Liberal Alliance (Denmark)

Liberal Alliance
Liberal Alliance
Leader Anders Samuelsen
Founded 7 May 2007
Headquarters Nybrogade 10, 3.sal
DK-1203 København K
Youth wing Liberal Alliance Youth
Ideology Liberalism
Libertarianism
Classical liberalism
Political position Centre-right[1][2][3][4]
European affiliation None
International affiliation None
Colours Light blue and orange
Folketing
13 / 179
European Parliament
0 / 13
Regions[5]
5 / 205
Municipalities[6]
33 / 2,444
Election symbol
I
Website
www.liberalalliance.dk

The Liberal Alliance (Danish: Liberal Alliance) is a liberal[1][7][8] and libertarian[4][9] political party in Denmark.

Following the 2015 general election, the party has 13 seats in the Folketing. The party is a component of the centre-right bloc in Danish politics along with the Liberal Party, Conservative People's Party and Danish People's Party.[9][10]

History

The party was founded on 7 May 2007 as the New Alliance (Danish: Ny Alliance) by Naser Khader MP, Anders Samuelsen MEP from the Social Liberal Party and Gitte Seeberg, a Conservative People's Party MEP.[8][11] The party supported the government of the Liberal Party and Conservative People's Party.[8]

To comply with Danish election law, and to be able to stand for elections the Liberal Alliance had to gather 19,185 signatures of supporters on special forms, the number being equivalent to one parliamentary seat in the Folketing. Each completed form had to be certified with the civil registry offices of municipalities before being collectively handed in to the Ministry of the Interior. In the event of an election being called before the Liberal Alliance had finished its nomination process, the minor party Centre Democrats offered to let the Liberal Alliance put forward candidates on their lists.[12] The Liberal Alliance did not take any stand on this offer, however.

On one occasion, on 12 May in Horsens, the three leading figures of the party managed to collect over 2,000 signatures in one day.[13] On 21 May the party reported they were half-way, having gathered in 10,000 signatures.[14]

The party finally completed its nomination process on 29 June by being accepted on the Ministry of the Interior's list of parties able to stand for elections to the Folketing after handing in the 21,516 required signatures.[15] Immediately after its creation, Liberal Alliance had a surge of members. 24 hours after the announcement of the party, more than 12,000 had registered on the party website. Three days later 16,000 had registered and 8,000 of these had paid the membership fee.[16]

On 30 August 2007, the party presented a policy programme.[17] Some of the points in this programme included: Longer mandatory school attendance, with free food and homework aid; a European Marshall Plan to the Middle East; increasing foreign aid to 1% of GDP; increased focus on prevention in public health, with lower prices on healthy foods; and an exhaustive reform related to immigration and asylum politics.[18]

In the 2007 general election held on 13 November 2007, the party won 2.8% of the vote, winning 5 of 179 seats in the Danish Parliament.

On 29 January 2008, founding member Gitte Seeberg left the party in protest against the party's status as a right-wing party, which conflicted with her own desire to form a centrist party while rejecting the influence of the Danish People's Party.[19] A week later, on 5 February 2008, another of the party's members of parliament, Malou Aamund, left the party and joined the governing Liberal Party.[20] On 24 June 2008 Jørgen Poulsen was excluded from the Liberal Alliance's parliamentary group, though not from the party itself.[21]

Under the new leadership of Anders Samuelsen, the party position moved towards the right, espousing economic liberalism and libertarian policies,[8] with the party changing its name to the Liberal Alliance on 27 August 2008.[22]

On 1 September 2008, the party regained a third mandate in the parliament, as Gitte Seeberg was appointed secretary general of the Danish branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Her mandate was given to former deputy mayor of Slagelse, Villum Christensen.[23] On 5 January 2009, founding member and party leader Naser Khader left the party, citing that he did not believe in it any longer.[24] At the time, Anders Samuelsen was scheduled to take over leadership of the party later that month. The same day, Villum Christensen expressed doubt on his future in the party.[25]

In the 2009 European election, the party won 0.59% of the vote, leaving the party without representation in the European parliament.

At the 2011 general election on 15 September 2011, the party won 5.0% of the vote, and 9 seats.

When Malou Aamund resigned from the Folketing in June 2011, she was replaced by Professor Niels Høiby, who took his seat with the Liberal Alliance, taking their contingent in four.

In the 2014 European election, the Liberal Alliance received 2.9% of the vote, again failing to return any MEPs.[26]

In the 2015 general election held on 18 June 2015, the party won 7.5% of the vote, and 13 seats in the Folketing. The party does not participate in the second cabinet of LL Rasmussen.

Anders Samuelsen succeeded Naser Khader as party leader in January 2009.

Ideology

The original New Alliance considered itself a centrist party, "taking the best values of social liberalism and social conservatism".[27] By using these two terms, New Alliance positioned itself equidistant between the former parties of the three founding members. Social liberalism is, of course, the official ideology of the Social Liberal Party, whereas "social conservatism" is a term sometimes invoked by members of the Conservative People's Party who stress the support of the welfare society, such as Liberal Alliance co-founder Gitte Seeberg.

In the earliest days of the party's existence, the party was accused of populism or personalism, still lacking stances on many topics and based on the popularity of Naser Khader.[28]

After Gitte Seeberg left the party, the "social conservatism" part was dropped, and the party name was changed to Liberal Alliance. However, there were still considerable ideological differences among the two remaining founders, and it was not until Naser Khader was replaced by Anders Samuelsen that the party took on a more classical liberal identity.

The party has proposed extensive economic liberal reforms, including a tax reform replacing progressive income tax with a flat-rate income tax of 40%, halving rates of corporation tax, instigating user charges for public healthcare, abolishing early retirement schemes and reassessing everyone receiving disability benefits.[29]

In 2011, the party opposed the government's entry of Denmark into the Euro Plus Pact.[30]

The Liberal Alliance is the only party in Denmark that supports nuclear power.[31] In 2009, the party voted against subsidies for environmentalist renovations without significant tax cuts.[32]

In 2011, the Red-Green Alliance and the Liberal Alliance were the only parties whose MPs supported equalising MPs' age of retirement with the rest of the country.[33]

The Liberal Alliance has supported the rights of same-sex couples to marry and adopt,[34] helping to pass both into law. The party opposed the reintroduction of border controls in 2011, and supported the dismantling of them later in that year.[35] It supports ending the ban on foreigners owning holiday homes in Denmark.[36]

Organisation

Funding

The party received donations from the investment bank Saxo Bank (500,000 Danish kroner) and the businessman Lars Kolind (100,000 kroner). As of 22 May 2007, the party had seven paid employees and a number of volunteers. The party announced it would not hire additional employees until it had more funds.[37]

Liberal Alliance Youth

On 23 February 2008, a youth wing to the party was formed by 21 people under the name of Young Alliance (Danish: Ung Alliance).[38] When the party changed its name to the Liberal Alliance, the youth branch followed suit changing its name to the Liberal Alliance Youth.

European parliament affiliations

At its formation, two MEPs joined the party. With the defection of MEPs Gitte Seeberg and Anders Samuelsen, the Conservatives and the Social Liberal Party were effectively left without representation in the European Parliament. The two MEPs did, however, stay in their parliamentary groups (EPP-ED and ALDE respectively). Both resigned from the European Parliament after being elected to the Danish Parliament in November 2007. The Liberal Alliance announced that it would join the ALDE group after future European elections.[39] However, the party failed to achieve representation in the European Parliament in both the 2009 and 2014 European Parliament elections.

Leaders

The party has had two leaders since its foundation:

Election results

Parliament (Folketing)

Date Votes Seats
# % ± pp # ±
2007 97,295 2.8 % +2.8
5 / 179
 New
2011 176,585 5.0 % +2.2
9 / 179
 Increase 4
2015 265,129 7.5 % +2.5
13 / 179
 Increase 4

Elected representatives

Parliament

Since its formation, the party has had nineteen MPs. Its thirteen current MPs are given in bold.

  • Malou Aamund (2007–2008)
  • Simon Emil Ammitzbøll (2009–present)
  • Carsten Bach (2015–present)
  • Mette Bock (2011–present)
  • May-Britt Buch-Kattrup (2015–present)
  • Villum Christensen (2008–present)
  • Henrik Dahl (2015–present)
  • Christina Egelund (2015–present)
  • Thyra Frank (2011–2015)
  • Niels Høiby (2011)
  • Naser Khader (2007–2009)
  • Laura Lindahl (2015–present)
  • Leif Mikkelsen (2011–present)
  • Ole Birk Olesen (2011–present)
  • Joachim Olsen (2011–present)
  • Jørgen Poulsen (2007–2008)
  • Merete Riisager (2011–present)
  • Anders Samuelsen (2007–present)
  • Gitte Seeberg (2007–2008)

References

  1. 1 2 Wayne C. Thompson (2013). Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe 2013. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4758-0489-8.
  2. ↑ Nina Liljeqvist, Kristian Voss (30 May 2014). "Finland and Denmark: Unprecedented win for the far-right in Denmark, while Finland rewards established parties from the centre". CISE.
  3. ↑ Michael Booth (6 February 2014). The Almost Nearly Perfect People. Random House. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4481-9228-1.
  4. 1 2 Erik Aloek; Christoffer Green-Pedersen; Lars Thorup Larsen (2012). "Morality Issues in Denmark: Policies Without Politics". In Isabelle Engeli; Christoffer Green-Pedersen; Lars Thorup Larsen. Morality Politics in Western Europe: Parties, Agendas and Policy Choices. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 152. ISBN 9780230309333.
  5. ↑ "AKVA3: Valg til regions råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  6. ↑ "VALGK3: Valg til kommunale råd efter område, parti og stemmer/kandidater/køn". Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  7. ↑ Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, a Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-313-39181-1. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Åsa Bengtsson; Kasper Hansen; Ólafur Þ Harõarson; Hanne Marthe Narud; Henrik Oscarsson (2013). The Nordic Voter: Myths of Exceptionalism. ECPR Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-1-907301-50-6.
  9. 1 2 John L. Campbell; Ove K. Pedersen (2014). The National Origins of Policy Ideas: Knowledge Regimes in the United States, France, Germany, and Denmark. Princeton University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-1-4008-5036-5.
  10. ↑ Foundation Schuman (2012). Schuman Report on Europe: State of the Union 2012. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 121. ISBN 978-2-8178-0319-7.
  11. ↑ "New Alliance could crack government". The Copenhagen Post. 2007-08-05. Archived from the original on 2007-09-25. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  12. ↑ "CD tilbyder at hjælpe Ny Alliance med underskrifter" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  13. ↑ "Ny Alliance samlede 2.000 underskrifter" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  14. ↑ Gottlieb, Mikkel (2007-05-21). "Ny Alliance halvvejs i mål" (in Danish). Berlingske Tidende. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  15. ↑ "Ny Alliance godkendt og vælger bogstav Y" (in Danish). B.T. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  16. ↑ Wind-Friis, Lea (2007-05-10). "Medlemmer gider godt betale til Ny Alliance" (in Danish). Politiken. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  17. ↑ "Ekspert: Khader var overbevisende" (in Danish). TV2. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  18. ↑ "Det støtter Ny Alliance" (in Danish). TV2. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  19. ↑ "Gitte Seeberg forlader Ny Alliance" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  20. ↑ "Malou Aamund forlader Ny Alliance" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  21. ↑ "NA smider Jørgen Poulsen ud af gruppen" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  22. ↑ "Nu dropper Ny Alliance også navnet" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  23. ↑ "Seeberg giver Ny Alliance et mandat tilbage" (in Danish). BT. 2008-07-08. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  24. ↑ http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/politik/article.php/id-19620126.html
  25. ↑ http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/politik/article.php/id-19624031.html
  26. ↑ http://dst.dk/valg/Valg1475795/valgopg/valgopgHL.htm
  27. ↑ Worm, Nikolaj (2007-05-07). "Ny Alliance drager på landsturné" (in Danish). Jyllands-Posten. Retrieved 2011-08-26.
  28. ↑ "Økonom: Populistisk skatteforslag fra Ny Alliance" (in Danish). Fyens Stiftstidende. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  29. ↑ "Against the grain", The Copenhagen Post, March 25, 2012
  30. ↑ "Political majority agree to euro pact". The Copenhagen Post. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  31. ↑ "Fukushima spurs nuclear opposition". The Copenhagen Post. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  32. ↑ "Liberal Alliance blocks 'green' renovation package". The Copenhagen Post. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  33. ↑ "MPs do about face on luxury pension plan". The Copenhagen Post. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  34. ↑ "Church minister to consider gay partnerships". The Copenhagen Post. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  35. ↑ "Border controls pass, despite objections". The Copenhagen Post. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  36. ↑ "Poll results: do away with summerhouse 'double standard'". The Copenhagen Post. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  37. ↑ Mortensen, Hanne Gaard (2007-05-22). "Ny Alliance i ansættelsesstop" (in Danish). dk-arbejdsmarked.dk. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  38. ↑ "21 unge stifter Ung Alliance" (in Danish). Politiken. 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  39. ↑ Lund, Kenneth (2007-05-07). "Ny Alliance udraderer R og K i EU-parlamentet" (in Danish). Politiken. Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-13.

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