The Denmark Democrats ( , DD) is a

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

and

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right populism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establishm ...

political party in Denmark. The party was founded in June 2022 by Inger Støjberg, and is officially titled Denmark DemocratsInger Støjberg (''DanmarksdemokraterneInger Støjberg''). The party is currently in opposition to the second Frederiksen government.

History

The party was founded in June 2022 by Inger Støjberg who had served variously as the minister for immigration, housing and gender equality in the

Folketing The Folketing ( , ), 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 and Greenland. E ...

for the Venstre party before she was impeached for misconduct in office after separating families in migrant centres and was accused of party disloyalty. According to Støjberg, her new movement would be a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

party with a strict

immigration policy Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although the ...

, but at the time of its founding there was no actual

party platform A political party platform (American English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British and often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principal goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, t ...

. In July, the party was formally registered after obtaining the necessary voter declarations on 1 July, eight days after the party was founded. That same month,

Members of the Folketing Members of the Folketing () are Member of parliament, members of the Danish parliament, known as the Folketing. The title is frequently shortened to the initialism MF. The term of office is up to 4 years, but usually shorter as the Prime minist ...

Peter Skaarup, Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl,

Bent Bøgsted Bent Gunnar Bøgsted (born 4 January 1956 in Serritslev) is a Danish politician, who is a member of the Folketing for the Danish People's Party. He was elected into parliament at the 2001 Danish general election. Background Bøgsted graduated fro ...

, and Hans Kristian Skibby announced that they wished to join the Denmark Democrats. These four were originally elected to the

for the

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party (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 party saw a period of significant growth after its founding a ...

(DPP) but had since become

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

s before joining the party. Skaarup was admitted as a member on 28 July 2022, giving the party its first seat in the Folketing. In August 2022, nine local councilors defected to the party, including former local members of the Conservative People's Party. In the

2022 Danish general election General elections were held in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark on 1 November 2022, except in the Faroe Islands, where they were held on 31 October as 1 November was a national day of mourning for victims at sea. Of the 179 members of the Fo ...

held on 1 November 2022, the party won 8.1% of the vote and 14 seats, making them the fifth largest party in the

along with the Liberal Alliance.

Ideology and platform

The party is positioned on the

of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...

. Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy branded the party as "a conservative party with a strict immigration policy and a focus on the balance between rural and urban areas as its primary key issues." Journalist Theodoros Benakis described it as

and

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, is a political position that seeks to restrict immigration. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory in ...

, while the party has also been described as

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

. Foreign policy-wise it has supported

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

against Russia, with Støjberg visiting

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

together with Defense Minister

Troels Lund Poulsen Troels Lund Poulsen (born 30 March 1976) is a Danish politician, who is the Deputy Prime Minister of Denmark and leader of . He also serves as Minister of Defence. He previously served as Minister for the Environment from 2007 to 2010, Minist ...

and voting with the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

for establishing a Ukraine Fund. In the interview in which party founder Støjberg announced her leadership of the party, she stated: "I think that what is missing is a ''borgerlig'' ourgeois or middle-classparty that takes care of the interests of the majority of people. And that has a clear view of everything that goes on outside of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. I think that the connecting lines between Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark are becoming weak." She also stated one of the main focuses of the party would be to review Denmark's immigration policy. On its website and early policy brief, the party seeks to improve conditions for the elderly, young people, and small and medium-sized companies. It also aims to combat what it describes as overbearing bureaucracy from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) on Denmark and wants to further decentralize power to regions outside of the capital. It also wants to increase funding for the police and calls for compulsory policies for immigrants to adapt to Danish culture. In an updated policy platform, the Denmark Democrats stated its objectives to be removing all EU influence on Danish pension, tax and maternity leave policies, tougher regulation on car leasing companies, tax deductions for workers who commute above certain distances, removing VAT on energy bills, changes to the Danish education system to encourage more vocational training, and reforms and cuts to Denmark's foreign aid and government funded arts budgets.

Election results

Parliament

European Parliament

Notes

References

{{Danish political parties Political parties established in 2022 2022 establishments in Denmark Anti-immigration politics in Europe Conservative liberal parties Conservative parties in Denmark Liberal parties in Denmark Nationalist parties in Denmark Right-wing parties in Europe Right-wing populism in Denmark Right-wing populist parties Eurosceptic parties Far-right politics in Denmark