This article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in Denmark. It is limited to

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

and radical

egalitarian Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in the parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Background

In Denmark liberalism became a dominant force in 1840, but developed into a conservative direction. After 1870 a second liberal current, based on farmers, arose. This current got finally divided in a social liberal party,

Danish Social Liberal Party The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905. Historically, the centrist party has played a cent ...

(''Det Radikale Venstre'', member LI, ELDR), and a conservative liberal party,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(''Venstre Danmarks liberale parti'', member LI, ELDR). The origin of the word Venstre in both party names is to be found in the fact that the major Conservative party in the 19th century was called Right, and Venstre (Left) was formed as an opposition party. Thus it refers to an old left/right division of the political scale, in modern terms Venstre is usually considered a right wing party and Det Radikale Venstre as a centre party.

History

Below is a timeline listing the name changing and history of the political parties centred on the idea of

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

in Denmark. Confusingly the term 'left' is used in the name of some liberal parties in Denmark for historic reasons. It does by no means mean 'left' as in modern ' left wing' or

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

, but merely that they were on the contemporary left-wing at the time of their naming:

National Liberal Party

*1840: The National Liberal Party (''Nationalliberale Parti'')) is formed *1884: The National Liberal Party merged into the conservative Right (''Høyre'')

From The United Left to Liberal Party (Venstre)

*1870: Liberal farmers formed the liberal party The United Left (''Det Forenede Venstre'') *1892: The United Left fell apart in the Left Reform Party (Venstrereformpartiet) and the ⇒ Moderate Left *1905: A radical faction of the party seceded as present-day ⇒ Danish Social Liberal Party *1910: The VRP and the ⇒ Moderate Left merged into

(''Venstre'', now usually not translated into English) *1934: A right-wing faction seceded as the conservative '' Free People's Party'' (''Det Frie Folkeparti'') *1965: A left-wing faction formed the ⇒ Liberal Center

Moderate Left

*1892: A right wing faction of the ⇒ United Left formed the Moderate Left (''Det Moderate Venstre'') *1910: The Moderate Left merged into the new ⇒ Liberal Party

Danish Social Liberal Party (Radikale Venstre)

*1905: A radical faction of the ⇒ Left Reform Party seceded as the present-day

(''Det Radikale Venstre'', literally Radical Left) *2007: An MP and an MEP defected from the party in May 2007 and formed the Social Liberal/Social Conservative

Ny Alliance The Liberal Alliance ( in Danish) is a Classical liberalism, classical liberal and Right-libertarianism, right-libertarian List of political parties in Denmark, political party in Denmark. The party is a component of the centre-right politics, cen ...

. *2008: Ny Alliance changed to a more economically liberal platform. With this change the party changed its name to Liberal Alliance. *2009: Former Social Liberal Party MP Simon Emil Ammitzbøl founded Borgerligt Centrum, a centre-right party. A few months later, Ammitzbøl and leading members of Borgerligt Centrum left the party to join Liberal Alliance.

Liberal Center

*1965: A left-wing faction of the ⇒ Left formed the Liberal Center (''Liberalt Centrum'') *1968: LC disappeared

Liberal leaders

*Danish Social Liberal Party:

Carl Theodor Zahle Carl Theodor Zahle (19 January 1866 in Roskilde – 3 February 1946 in Copenhagen), was a Danish lawyer and politician who served as Prims Minister of Denmark from 1909 to 1910 and again from 1913 to 1920. In 1895, he was elected as a member of t ...

Hilmar Baunsgaard Hilmar Baunsgaard (26 February 1920, Slagelse – 30 June 1989) was a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 1968 to 1971. He was a member of the Danish Social Liberal Party and the party's leader from 1968 to 1975. He wa ...

Niels Helveg Petersen Niels Lolk Helveg Petersen (; informally Niels Helveg; 17 January 1939 – 3 June 2017) was a Danish politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 2000, having previously held the role of Minister for Economic Affairs between 1988 ...

Marianne Jelved Marianne Bruus Jelved (née ''Hirsbro'', born 5 September 1943 in Aarhus) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Danish Social Liberal Party. She was elected into parliament in the 1994 Danish general election and had pr ...

Margrethe Vestager Margrethe Vestager (; born 13 April 1968) is a Danish politician currently serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age since December 2019 and European Commissioner for Competition since ...

*Liberal Party: Poul Hartling -

Uffe Ellemann-Jensen Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (, informal: ; 1 November 1941 – 18 June 2022) was a Danish politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark in the Conservative-led Poul Schlüter Administration from 1982 to 1993. He was leader of the Da ...

Anders Fogh Rasmussen Anders Fogh Rasmussen (; born 26 January 1953) is a Danish politician who was the 24th Prime Minister of Denmark from November 2001 to April 2009 and the 12th Secretary General of NATO from August 2009 to October 2014. He became CEO of polit ...

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the le ...

List of liberal organizations

* Venstre The Danish Liberal party. *

Det Radikale Venstre The Danish Social Liberal Party ( da, Radikale Venstre, , Radical Left) is a social-liberal political party in Denmark. The party was founded as a split from the Venstre Reform Party in 1905. Historically, the centrist party has played a cent ...

The Danish Social Liberal party. * Liberal Alliance * Venstres Ungdom Youth wing of ''Venstre'' * Radikal Ungdom Youth wing ''Det Radikale Venstre'' * Liberal Students of Denmark DLS - Danmarks Liberale Studerende * CEPOS An independent classical-liberal/free-market conservative

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...

* The Copenhagen Institute A libertarian/free-market oriented think Tank. * Support Initiative for Liberty and Democracy in the Baltic Area * Liberalisterne The Liberals