General elections were held in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

on 8 February 2005.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p525

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

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 politi ...

's Venstre remained the largest party in the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands an ...

and his governing coalition with the Conservative People's Party remained intact, with the

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party ( da, Dansk Folkeparti, DPP/DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The DPP lent its support to the Venstre– ...

providing the parliamentary support needed for the minority government. The

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 ...

made the biggest gains of any party, although it remained outside the governing group of parties. The elections marked the second time in a row that the

Social Democrat Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...

s were not the largest party in parliament, a change from most of the 20th century. The Social Democrats lost five seats and leader

Mogens Lykketoft Mogens Lykketoft (; born 9 January 1946) is a Danish politician who served as Leader of the Social Democrats (''Socialdemokraterne'') from 2002 to 2005. He succeeded Poul Nyrup Rasmussen as party leader. After losing the 2005 parliamentary el ...

resigned immediately after the elections. Voter turnout was 85% in Denmark proper, 73% in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

and 59% in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...

.Nohlen & Stöver, p550

Background

Prior to the

SARS pandemic Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sev ...

in 2003 and with

Boxing Day tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sum ...

in December 2004, Prime Minister Rasmussen called the elections on 18 January. Rasmussen still had almost a year left in his term, but he said that the country wanted to call the election before municipal elections in November. His reasoning was that he wanted a clear mandate for the municipal and county government restructuring that his government was implementing. In the previous elections in 2001, the governing coalition of Venstre and the Conservative People's Party had won 94 of the 175 seats together with the supporting Danish People's Party.

Electoral system

This was the last election in which the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

were used as constituencies.

Campaign

Venstre campaigned on their municipal restructuring plan, as well as a continuation of the "tax-freeze" and tight immigration requirements. They also promised to see 60,000 jobs created during a second term. The largest opposition party, the Social Democrats focused on employment, which they claim has decreased under the current government. The

, which supported the Venstre–

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

coalition, criticized the "tax-freeze" but agreed, conditionally, to support it for another parliamentary term. They also wanted increasingly tough immigration restrictions.

Results

63 out of the 179 members of the new Folketing were newly elected. Although women made up 38% of the total, several women held prominent positions, notably Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of the third largest party, the Danish People's Party.

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 p ...

(leader of the

Connie Hedegaard Connie Hedegaard Koksbang (born 15 September 1960) is a Danish politician and public intellectual. She was European Commissioner for Climate Action in the ( second Barroso) European Commission from 10 February 2010 through 31 October 2014. O ...

(

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

), Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil (front figure of Enhedslisten) and

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each ...

(later elected as leader of

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

) were other important woman in the parliament. A couple of parties, including the Social Democrats were holding leadership races, which might have been won by women. 9 of the top 20 candidates, in terms of personal votes, were women.

Aftermath

Following the elections, Prime Minister

reformed his liberal-conservative cabinet as the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II with parliamentary support from Danish People's Party.

References

External links

Official info from Folketinget websiteAngus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker
{{Danish elections Elections in Denmark

Parliamentary election