The Conservative People's Party (, DKF), also known as The Conservatives (, K), is a centre-right political party in Denmark. The party is a member of the International Democracy Union and the European People's Party.

History

The party was founded in 1916 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre ('Right') after its downfall, but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of the liberal party Venstre ('Left'). The party was a part of the coalition government during World War II, where the leader John Christmas Møller provided the voice for BBC London's daily radio to Denmark. However, while a number of conservatives participated in the resistance movement, some conservatives were sympathetic to fascist ideology, and the youth wing of the party praised several fascist movements in Europe during the 1930s.Knud Holt Nielsen (Information), 29 January 2004: "Danske konservative var fascineret af fascismen"

Since World War II, the party has participated in several coalition governments, but only one Prime Minister of Denmark, Poul Schlüter, has come from this party; he served as prime minister from 1982 to 1993. His government had to resign after the Tamil Case, when the Justice Minister, Erik Ninn-Hansen (himself a former Conservative leader), was impeached.Thi kendes for ret. Dokument. Rigsrettens dom over forhenværende justitsminister Erik Ninn- Hansen afsagt 22. juni 1995. Weekendavisen, 23 June 1995, 1._sektion, Side 3

The party used its first logo in 1950, consisting of the serif-letter "C" coloured green. On 24 August 2000, the Conservative People's Party rebranded itself as the Conservatives, and at the same time retired its 50-year-old green serif-letter "C" logo, thus launching a new logo for the first time since 1950. The new logo was a circle which contains a chartreuse circle with the letter "C".

From the 2001 parliament elections until 2011, the Conservative People's Party was the junior partner in a coalition government led by Venstre. In the 2004 European parliament elections, the party won a seat. Four months later, on 23 October 2004, it adopted a logo consisting of a green circle-squared box that contains a dark-green screen with the letter "C" that is coloured green; the "Konservative" wordmark is placed below the symbol, though it too is also coloured green. The member is currently Bendt Bendtsen, who is a member of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. In the 2014 European election, the party garnered 9.1% of the national vote, retaining Bendtsen's seat as MEP.

In the 2011 parliamentary election for the Folketing (Danish national parliament), the Conservative People's Party won eight seats, 10 fewer than it had won in the previous election in 2007, and it received 4.9% of the vote, placing the party in eighth place nationally. On 27 September 2013, the Conservative People's Party received the current version of its logo: the colour of the letter "C" was changed to white, the circle-square retained its dark-green colour, and the circle-squared line was removed from it. At the same time, the party gave up being known as the Conservatives, reverting to its former name as the Conservative People's Party.

At the 2015 election, the party did badly and was reduced to a mere six seats, which made it the smallest party in the Folketing. But Søren Pape Poulsen (who had taken over as leader the previous year) managed to double the party's seats to 12 in the 2019 election with 6.6% of the vote.Konservativ folketingsgruppe nikker ja til Pape, Politiken, 7 August 2014 After that election, several opinion polls indicated that the party enjoyed wider popular support than Venstre,Politiken (20 January 2022). "Grafik: Se den nyeste samt årtiers Megafon-målinger i grafik" but at the 2022 election gained just 5.5%, following an election campaign significantly influenced by affairs concerning Pape Poulsen's personal life. Poulsen died suddenly at the age of 52 on 2 March 2024, leaving the party leadership vacant.

Organization The youth branch of the Conservative People's Party, albeit an independent organisation, is Young Conservatives, the earliest formed youth organisation in Denmark, founded in December 1904, and believed to be one of the oldest in the world, preceding the Conservative People's Party by 10 years. The student branch is Conservative Students, likewise an independent organisation, which has branches at all Danish Universities.

The party remains committed to a centre-right alliance, working most closely with the liberal Venstre and somewhat less closely with the right-wing populist Danish People's Party. The Conservative People's Party cooperated with the Social Liberal Party during its time in power in the 1980s, and also with the centre-left government under Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s.

Ideology and policies

The party's current purpose clause states: "The Conservative People's Party aims to gather everyone who joins the party's program and to work for the spread of conservative views.""Vedtægter" . Det Konservative Folkeparti. The party has named Edmund Burke as one of its intellectual sources.

The Conservative People's Party presently advocates individual freedom and responsibility, a free market economy, respecting private property, the importance of community for the individual, modernization of the public sector, decentralization, ensuring up-to-date military defense, and an emphasis on protecting Denmark's national history and traditions. In foreign policy, the party supports economic cooperation with the European Union to aid Denmark's economic growth and keep peace in Europe, but maintains the EU must also respect the right to national identity and calls for a less centralized EU in which member states can maintain sovereignty over their national, regional and local decision making powers. The party also highlights environmentalism as one of its core philosophies in accordance to green conservatism.

List of leaders

Political leaders John Christmas Møller1928–1947Ole Bjørn Kraft1947–1955Aksel Møller1955–1958Poul Sørensen1958–1969Poul Møller1969–1971Erik Ninn-Hansen1971–1974Poul Schlüter1974–1993Henning Dyremose1993Hans Engell1993–1997Per Stig Møller1997–1998Pia Christmas-Møller1998–1999Bendt Bendtsen1999–2008Lene Espersen2008–2011Lars Barfoed2011–2014Søren Pape Poulsen2014–2024Mona Juul2024–present

Party chairmen Emil Piper1916–1928Charles Tvede1928–1932John Christmas Møller1932–1939Vilhelm Fibiger1939–1948Halfdan Hendriksen1948–1957Einar Foss1957–1965Knud Thestrup1965–1972Erik Haunstrup Clemmensen1972–1974Poul Schlüter1974–1977Ib Stetter1977–1981Poul Schlüter1981–1993Torben Rechendorff1993–1995Hans Engell1995–1997Per Stig Møller1997–1998Poul Andreassen1998–2000Bendt Bendtsen2000–2008Lene Espersen2008–2011Lars Barfoed2011–2014Søren Pape Poulsen2014–2024Mona Juul2024–present

Notable members

John Christmas Møller – World War II resistance figure in exile in England. Poul Schlüter – The longest-serving Danish prime minister since Thorvald Stauning. Schlüter is the Conservative People's Party's only prime minister to date. He led the Conservative People's Party to its best-ever result at a national election, reaching 23.4% of the national vote. After his term as prime minister ended he was elected to the European Parliament in 1994, reaching a record breaking number of 247,956 personal votes. Connie Hedegaard – Appointed as the European Union's first ever European Commissioner for Climate Action in February 2010, Hedegaard was elected to the Danish Parliament as a member for the Conservative People's Party in 1984 at the age of 23, becoming the youngest Danish MP ever at that time. In 1989, Hedegaard became first spokesperson for the Conservative People's Party, but left politics for journalism in 1990. Stefan G. Rasmussen (born 23 July 1947), a former Danish pilot who captained the crash-landing SAS flight 751 on 27 December 1991, in which there were no fatalities. He then entered politics, serving in the Danish Folketing from 1994 to 1996.

Election results Parliament Election Votes % Seats +/- Government 1918 167,865 18.3 (#4) 14 1920(Apr) 201,499 19.6 (#3) 6 Caretaker government 1920(Jul) 180,293 18.9 (#3) 2 Sep1920 216,733 17.9 (#3) 1 1924 242,955 18.9 (#3) 1 1926 275,793 20.6 (#3) 2 1929 233,935 16.5 (#3) 6 1932 358,509 17.3 (#3) 3 1935 293,393 17.8 (#2) 1 1939 301,625 17.8 (#3) 1943 421,523 21.0 (#2) 5 1945 373,688 18.2 (#3) 5 1947 259,324 12.4 (#3) 9 1950 365,236 17.8 (#3) 10 1953(Apr) 358,509 17.3 (#3) 1 1953(Sep) 383,843 16.6 (#3) 4 1957 383,843 16.6 (#3) 1960 435,764 17.9 (#3) 2 1964 527,798 20.1 (#3) 4 1966 522,028 18.7 (#3) 2 1968 581,051 20.4 (#2) 3 1971 481,335 16.7 (#2) 6 1973 279,391 9.2 (#5) 15 1975 168,164 5.5 (#5) 6 1977 263,262 8.5 (#4) 5 1979 395,653 12.5 (#3) 7 1981 451,478 14.5 (#2) 4 1984 788,224 23.4 (#2) 16 1987 700,886 20.8 (#2) 4 1988 642,048 19.3 (#2) 3 1990 517,293 16.0 (#2) 5 1994 499,845 15.0 (#3) 3 1998 303,965 8.9 (#3) 11 2001 312,770 9.1 (#4) 2005 344,886 10.3 (#4) 2 2007 359,404 10.4 (#5) 2011 175,047 4.9 (#8) 10 2015 118,015 3.4 (#9) 2 2019 233,349 6.6 (#7) 6 2022 194,820 5.5 (#7) 2 2026 270,749 7.6 (#7) 3

Local elections Municipal elections YearSeatsNo.±19251929 2941933 831937 591943 1221946 1321950 551954 381958 61962 1041966 135Municipal reform1970 1921974 2111978 691981 1321985 1841989 2221993 1091997 122001 37Municipal reform2005 1872009 52013 572017 202021 1782025 60 Regional elections YearSeatsNo.±19351943 41946 51950 61954 11958 31962 81966 12Municipal reform1970 131974 271978 71981 81985 171989 241993 91997 42001 5Municipal reform2005 152009 02013 52017 02021 16 Mayors YearSeatsNo.±20052009 12013 12017 52021 6

European Parliament Year List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group 1979 Poul Møller 245,309 14.06 (#4) 2 ED 1984 414,177 20.81 (#1) 2 1989 Marie Jepsen 238,760 13.34 (#4) 2 1994 Poul Schlüter 368,890 17.74 (#2) 1 EPP 1999 Christian Rovsing 166,884 8.47 (#5) 2 EPP-ED 2004 Gitte Seeberg 214,972 11.35 (#3) 0 2009 Bendt Bendtsen 297,199 12.69 (#5) 0 EPP 2014 208,262 9.15 (#5) 0 2019 Pernille Weiss 170,544 6.18 (#6) 0 2024 Niels Flemming Hansen 216,357 8.84 (#4) 0

Notes

References

External links Official website