Chamber:
	Folketinget
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	11 March 1998
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 19 February 1998, Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Social Democratic Party) called general elections for the following month. In doing so, he sought « to ask voters whether they want a new Parliament which can continue the steady policy maintained over the past five years » (that is, since 1993, when Mr. Rasmussen became Prime Minister). The poll would thus be held prior to Denmark’s May 28 referendum on the June 1997 Amsterdam treaty calling for enlargement of the European Union. « We need a stable atmosphere ahead of the referendum », the Prime Minister said. The three-week campaign ultimately focused as much on domestic as on foreign policy issues, as well as on the personalities of the party leaders. Debate centered on questions of immigration, tax cuts versus welfare, and the economy as a whole. In this connection, the Social Democrats, allied with the small Radical Party in the center-left governing coalition, defended their record in office, having lowered unemployment from 12% to 7% and ushered in a generally flourishing economic situation. The center-right opposition bloc was plagued by internal dissension between moderate and more extreme camps, as epitomized by the divergent views of the Liberal Party (Venstre), led by Mr. Uffe Ellemann-Jensen and the far-right Danish People’s Party, headed by Ms. Pia Kjaersgaard. The latter, gaining in popularity, adopted a platform staunchly opposing immigration, tax and European rapprochement. On election day, the outgoing minority Government (with 70 of 179 seats) defied opinion polls to eek out a victory by the narrowest of margins (one seat), as the Social Democrats and their allies (which also included the Socialist People’s Party) captured 90 seats to 89 for the opposition forces, which also embraced the Conservatives, Centre Democrats and Christian People’s Party. In this context, Mr. Rasmussen remained Prime Minister and unveiled a reshuffled centre-left coalition Cabinet on 23 March.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (11 March 1998): Elections results
Number of registered electors	3,993,009
Voters	3,431,926 (85.94%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	25,929
Valid votes	3,405,997

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
Social Democratic Party	1,223,620	35.9
Liberal Party (Venstre)	817,894	24
Conservative People’s Party	303,965	8.9
Socialist People’s Party	257,406	7.6
Danish People's Party	252,429	7.4
Centre Democrats	146,802	4.3
Radical Liberal Party	131,254	3.9
Unity List	91,933	2.7
Christian People’s Party	85,656	2.5
Progress People's Party	82,437	2.4

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Gain/Loss
Social Democratic Party	63	+1
Liberal Party (Venstre)	42	=
Conservative People’s Party	16	-11
Socialist People’s Party	13	=
Danish People's Party	13	+9
Centre Democrats	8	+3
Radical Liberal Party	7	-1
Unity List	5	-1
Christian People’s Party	4	+4
Progress People's Party	4	-7

Comments:
	Excluding Greenland and Faeroe Islands seats, whose occupants belong to local parties

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	112
Women:	67

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 30 years	2
30 - 39 years	20
40 - 49 years	36
50 - 59 years	90
60 - 69 years	28
70 years and above	3
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Salaried employees in the public sector	36.6%
Salaried employees in the private sector	21.1%
Self-employed	20.6%
MPs only	19.4%
Workers in the private sector	1.7%
Workers in the public sector	0.6%