Venstre (Denmark)

Venstre, Denmark's Liberal Party Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti
Leader	Lars Løkke Rasmussen
Founded	1870, total reform in 1910
Headquarters	Søllerødvej 30 2840 Holte
Youth wing	Venstres Ungdom
Student wing	Liberal Students of Denmark
Membership  (2012)	43,835
Ideology	Conservative liberalism[1] Agrarianism[1][2] Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-right[3]
European affiliation	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliation	Liberal International
European Parliament group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours	Blue
Folketing:	34 / 179
European Parliament:	1 / 13
Regions:[4]	62 / 205
Municipalities:[5]	767 / 2,444
Election symbol
Website
www.venstre.dk
Politics of Denmark Political parties Elections

Venstre^{[note 1]} (Danish pronunciation: [ˈʋɛnsd̥ʁɐ], literally "left"), full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti (English: Left, Denmark's Liberal Party), is a conservative-liberal^[6][7] and agrarian^[8] political party in Denmark. Founded as part of a peasants' movement against the landed aristocracy, today it espouses an economically liberal pro-free market ideology.^[9]

Venstre is the major party of the centre-right in Denmark, and the third largest party in the country. The party has produced many Prime Ministers. Denmark's current government is a minority government consisting of Venstre alone, supported by the other right wing parties. In the 2015 parliamentary elections, Venstre received 19.5% of the vote, and 34 out of 179 seats. It is led by Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who took over as party leader and Prime Minister from Anders Fogh Rasmussen when the latter became Secretary General of NATO in 2009.

The party is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). One of Denmark's thirteen MEPs are from Venstre in the 2014-19 term of office, and they sit with the ALDE Group in the European Parliament.^[10]

Ideology

Venstre is categorised as centre-right on the political spectrum.^[3] It is a market liberal party^[11] within the Nordic agrarian tradition,^[12] and today is notably more pro-free market than its sister parties.^[13] Some describe it as classical liberal, since its leader from 1998 to 2009, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is known for his authorship of the book From Social State to Minimal State. His book advocated an extensive reform of the Danish welfare state along classical liberal lines, including lower taxes and less government interference in corporate and individual matters.

Since the elections in 2001, Venstre has enacted a so-called "tax stop" in order to halt the growth in taxes seen during the previous eight years under the Social Democrats. This tax stop has been under heavy fire from the parties on the left wing of Danish politics, allegedly for being "asocial" and "only for the rich."

History

Venstre 1945 election material ("Venstre has been dealt a good hand")

Venstre, or "the Left" in English, was founded in 1870 under the name Det Forenede Venstre (The United Left). It was formed through the merger of three parliamentary factions, all of whom had identified as leftist in the context of the time. From 1895–1910 it was known as Venstrereformpartiet (Left Reform Party), and after that as Venstre.

Venstre was traditionally a party advocating free trade and farmers' interests as opposed to the interests of the aristocracy which were the platform of the other conservative party Højre (The Right). This traditional landed basis resulted in a relative decline in influence due to the rapidly accelerating urbanisation of Danish society. Starting in the 1880s, the party began expanding into urban regions as well.

By the 1910s, the splitting off of the Social Liberals and the appearance of the Social Democrats had pushed Venstre toward the centre, and it often relied on its former Conservative adversaries for parliamentary support. After the 1960s Venstre was reoriented as a more classical liberal party. During the leadership of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the party turned further to the right.

List of government participation

• 1901–1909 (as the Venstre Reform Party)
• 1910–1913
• 1920–1924
• 1926–1929
• 1945–1947
• 1950–53 with the Conservative People's Party
• 1968–71 with the Conservative People's Party and the Danish Social Liberal Party
• 1973–75
• 1978–79 with the Social Democratic Party
• 1982–88 with the Conservative People's Party, Centre Democrats, and the Christian People's Party (junior partner)
• 1988–90 with the Conservative People's Party and Social Liberal Party (junior partner)
• 1990–93 with the Conservative People's Party
• 2001–11 with the Conservative People's Party (senior partner)
• 2015–

Prime Ministers

• Johan Henrik Deuntzer (July 24, 1901 – January 14, 1905)
• Jens Christian Christensen (January 14, 1905 – October 12, 1908)
• Niels Neergaard (October 12, 1908 – August 16, 1909)
• Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg (August 16, 1909 – October 28, 1909)
• Klaus Berntsen (July 5, 1910 – June 21, 1913)
• Niels Neergaard (May 5, 1920 – April 23, 1924)
• Thomas Madsen-Mygdal (December 14, 1926 – April 30, 1929)
• Knud Kristensen (November 7, 1945 – November 13, 1947)
• Erik Eriksen (October 30, 1950 – September 30, 1953)
• Poul Hartling (December 19, 1973 – February 13, 1975)
• Anders Fogh Rasmussen (November 27, 2001 – April 5, 2009)
• Lars Løkke Rasmussen (April 5, 2009 – September 15, 2011; June 28, 2015 –)

Leaders since 1929

• 1929–1941, Thomas Madsen-Mygdal (1876–1943)
• 1941–1949, Knud Kristensen (1880–1962)
• 1949–1950, Edvard Sørensen (1893–1954)
• 1950–1965, Erik Eriksen (1902–1972)
• 1965–1977, Poul Hartling (1914–2000)
• 1977–1984, Henning Christophersen (b. 1939)
• 1984–1998, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen (b. 1941)
• 1998–2009, Anders Fogh Rasmussen (b. 1953)
• 2009–, Lars Løkke Rasmussen (b. 1964)

Origin of the name

The fact that the major centre-right political party in a country calls itself 'Left' is often confusing to many foreign (and sometimes Danish) observers. The name has, however, its historical explanation. At the time of its foundation, Venstre affirmed progressive ideas in the then Danish parliament. Their opponents, Højre (Right), the forerunner of the present-day Conservative People's Party, advocated for established interests, particularly the Church of Denmark and the landed gentry. In current Danish politics there is a clear distinction between the concepts of Venstre (Left, i.e. the party bearing that name) and venstrefløj (left wing, i.e. socialist and other left-leaning parties). The use of the word for "left" in the name of the Danish political party Radikale Venstre and the Norwegian party Venstre is meant to refer to liberalism and not socialism.

Members of the party are referred to as venstremænd and venstrekvinder, respectively "Venstre men" and "Venstre women" (singular: -mand / -kvinde).

Election results

Parliament

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of Danish vote	# of overall seats won	# of Danish seats won	+/-	Notes
1872				53 / 104		New	In Det Forenede Venstre.
1873				51 / 104		2	In Det Forenede Venstre.
1876				74 / 104		23	In Folketingets Venstre.
1879				65 / 104		9	In Folketingets Venstre.
1881 (may)				69 / 102		4	In Folketingets Venstre.
1881 (jul)				75 / 102		6	In Folketingets Venstre.
1884	80,000	56.3 (#1)		81 / 102		6	In Venstre Reform Party.
1887	132,000	58.1 (#1)		74 / 102		7	In Venstre Reform Party.
1890	123,000	53.0 (#1)		75 / 102		1	In Venstre Reform Party.
1892	63,000	28.1 (#3)		30 / 102		45	In Venstre Reform Party.
1895	89,530	40.5 (#1)		53 / 114		23	In Venstre Reform Party.
1898	98,070	43.6 (#1)		63 / 114		10	In Venstre Reform Party.
1901	103,495	45.9 (#1)		76 / 114		13	In Venstre Reform Party.
1903	121,357	49.4 (#1)		73 / 114		3	In Venstre Reform Party.
1906	94,272	31.2 (#1)		56 / 114		17	In Venstre Reform Party.
1909	77,949	24.0 (#1)		37 / 114		19	In Venstre Reform Party.
1910	118,902	34.1 (#1)		57 / 114		20
1913	103,917	28.6 (#2)		44 / 114		13
1915				43 / 114		1
1918	269,646	29.4 (#1)		45 / 140		2
1920 (apr)	350,563		34.2 (#1)	48 / 140	48 / 139	3
1920 (jul)	344,351		36.1 (#1)	51 / 140	51 / 139	3
1920 (sep)	411,661		34.0 (#1)	51 / 149	51 / 148	0
1924	362,682		28.3 (#2)	44 / 149	44 / 148	7
1926	378,137		28.3 (#2)	46 / 149	46 / 148	2
1929	402,121		28.3 (#2)	43 / 149	43 / 148	3
1932	381,862		24.7 (#2)	38 / 149	38 / 148	5
1935	292,247		17.8 (#2)	28 / 149	28 / 148	10
1939	309,355		18.2 (#2)	30 / 149	30 / 148	2
1943	376,850		18.7 (#3)	28 / 149	28 / 148	2
1945	479,158		23.4 (#2)	38 / 149	38 / 148	10
1947	529,066		25.4 (#2)	46 / 150	46 / 149	8
1950	438,188		21.3 (#2)	32 / 151	32 / 149	14
1953 (apr)	456,896		22.1 (#2)	33 / 151	33 / 149	1
1953 (sep)	499,656		23.1 (#2)	42 / 179	42 / 175	9
1957	578,932		25.1 (#2)	45 / 179	45 / 175	3
1960	512,041		21.1 (#2)	38 / 179	38 / 175	7
1964	547,770		20.8 (#2)	38 / 179	38 / 175	0	leading the opposition
1966	539,027		19.3 (#2)	35 / 179	35 / 175	3	leading the opposition
1968	530,167		18.6 (#3)	34 / 179	34 / 175	1	part of the Social Liberal-led government
1971	450,904		15.6 (#3)	30 / 179	30 / 175	4	part of the opposition
1973	374,283		12.3 (#3)	22 / 179	22 / 175	8
1975	711,298		23.3 (#2)	42 / 179	42 / 175	20
1977	371,728		12.0 (#3)	21 / 179	21 / 175	21
1979	396,484		12.5 (#2)	22 / 179	22 / 175	1
1981	353,280		11.3 (#4)	20 / 179	20 / 175	2
1984	405,737		12.1 (#3)	22 / 179	22 / 175	2
1987	354,291		10.5 (#4)	19 / 179	19 / 175	3
1988	394,190		11.8 (#4)	22 / 179	22 / 175	3
1990	511,643		15.8 (#3)	29 / 179	29 / 175	7
1994	775,176		23.3 (#2)	42 / 179	42 / 175	13
1998	817,894		24.0 (#2)	42 / 179	42 / 175	0
2001	1,077,858		31.2 (#1)	56 / 179	56 / 175	14	leading of the government coalition
2005	974,636		29.0 (#1)	52 / 179	52 / 175	4	leading of the government coalition
2007	908,472		26.2 (#1)	46 / 179	46 / 175	6	leading of the government coalition
2011	947,725		26.7 (#1)	47 / 179	47 / 175	1	leading the opposition
2015	685,188		19.5 (#3)	34 / 179	34 / 175	13	minority government

Municipal elections

Election	Seats
	#	±
1925	2,291 / 11,289	New
1929	2,615 / 11,329	324
1933	2,692 / 11,424	77
1937	2,374 / 11,425	318
1943	2,217 / 10,569	157
1946	2,519 / 11,488	302
1950	2,342 / 11,499	177
1954	2,353 / 11,505	11
1958	2,405 / 11,529	52
1962	2,196 / 11,414	209
1966	1,747 / 10,005	449
1970	1,080 / 4,677	667
1974	1,277 / 4,735	197
1978	1,155 / 4,759	122
1981	1,240 / 4,769	85
1985	1,201 / 4,773	39
1989	1,261 / 4,737	60
1993	1,601 / 4,703	340
1997	1,557 / 4,685	44
2001	1,666 / 4,647	109
2005	804 / 2,522	862
2009	699 / 2,468	105
2013	767 / 2,444	68

Regional elections

Date	Votes	Seats
		#	±
1935	217,375	124 / 299	New
1943	300,241	123 / 299	1
1946	368,040	139 / 299	16
1950	348,861	128 / 299	11
1954	355,295	127 / 299	1
1958	412,111	135 / 303	8
1962	387,628	127 / 301	8
1966	402,574	115 / 303	12
1970	449,479	95 / 366	20
1974	400,062	98 / 370	3
1978	411,812	90 / 370	8
1981	457,565	84 / 370	6
1985	418,149	83 / 374	1
1989	451,807	89 / 374	6
1993	717,536	125 / 374	36
1997	665,857	124 / 374	1
2001	963,220	139 / 374	15
2005	744,466	60 / 205	79
2009	648,903	54 / 205	6
2013	809,664	62 / 205	8

European Parliament

Election year	# of votes	% of votes	# of seats won	+/-	Notes
1979	252,767	14.5 (#3)	3 / 16
1984	248,397	12.5 (#4)	2 / 16	1
1989	297,565	16.6 (#3)	3 / 16	1
1994	394,362	19.0 (#1)	4 / 16	1
1999	460,834	23.4 (#1)	5 / 16	1
2004	366,734	19.4 (#2)	3 / 14	2
2009	474,041	20.2 (#2)	3 / 13	0
2014	379,840	17.7 (#3)	2 / 13	1

Youth and student wings

• Venstres Ungdom
• Liberal Students of Denmark (Danmarks Liberale Studerende)

See also

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy
• Liberalism and radicalism in Denmark
• Nordic agrarian parties

Footnotes

1. The party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom.

References

1. Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
2. Svante Ersson; Jan-Erik Lane (1998). Politics and Society in Western Europe. SAGE. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7619-5862-8. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
3. Josep M. Colomer (2008). Political Institutions in Europe. Routledge. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-134-07354-2.
4. "AKVA3: Valg til regions råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
5. "VALGK3: Valg til kommunale råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
6. Emil Joseph Kirchner; Alistair H. Thomas (1988). Liberal Parties in Western Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-521-32394-9. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
7. Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 415, 420. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
8. Nanna Kildal; Stein Kuhnle (2007). Normative Foundations of the Welfare State: The Nordic Experience. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-134-27283-9.
9. Åsa Bengtsson; Kasper Hansen; Ólafur Þ Harõarson; Hanne Marthe Narud; Henrik Oscarsson (2013). The Nordic Voter: Myths of Exceptionalism. ECPR Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-907301-50-6.
10. "Europavalg". DR. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
11. Dimitri Almeida (2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. Routledge. p. 98–. ISBN 978-0-415-69374-5.
12. Almeida, Dimitri. "Liberal Parties and European Integration" (PDF).
13. Esaiasson, Peter; Heidar, Knut (1999). Beyond Westminster and Congress: the Nordic experience. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. p. 377. ISBN 978-0-8142-0839-7.

Further reading

• Tom Matz (2004), Venstre ved du hvor du har (Danish). ForlagsKompagniet: Nørhaven Book.

External links

• (Danish) Venstre official site
• Denmark's Liberal Party presentation in English
• (Danish) Party Profile from the newspaper Politiken