Denmark: General Election, November 2022

On Tuesday, 1 November, Denmark went to the polls to elect a new government. The Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, was again the largest party elected, with the Liberal Party, led by Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, remaining as the second largest party. This Just the Facts looks at Denmark’s electoral system, issues in the campaign and the outcome of the November vote. 

The Background of Denmark’s Electoral System 

Denmark is a parliamentary representative democracy with a constitutional monarch. Together with the autonomous states of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, it forms part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Since January 1972, Queen Margrethe II is the Kingdom of Denmark’s head of state, a role which is largely ceremonial. In its unicameral political system, Denmark has a single parliamentary chamber called the Folketing.  

Elections to the Folketing take place at least every four years. The prime minister is responsible for calling an election before the parliament’s term expires, though they can also call an early election if they wish. The turnout for general elections in Denmark is usually quite high, usually between 80% to 90%.  

The Folketing consists of 179 Members of Parliament (MPs), who are elected by a system of proportional representation. From ten constituencies across Denmark, 175 MPs are elected, while two MPs from both the Faroe Islands and Greenland are also elected. In Danish elections, a party must win at least 2% of the vote to enter the Folketing.   

The previous government was elected in June 2019 , with the centre-left Social Democrats winning 25.9% of the vote. The Social Democrats formed a minority government, led by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.  At the time of the election, she was Denmark’s youngest ever prime minister at 41 years of age. An EM Ireland Just the Facts explainer on the 2019 Danish General Election can be read here

Issues in the 2022 Campaign 

On 5 October, 2022, Prime Minister Frederiksen called an early general election. The announcement came in the wake of a 2020 scandal about the culling of Denmark’s 17-million mink population over fears that they could spread Covid-19.  

While the issue that dominated the 2019 general election was Denmark’s immigration policy, it has not gained the same level of attention during this election season. A poll of Danish voters at the start of the campaign indicated that the electorate is mostly concerned about issues such as healthcare, the economy and climate change. Denmark’s relationship with the European Union did not feature during the campaign. Like Ireland, it is also entering its fiftieth year of EU membership.  

Results of the Election

Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats remains the largest party in the Folketing, having increased its number of seats from 48 to 50. The Liberal Party, led by Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, remains the second largest party, but lost twenty seats, bringing its number of seats down from 43 to 23.    

Two new parties, the Moderates and the Denmark Democrats, gained their first seats in parliament, winning 16 and 14 seats respectively. The Moderates, which has become the third largest party in the Danish parliament, is a liberal political party led by former Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party, Lars Løkke Rasmussen.  

The centre-left “red” bloc of five parties, led by the Social Democrats, won 90 seats in the Folketing, a majority of just one. The other four parties included the Red–Green Alliance, Green Left (Socialist People’s Party), The Alternative and the Danish Social Liberal Party. 

The right-wing “blue” bloc of six parties won 73 seats. The bloc included Left, Denmark’s Liberal Party, the Conservative People’s Party, the Liberal Alliance, the Danish People’s Party, The New Right and the Denmark Democrats. 

During the campaign, Frederiksen had suggested the idea of a left-right coalition government that she would lead. “Both Frederiksen and Lokke Rasmussen agree a centrist coalition will ensure stability and put an end to the outsized role that small parties have been playing over many years”. However, it is “too early to tell whether the prime minister is willing to make enough concessions to convince the Moderates to join her government.” 

 Parties and their European Parliamentary Groups Elected in Denmark 

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