Christian Democrats (Denmark)
Encyclopedia
The Christian Democrats (Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...

: Kristendemokraterne) are a political party in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

. The party was founded in 1970 to oppose the liberalization of restrictions on pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

 and the legalization of abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...

.
It was known as the Christian People's Party (Danish: Kristeligt Folkeparti) from 1970 to 2003. Originally, the party was not considered part of the European Christian Democratic tradition, and it was better known as a religious conservative party.

Since its inception, the party has enjoyed an intermittent presence in the Parliament of Denmark, rarely winning much more than the two percent minimum required to gain seats under Denmark's proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

 system, and frequently falling below the threshold, as happened most recently in the 2007
Danish parliamentary election, 2007
The 66th Folketing election in Denmark was held on 13 November 2007. The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's...

 and 2011 elections. Despite its small size, the party has served in a number of coalition governments. From 1982 to 1988, it was in coalition with the Liberal and Conservative
Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...

 parties; from 1993 to 1994, it served with the Social Democrats
Social Democrats (Denmark)
The Social Democrats , is a Danish political party committed to the political ideology of social democracy. It is the major coalition partner in Denmark's government since the 2011 parliamentary election, and party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt is the current Prime Minister of Denmark...

, the Social Liberals
Det Radikale Venstre
The Danish Social Liberal Party is a social liberal political party in Denmark. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.-Origin:...

 and the Centre Democrats.

From 2002 to 2005, the party was led by Marianne Karlsmose
Marianne Karlsmose
Marianne Karlsmose was the leader of a Danish political party, the Christian Democrats from 2002 to 2005. When she succeeded Jann Sjursen in 2002 she led an invigoration process of the party was one of the drivers for a name change of the party from the somewhat archaic name "Kristeligt...

. The name of the party was changed to the Christian Democrats in 2003. In October 2005, the party elected Bodil Kornbek
Bodil Kornbek
Bodil Holmgren Kornbek is a Danish politician who on 2 October 2008 became a member of the Social Democrats . Before that she was leader of the Christian Democrats. She was a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2005 and was elected as party Chairman in 2005.-References: - From Folketinget....

 http://www.jp.dk/indland/artikel:aid=3353126/ as its new chairman. Her attempt to introduce a more secular centre-left profile had some success in the beginning, but in the 2007
Danish parliamentary election, 2007
The 66th Folketing election in Denmark was held on 13 November 2007. The election allowed prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to continue for a third term in a coalition government consisting of the Liberals and the Conservative People's Party with parliamentary support from the Danish People's...

 and 2011 elections, the party received no seats. In October 2008, Kornbek was replaced by Bjarne Hartung Kirkegaard, who represents its more rightist and religious wing.

In 2010, the Christian Democrats regained parliamentary representation when the former conservative
Conservative People's Party (Denmark)
The Conservative People's Party , also known as Conservatives is a Danish political party.-History:The party was founded 1915 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre , but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of Venstre , the liberals.The party has participated in several coalition...

 Per Ørum Jørgensen joined the party. Since he was not formerly known for having expressed particularly religion-based opinions, these events once more softened the religious character of the party.

On 30 June 2011, it was announced that the Christian Democrats had started cooperating with the grassroot party Fælleslisten, a single-issue party fighting for decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...

, especially in health policy, with some success in regional and local elections. This means that candidates from the two parties will appear on a joint list at the next Danish parliamentary election. The Christian Democrats had themselves taken a somewhat regionalist stance at a moment when Fælleslisten had surged in opinion polls.

The Christian Democrats are a member of the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

 (EPP) and the Centrist Democrat International
Centrist Democrat International
The Centrist Democrat International was until 2001 the Christian Democrat International and before that the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International...

.

Leaders

  • Jacob Christensen: 1970 - 1973
  • Jens Møller: 1973 - 1979
  • Flemming Kofod-Svendsen
    Flemming Kofod-Svendsen
    Flemming Kofod-Svendsen is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church of Denmark and a Danish politician representing the Christian People's Party. Kofod-Svendsen was party leader from 1979 till 1990, when he was succeeded by Jann Sjursen...

    : 1979 - 1990
  • Jann Sjursen
    Jann Sjursen
    Jann Sjursen is a teacher and a Danish politician representing the Christian People's Party.In 1986 he was elected secretary general of the Nordic Christian Democratic Youth and from 1987 till 1989 he was chairman of the Christian People's Party's Youth.In 1990 he was elected party leader at only...

    : 1990 - 2002
  • Marianne Karlsmose
    Marianne Karlsmose
    Marianne Karlsmose was the leader of a Danish political party, the Christian Democrats from 2002 to 2005. When she succeeded Jann Sjursen in 2002 she led an invigoration process of the party was one of the drivers for a name change of the party from the somewhat archaic name "Kristeligt...

    : 2002-2005
  • Bodil Kornbek
    Bodil Kornbek
    Bodil Holmgren Kornbek is a Danish politician who on 2 October 2008 became a member of the Social Democrats . Before that she was leader of the Christian Democrats. She was a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2005 and was elected as party Chairman in 2005.-References: - From Folketinget....

    : 2005-2008
  • Bjarne Hartung Kirkegaard: 2008-2011
  • Per Ørum Jørgensen: From 2011

External links

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