| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Folketinget / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
13 November 2007 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament following the early dissolution of this body in October 2007. General elections had previously been held in February 2005. |
On 24 October 2007
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called early elections to the 179-member Danish Parliament (Folketing) for 13 November
ahead of the official end of the four-year term in February 2009.
Mr. Rasmussen has led the centre-right coalition government since 2001. It comprises his Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Conservative People's Party
and has the support of the Danish People's Party.
In the previous elections held in February 2005
the coalition won a total of 70 seats of the 175 members elected from Denmark (see note) and the Danish People's Party won 24 seats. The main opposition Social Democratic Party
led by Mr. Mogens Lykketoft
took 47 seats
losing five. He subsequently resigned as party leader and was succeeded by Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt in April 2005.
In the 2007 elections
Prime Minister Rasmussen was seeking a third consecutive term in office.
A total of 808 candidates
representing nine parties and including 12 independents
contested the 2007 elections.
Tax
welfare
and immigration were main issues during the election campaign. Prime Minister Rasmussen pledged to implement further tax-cutting measures
referring to his government's proposal to lower income tax
which was passed in parliament on 23 October. The Social Democrat leader Thorning-Schmidt promised to provide better welfare
including higher wages for the lowest-paid public servants.
Prime Minister Rasmussen also promised to soften asylum laws
proposing that asylum seekers with families be housed outside reception centres. The Social Democratic Party suggested that rejected asylum seekers be allowed to work in Denmark. The New Alliance
a new centrist party formed in May 2007 and led by Mr. Naser Khader
a Syrian-born Palestinian immigrant
also promised to work towards better treatment of refugees. The Danish People's Party led by Ms. Pia Kjaersgaard
opposed all initiatives to soften asylum laws.
In all
86.59 per cent of the country's 4 million voters turned out at the polls.
The final results gave the outgoing coalition and its supporters a total of 89 seats. The Social Democratic Party took 45 seats. The New Alliance finally won 2.8 per cent of the votes
or five seats.
On 23 November
Prime Minister Rasmussen formed a new Liberal-Conservative coalition government
supported by the Danish People's Party and the New Alliance.
On 27 November
the newly-elected parliament held its first session and elected former finance minister Mr. Thor Pedersen as its new Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 13 November 2007 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
4'022'920
3'483'533 (86.59%)
24'113
3'459'420 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Liberal Party (Venstre) |
|
908'472 |
|
|
26.26 |
|
|
| Social Democratic Party |
|
881'037 |
|
|
25.47 |
|
|
| Danish People's Party |
|
479'532 |
|
|
13.86 |
|
|
| Socialist People's Party |
|
450'975 |
|
|
13.04 |
|
|
| Conservative People's Party |
|
359'404 |
|
|
10.39 |
|
|
| Radical Liberal Party |
|
177'161 |
|
|
5.12 |
|
|
| New Alliance |
|
97'295 |
|
|
2.81 |
|
|
| Unity List |
|
74'982 |
|
|
2.17 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Liberal Party (Venstre) |
46
|
|
|
|
|
| Social Democratic Party |
45
|
|
|
|
|
| Danish People's Party |
25
|
|
|
|
|
| Socialist People's Party |
23
|
|
|
|
|
| Conservative People's Party |
18
|
|
|
|
|
| Radical Liberal Party |
9
|
|
|
|
|
| New Alliance |
5
|
|
|
|
|
| Unity List |
4
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
112
67
37.43%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
|
21
42
45
43
27
1
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Civil/public servants/administrators (including social/development workers) |
63 |
| Educators |
18 |
| Others |
16 |
| Business/trade/industry employees
including executives |
12 |
| Legal professions |
11 |
| Engineers/PC experts |
9 |
| Medical professions (doctors
dentists
nurses) |
9 |
| Media-related professions (journalists/publishers) |
9 |
| Military/police officers |
7 |
| Clerical occupations |
7 |
| Economists |
7 |
| Consultants (including real estate agents) |
5 |
| Farmers/agricultural workers (including wine growers) |
4 |
| Bankers (including invest bankers)/accountants |
2 |
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- http://im.dk/
- Ministry of Welfare (28.11.2007)
- The Danish Parliament (29.11.2007
29.02.2008
03.03.2008)
Note
Four other members are elected separately from Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The statistics above exclude the election results for these four members.
Election results for Greenland:
Inuit Ataqatigiits: 1 seat
Forward (Siumut): 1 seat
Election results for the Faroe Islands:
Republican Party (Tjóðveldisflokkurins): 1 seat
Union Party (Sambandspartiet): 1 seat
Note on the number of women
In all
67 women (including one from Greenland) were elected. Following the elections
one male MP gave up his seat and was replaced by a woman. There are thus 68 women. |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
