022). "Overblik: Partierne i Danmark". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  3. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Denmark". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  4. Fritzbøger, Bo (2022). Sustainable development of Denmark in the world, 1970-2020 : a critical introduction. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Cham, Switzerland. p. 145. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-98293-5. ISBN 9783030982935. S2CID 249056216.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. "The Green Left of Denmark (Socialistisk Folkeparti)". Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy.
  6. "Oversigt over Folketingssalen | Nyheder". ft.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  7. "Meningsmåling| Nyheder". dr.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  8. "Valgresultater for folketingsvalg 2022 | Nyheder". tv2.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  9. "AKVA3: Valg til regions råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  10. "VALGK3: Valg til kommunale råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  11. Ritzau (19 March 2022). "SF får et nyt engelsk navn uden socialister og folkeparti" [SF gets a new English name without socialists and people's party]. Berlingske (in Danish). Berlingske Media. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. "Denmark During the Cold War: Highlights of the DIIS report". Danish Institute for International Studies. 30 June 2005.
  13. Thomas Ekman Jørgensen (2011). Martin Klimke; et al. (eds.). National Ways to Socialism? (PDF). pp. 51–52. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  14. Benli, Serdal (17 June 2019). "Serdal Benli er ny næstformand". Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  15. Dhyr, Pia Olsen (26 June 2019). "Ny regering skal sikre en rød-grøn retning for Danmark". Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  16. Murray, Adrienne; Davies, Alys (2 November 2022). "Denmark election: Centre-left bloc comes out on top". BBC.
  17. "Results of the Danish general election". The Danish Parliament. 2 November 2022.
  18. "About SF - in English". Socialistisk Folkeparti (in Danish). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  19. Lars Bille: Partier i forandring. En analyse af danske partiorganisationers udvikling 1960–1995, Odense 1997, ISBN 87-7838-314-5, p. 379
  20. "| Nyheder" (in Danish). {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  21. "Socialistisk Folkepartis folketingsgruppe | Nyheder". folketinget (in Danish). 7 December 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
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