The Moderates ( da, Moderaterne) is a
liberal political party in
Denmark founded by former
Prime Minister and current
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen. He announced the name in a foundational speech on 5 June 2021. At the same time, he said that his main scenario was that the party would be formed after the
2021 Danish local elections
The Danish local elections of 2021 were held in 2021 for Denmark's 98 municipal councils and five regional councils. All 2,436 seats were contested for the 2022–2025 term of office, together with 205 seats in five regional councils. Frederiks ...
.
According to Rasmussen, it must be a
centrist party that has the ambition to create "progress and change in a crossroads between a blue bloc that is tormented by value politics and a red bloc that is stuck in a past view of individual and state". The party began collecting voting declarations in June 2021. On 15 September 2021 Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that they had received the 20,182 signatures needed to be eligible to stand in the
2022 Danish general election
General elections were held in the 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 Folketing, 175 w ...
.
The Moderates saw a surge in popularity during campaigning for the 2022 general election, eventually ending up as the third largest party with 16 seats, as polls had suggested. They had positioned themselves as
kingmaker
A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...
s in deciding who the next prime minister should be, but the incumbent red bloc won a majority, thus preventing the Moderates from having the decisive seats in the next government. Despite this, the Moderates entered negotiations with the
Social Democrats and
Venstre and sucessfully formed a centrist government.
Election results
Parliament
See also
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Liberalism and radicalism in Denmark
This article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in Denmark. It is limited to liberal and radical egalitarian parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in the parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes anot ...
*
List of political parties in Denmark
References
{{Danish political parties
Liberal parties in Denmark
Centrist parties in Denmark
Centre-right parties in Europe
Political parties established in 2022