The Christian Democrats ( Danish: ''Kristendemokraterne'') (KD) are a

political party in Denmark This article lists political parties in Denmark. da Denmark has a multi-party system, with two or three major parties complemented by several other significant parties. The government typically consists of a major party in coalition with, or supp ...

. The party was founded in April 1970 as the Christian People's Party (''Kristeligt Folkeparti'') to oppose the liberalization of restrictions on

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

and the legalization of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. The party renamed itself to its current name in 2003. Originally, the party was not considered part of the European

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic i ...

tradition, and it was better known as a

religious 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 civilizatio ...

party. The Christian Democrats are a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Fo ...

(EPP) and the

Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian ...

History

The party was formed in 1970. Since its inception, the party has enjoyed an intermittent presence in the

Parliament of Denmark 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 ...

, rarely winning much more than the two percent minimum required to gain seats under Denmark's

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

system, and frequently falling below the threshold, as has happened in every election from the 2005 parliamentary election onwards. Despite its small size, the party has served in a number of coalition governments. From 1982 to 1988, it was in coalition with the

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 l ...

, Conservative People's Party and Centre Democrats; from 1993 to 1994, it served in government with the

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 ...

, the Social Liberals and the Centre Democrats. From 2002 to 2005, the party was led by Marianne Karlsmose. The name of the party was changed to the Christian Democrats in 2003. In October 2005, the party elected

Bodil Kornbek Bodil Holmgren Kornbek (born 10 August 1961) is a Danish politician who on 2 October 2008 became a member of the Social Democrats. Before that she was leader of the Christian Democrats. She was a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2005 and was elect ...

as its new chairman. Her attempt to introduce a more secular centre-left profile had some success in the beginning, but the party once again failed to win seats in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative elec ...

. In October 2008, Kornbek was replaced by Bjarne Hartung Kirkegaard from its more conservative and religious wing. In 2010, the Christian Democrats regained parliamentary representation when the

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

former Conservative MP Per Ørum Jørgensen joined the party. Since he was not formerly known for having expressed opinions based on Christianity, these events once more softened the religious character of the party. On 30 June 2011, it was announced that the Christian Democrats had started cooperating with Fælleslisten, a

single-issue party Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea. Political expression One weakness of such an approach is that effective political parties are usually coalitions of factions ...

fighting for

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

, especially in health care policy, with some success in regional and local elections. This means that candidates from the two parties appeared on a joint list at the

2011 Danish parliamentary election General elections were held in Denmark on 15 September 2011 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. Of those 179, 175 members were elected in Denmark, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The incumbent centre-right coalition led by ...

. The Christian Democrats had themselves taken a somewhat regionalist stance at a moment when Fælleslisten had surged in opinion polls. In September 2012, Per Ørum Jørgensen resigned and subsequently left the party altogether in order to form a new party called the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Egon Jakobsen Egon Jakobsen (born 1948 in Bjergsted) is a Danish politician. He has been a part of Christian Democrats since 1973. After Per Ørum Jørgensen was fired as chairman by the members of the party in September 2012, Egon Jakobsen stepped up as ad int ...

was appointed as interim chairman, and on 27 October 2012, the former deputy chairman

Stig Grenov Stig Grenov (born 15 March 1961 in Copenhagen) is a Danish teacher and politician. On 27 October 2012 he was elected the chairman for the Christian Democrats, with no opposing candidates. He stepped down in 2019 and Isabella Arendt became the par ...

was elected as new chairman.

Christian Democratic Politicians

Party chairmen

Jacob Christensen Jacob Steen Christensen (born 25 June 2001), also known as Jaxe, is a Danish professional footballer who plays for 1. FC Köln in Germany's Bundesliga. Club career Christensen played for Akademisk Boldklub (AB) before moving to FC Nordsjællan ...

: 1970–1973 *

Jens Møller Jens may refer to: * Jens (given name), a list of people with the name * Jens (surname), a list of people * Jens, Switzerland, a municipality * 1719 Jens, an asteroid See also * Jensen (disambiguation) Jensen may refer to: People *Jensen (surn ...

: 1973–1979 *

Flemming Kofod-Svendsen Flemming Kofod-Svendsen (born 21 March 1944 in Aakirkeby) is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church of Denmark (parish priest in Birkerød 1976-2011) and a Danish politician representing the Christian People's Party. Biography Kofod-Svendsen ...

: 1979–1990 * Jann Sjursen: 1990–2002 * Marianne Karlsmose: 2002–2005 *

: 2005–2008 * Bjarne Hartung Kirkegaard: 2008–2011 * Per Ørum Jørgensen: 2011–2012 *

: 2012 (a.i.) *

: 2012–2019 *

Isabella Arendt Isabella Arendt Laursen (born May 7 1993 in Fredericia) is a Danish politician who was the leader of the Christian Democrats from 2019 to 2022. Arendt lives in Copenhagen and is currently studying political science at Copenhagen University. Pol ...

: 2019–2022 * Marianne Karlsmose: 2022–2022

Ministers

* Christian Christensen:

Minister for 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 ...

and Nordic Cooperation (1982–88). *

: Minister for Housing (1987–88). Minister for Housing, Nordic Cooperation and Baltic Sea Questions (1993–1994). * Jann Sjursen:

Minister of Energy An energy minister is a position in many governments responsible for energy production and regulation, developing governmental energy policy, scientific research, and natural resources conservation. In some countries, environmental responsibilities ...

(1993–1994).

Election results

Parliament

Local elections

European Parliament

References

External links

* in Danish {{European People's Party Christian democratic parties in Europe Protestant political parties Political parties in Denmark Political parties established in 1970 Member parties of the European People's Party 1970 establishments in Denmark Centrist parties in Denmark Regionalist parties