Leader Søren Pape Poulsen Preceded by Højre Student wing Conservative Students | Founded 1916 Youth wing Young Conservatives | |
 | ||
Headquarters Nyhavn 4
1051 København K | ||
The Conservative People's Party (Danish: Det Konservative Folkeparti, DKF), also known as the Conservatives (Konservative) is a conservative political party in Denmark. The party is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and International Democrat Union.
Contents
History
The party was founded 1916 based mostly on its predecessor, Højre (Right), but also on the Free Conservatives and a moderate faction of the liberal party Venstre.
The party has participated in several coalition governments, but only one Prime Minister of Denmark, Poul Schlüter, has come from this party, serving from 1982 to 1993.
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.
From the 2001 parliament elections until 2011, the Conservative People's Party was the junior partner in a coalition government led by Venstre. The Conservative People's Party is currently led by Søren Pape Poulsen,
In the 2004 European parliament elections, the party won a seat. The member is currently Bendt Bendtsen, who is a member of the EPP Group in the European Parliament. In the 2014 European elections, the party garnered 9.1% of the national vote, retaining Bendsten's seat as MEP.
In the 2011 parliamentary election for the Folketing (Danish national parliament), the Conservative People's Party won 8 seats, ten fewer than it had won in the previous election in 2007, and it received 4.9% of the vote, placing the party eighth place nationally.
The Conservatives remain 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 Conservatives did cooperate with the Social Liberal Party during its time in power in the 1980s and also cooperated with the centre-left government under Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s.