Green Left Socialistisk Folkeparti | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SF F[a] |
| Chairperson | Pia Olsen Dyhr |
| Founder | Aksel Larsen |
| Founded | 15 February 1959 |
| Split from | Communist Party of Denmark |
| Headquarters | Christiansborg Palace, Prins Jørgens Gård, 1240Copenhagen |
| Youth wing | Popular Socialist Youth of Denmark[1] |
| Membership(2022) | 8,995[2] |
| Ideology | Democratic socialism[3] Green politics[5] Popular socialism[6][page needed] |
| Political position | Centre-left[7] toleft-wing[8] |
| European affiliation | European Green Party |
| European Parliament group | Greens–European Free Alliance |
| International affiliation | Global Greens (associate) |
| Nordic affiliation | Nordic Green Left Alliance |
| Colours | Red Green Pink (customary)[12] |
| Folketing | 15 / 179 [b] |
| European Parliament | 3 / 15 |
| Regions[13] | 15 / 205 |
| Municipalities[14] | 170 / 2,436 |
| Mayors | 2 / 98 |
| Election symbol | |
| F | |
| Website | |
| sf.dk | |
TheGreen Left, since March 2022 the English name forSocialistisk Folkeparti (Danish:[soɕaˈlisdiskˈfʌlkʰəˌpʰɑˀtsi],lit. ' Socialist People's Party',abbr.SF), is ademocratic socialistpolitical party inDenmark.[3]
SF was founded on 15 February 1959 byAksel Larsen, a former leader of theCommunist Party of Denmark (DKP), who was removed for criticizing the Soviet intervention in theHungarian Revolution of 1956. Larsen aimed to create a third way between Denmark's U.S. oriented social democracy and Soviet-oriented communism, combining democracy with socialism. SF entered theFolketing in the1960 Danish general election, while the DKP lost its seats. SF became involved in peace, anti-nuclear, and grassroots movements, advocating for independence from the Soviet Union.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, SF experienced fluctuating electoral success, gaining significant influence in the peace and environmental movements. DuringGert Petersen's period as leader from 1974 to 1991, SF broadened its appeal, focusing on environmental and gender politics. The party's opposition to Denmark's entry into theEuropean Economic Community in the 1972 referendum boosted its membership and support. In the 1980s, SF reached its peak electoral success, with 27 seats in the Folketing, but faced internal conflicts over EU policies, resulting in fluctuating support.
In the 1990s and 2000s, SF continued to play an influential role in Danish politics, supporting thePoul Nyrup Rasmussen government from 1993 to 2001. Led by Holger Nielsen, SF opposed the1992 Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum, but supported theEdinburgh Agreement. The party saw mixed electoral results, gaining seats in some elections and losing in others.Villy Søvndal became party chair in 2005, shifting SF further left and emphasizing professionalism, focus-groups, and media strategies. In the 2007 election, SF doubled its seats, becoming the fourth-largest party.
SF joined the coalition government led byHelle Thorning-Schmidt in 2011, marking its first participation in a cabinet. However, internal conflicts and controversies led to SF leaving the coalition in 2014. SF underPia Olsen Dyhr (leader from 2014) supported theMette Frederiksen-ledSocial Democrat minority government after the 2019 election. Despite the "red bloc" winning a narrow majority in the 2022 election, SF became the largest opposition party when Frederiksen formed a centrist government with theLiberal Party and theModerates.
The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 byAksel Larsen, a former leader of theCommunist Party of Denmark (DKP).[15] Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over theSoviet intervention in theHungarian Revolution of 1956. Larsen and the new SF sought to form a third way between Denmark's United States-orientedsocial democracy andSoviet Union–orientedcommunism, which sought to combine democracy withsocialism. He was joined by a large share of the members of the DKP. They all supported the idea of independence from the Soviet Union.[16]
In the1960 elections, the party entered theFolketing with eleven seats. The DKP lost all six of its seats. In the1964 elections, the party lost one seat. During the 1960s, the SF became involved in thepeace movement and the movements which opposednuclear weapons andnuclear power. It sought to "walk on two legs", by combining its parliamentary work with involvement in grass roots movements.
In the1966 elections, theSocial Democrats and the SF won a combined majority in parliament, in which the SF doubled its number of seats from 10 to 20. A Social Democratminority government was formed, which was supported by the SF. The cooperation lasted only one year, but led to considerable conflict within the SF: in 1967, theLeft Socialists (VS) broke away from the SF. In the subsequent1968 elections, the SF lost nine seats and the VS entered parliament with four. In 1969, the party chairperson Larsen stood down; he was replaced bySigurd Ømann.
In the1971 elections, the party regained ground on the VS, gaining six seats, while the VS left the Folketing. In 1972, the party participated in thereferendum campaign against Denmark's entry into theEuropean Economic Community. The Danish voters voted in favour of the European by a narrow margin. Because of its opposition to the EEC however boosted the SF's membership and support. In the subsequent1973 "landslide" elections, the SF lost six seats (reducing the party's share to 11), and the DKP re-entered the Folketing with six seats. In 1974, Ømann stood down as party chairperson in favour of Gert Petersen. In the1975 elections, the SF lost two seats and the VS re-entered the Folketing as well. In1977 the party reached an all-time low with only seven seats. During the 1970s, the SF began to change its program and electoral appeal. Where it had been a male-domined workers' party it became broaderleft-wing political party that was oriented towards new voters andnew social movements. It became more focused on theenvironment andgender politics.
In1979, the party won four seats as the DKP lost its six seats. In the1981 elections, the party almost doubled from eleven to twenty-one. In the1984 elections it remained stable. In the1986 referendum on theSingle European Act, the SF campaigned together with the Social Democrats and theSocial Liberal Party against the European Community. The SEA was adopted by a narrow margin. In the subsequent1987, it reached its all-time peak with twenty seven seats. In1988, it lost three seats, and in1990, it lost another nine, leaving only fifteen. In 1991, the party chairman Petersen stood down in favour ofHolger K. Nielsen. Between 1982 and 1993, a centre-right government led byPoul Schlüter formed by theConservatives, theLiberals, and allies was in power, even though the Social Democrats, SF, and the Social Liberals formed a majority in parliament. This, combined with its links with the peace and environmental movement, gave the SF the power to force alternative security and environmental policies.
In 1991, Petersen stood down as party chairman; he was replaced byHolger K. Nielsen, who was – compared to the other candidate Steen Gade – closer to the party's socialist past.
In the1992 referendum on thetreaty of Maastricht, the SF campaigned for the "no"-vote. The Danish people voted against the referendum. In 1993, the SF formed a historic compromise with the other parties in the Folketing. It accepted the concessions made to the Danes in theEdinburgh Agreement and to the SF in the National Compromise. Therefore, it campaigned to vote "yes" in thesecond referendum. Just before the referendum in 1991, the SF's party congress had adopted a new program of action and principles, "Mod Nye Tider (Towards New Times)", which departed from the old anti-EU line. As a group in the SF became more positive of the EU, the SF became increasingly divided on the issue.
In1994, it lost another two seats and theRed-Green Alliance an alliance which included the DKP and the VS entered parliament with six seats. In the1998 elections the party remained stable. During the1998 referendum on theTreaty of Amsterdam, it led the No-camp again, unsuccessfully. Between 1993 and 2001, the SF supported aSocial Democrat/Social Liberal minority government led byPoul Nyrup Rasmussen.
In the2000 referendum on the euro, the SF was part of the successful "no" campaign.
In the2001 elections, the party lost one seat and afterLiberal Party, theConservative People's Party and theDanish People's Party gained a majority SF lost almost all political influence in parliament. There were some local bright spots with great support to SF mayors inVejle,Them,Nakskov,Kalundborg, andMaribo caused by charismatic candidates.
In 2004, the party's sole MEP again decided to sit withThe Greens–European Free Alliance group, instead of theEuropean United Left/Nordic Green Left, leading to considerable internal conflict. The party has since then come around to her point of view, and in 2008, it was decided that future SF MEPs should sit in the Green Group, although at the time SF was still only an observer in theEuropean Green Party and not a full member.
In the2005 elections, SF gained the worst election result since 1979, and lost yet another seat in parliament. On election night Holger K. Nielsen stepped down as party chairman in favour of a new chair. WhenHolger K. Nielsen announced that he would step down as chairman, three candidates for the post came forth:Pia Olsen Dyhr, Meta Fuglsang, andVilly Søvndal. At an at times chaotic process on the party congress resulted in the decision to hold a ballot among the party members to decide who should be chairman. Søvndal, running on a platform of moving the party further to thepolitical left won the ballot with 60% of the vote.
The election of Søvndal brought major changes to the party. Greater emphasis was placed on professionalism, the use of focus groups and a change in electoral strategy. The number of key issues was reduced to three to better penetrate in the media with fewer slogans.
In a 2006 internal referendum, 66% of the SF-members declared that the party should participate in the "yes"-camp in a referendum on theEuropean Constitution, a historic break from its Eurosceptic past.
In the2007 election, SF more than doubled its seats in parliament and became the fourth-largest party with increased support across the country. In itself this did not bring about any major change in political influence since the centre-right was able to maintain its majority. However the increase in votes and members of parliament brought optimism and new resources to the party. The media had also discovered Søvndal's ability to make an impact and gave him the opportunity to use that in many cases. The number of party members also greatly increased during this period.
At the 2006 party congress, Søvndal took exception to anti-democratic groups, mostlyHizb-ut-Tahrir using unusually harsh language. He repeated these statements on his blog in 2008 which led to great attention to the party and some internal criticism. Right-wing politicians praised Søvndal's statements and rhetoric which caused insecurity in some parts of the party who felt they were being embraced by some of SF's main political opponents on the right wing. The polls during these months showed a constant rise in support for the party which combined with a decline in support for the Social Democrats showed an almost equal support to the two parties. For the first time ever some polls showed greater support for SF than for the Social Democrats. In the spring of 2008 this however changed so that SF got 16% in the polls and the Social Democrats 23%.
In 2008, SF voted in favour for the national budget for 2009. This was the first time the SF had voted in favour of a national budget by theFogh cabinet. This was widely regarded as an attempt to disprove the frequent accusations of SF not being "economically responsible".
Beforethe 2011 election, SF announced that its goal was to be part of a cabinet consisting of SF, theSocial Democrats, and theSocial Liberal Party. While the Social Democrats were positive to the idea the Social Liberals were initially more sceptical, due to differences in economic policies. This became a reality with the formationcabinet of Helle Thorning-Schmidt: For the first time, SF was part of a cabinet, with six cabinet ministers. In September 2012 Villy Søvndal announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the party. After a protracted election for the party chairAnnette Vilhelmsen was elected chairwoman with 66% of the constituency, against the 34% achieved by her competitorAstrid Krag. Since Krag had the backing of most of the party leadership, Vilhelmsen's election was widely interpreted as a display of dissatisfaction with the leadership's approach to participating in government.
Vilhelmsen never managed to provide stable leadership for the party however. In January 2014, the party left the coalition government over a dispute involving the sale of shares in the state-owned energy companyDONG Energy toGoldman Sachs, stating that they would instead provideconfidence and supply. Vilhelmsen and a considerable part of the party leadership subsequently resigned.Pia Olsen Dyhr was subsequently elected new chairman of the party.
In the2015 general election SF lost more than half of its votes and achieved its worst result since 1977 with 4.2%.
The2019 general election saw a victory for the 'red bloc' consisting of the Social Democrats, Social Liberals, SF, the Red-Green Alliance, the Faroese Social Democratic Party, and Siumut. SF received 7.7% of the vote, a 3.5% increase from 2015, netting them 14 seats. Following the results, Vice PresidentSigne Munk stepped down to serve in the Folketing andSerdal Benli was elected to take Munk's place.[17]
Prior to the election, SF spoke with leader of the Social DemocratsMette Frederiksen and brought a list of policy demands. These included strong climate action and the abolishment of the cash assistance ceiling, though the latter was abandoned during negotiations.[18] Ultimately it was decided that the Social Democrats would form a one-party minority government supported by SF and the rest of the red bloc.
The incumbent red bloc government won a narrow majority in the2022 general election. However, both before and after the election, Prime Minister Frederiksen instead called for the formation of agrand coalition government with the centre-rightLiberal Party as well as the newly formed centristModerates.[19] The formation of this grand coalition would make SF the largest party in the opposition with 15 seats, an increase of one compared to the 2019 election.[20]
On 20 March 2022, the party congress voted for the official English name of the party to be "Green Left", as the previous English name, "Socialist People's Party" (a literal translation of the Danish name) sounded like Eastern Europe's former communist parties. "It's reminiscent of the communist parties in Russia and China. And we have no interest in that. We are far from them. We actually arose as a reaction to them," party leaderPia Olsen Dyhr said after the vote.[21] However, the party abbreviation, "SF", continues to be used by the party in all English language texts.[22]
In the2024 European parliament election, SF won the most votes of any party, winning a national election in Denmark for the first time. The party elected 3 MEPs:Kira Marie Peter-Hansen,Rasmus Nordqvist andVilly Søvndal.
SF's ideological base issocialism, inspired bygreen politics anddemocratic socialism.[23] The party sees a democratic-socialist Denmark as the end goal of its politics. The party is a strong supporter offeminism,human rights, the rights of minorities, and democracy. In its support for human rights it supports Danish recognition of aPalestinian state.[24][25] Other important issues for the SF are aglobalization based onsolidarity. To that extent, it seeks to reform theWorld Trade Organization, as well asenvironmental protection, and support feminism. The party is also critical of capitalism, with its principle program (adopted in 2012) arguing that "Danish society is characterized by a capitalist structure. Capitalism has created increased prosperity and productivity, but it has also created great inequality and social injustice, where a wealthy minority has the decisive control over the economy and production, and where many people are excluded and have no influence over their own lives. The main driving force in capitalist society is the private pursuit of profit, which entails a continuous risk of crises and puts constant pressure on society's social cohesion and natural foundations. The crises are further exacerbated by a wildly growing, detached financial sector, which becomes a drag on the productive sector. Globalization contains enormous opportunities, but also an unregulated capitalism that creates a casino economy where large banks and finance houses create financial instability. SF works for a regulation of international capital flows and multinational companies."[26]
Historically, theEuropean Union has divided the party. The party was highlyEurosceptic during the 1990s, when SF was the main architect of the four Danish "opt-outs" of the European Union. When the EU began to implement policies oriented at regional development, environmental protection and social protection, the SF became more positive about the EU. In 2004 the party shifted towards a morepro-European stance. This EU-positive stance was emphasized in 2022, where a broad coalition of Danish parties made a historic Defence-agreement that included areferendum of the Danish EU-defense opt-out. Here, SF recommended to abolish the very same opt-out they had been an architect of in the 1990s.
The SF is aNordic Green Left party like the SwedishLeft Party, the NorwegianSocialist Left Party, the FinnishLeft Alliance, and the IcelandicLeft-Green Movement. These were also influenced byfeminism andgreen politics in the 1970s and 1980s. Similar parties in Western Europe were the FrenchUnified Socialist Party and the DutchPacifist Socialist Party.
The party is part of theEuropean Green Party, along with other environmentalist and eco-socialist parties such asAlliance 90/The Greens andEurope Ecology – The Greens.
The SF has good relationships with theSocial Liberal Party and theSocial Democrats who, in the past, have cooperated inminority governments supported from the outside by the SF, although now the party is in opposition to a centrist government. The party does not explicitly rule out co-operation with theEnhedslisten.
The party has a strong grass-roots organization: All members can participate in theparty congresses, but only delegates have voting rights. In May 2010, the party had 17,883 members.
The chairman of the SF has always been its party leader, which can't be taken for granted in Danish party politics.[27]
Its youth organization is thePopular Socialist Youth of Denmark. The linked Socialist Popular Education Organisation organizes a yearly political summer meeting for members and non-members inLivø.
SF is a member of theNordic Green Left Alliance and theEuropean Greens. Between 1979 and 1989, its MEPs sat in theCommunist and Allies Group. Between 1989 and 1994, its sole MEP was member of theEuropean United Left parliamentary group. Between 1994 and 1999, its sole MEP sat in theGreen Group. Between 1999 and 2004, its sole MEP sat in theEuropean United Left/Nordic Green Left group. After2004 election, SF's sole MEP,Margrete Auken, controversially chose to sit inThe Greens-European Free Alliance group. SF became a full member of theGlobal Greens in 2014.
| Year | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 149,440 | 6.1 (#4) | 11 / 179 | N/A | Opposition |
| 1964 | 151,697 | 5.8 (#4) | 10 / 179 |  1 | Opposition |
| 1966 | 304,437 | 10.9 (#4) | 20 / 179 |  10 | External support(1966–1967) |
| Opposition(1967–1968) | |||||
| 1968 | 174,553 | 6.1 (#5) | 11 / 179 | 9 | Opposition |
| 1971 | 262,756 | 9.1 (#5) | 17 / 179 | 6 | External support |
| 1973 | 183,522 | 6.0 (#7) | 11 / 179 | 6 | Opposition |
| 1975 | 150,963 | 5.0 (#7) | 9 / 179 | 2 | External support |
| 1977 | 120,357 | 3.9 (#6) | 7 / 179 | 2 | Opposition |
| 1979 | 187,284 | 5.9 (#5) | 11 / 179 | 4 | External support |
| 1981 | 353,373 | 11.3 (#3) | 21 / 179 | 10 | Opposition |
| 1984 | 387,122 | 11.5 (#4) | 21 / 179 |  0 | Opposition |
| 1987 | 490,176 | 14.6 (#3) | 27 / 179 | 6 | Opposition |
| 1988 | 433,261 | 13.0 (#3) | 24 / 179 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1990 | 268,759 | 8.3 (#4) | 15 / 179 | 9 | Opposition(1990–1993) |
| External support(1993–1994) | |||||
| 1994 | 242,398 | 7.3 (#4) | 13 / 179 | 2 | External support |
| 1998 | 257,406 | 7.6 (#4) | 13 / 179 | 0 | External support |
| 2001 | 219,842 | 6.4 (#5) | 12 / 179 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2005 | 201,047 | 6.0 (#6) | 11 / 179 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2007 | 450,975 | 13.0 (#4) | 23 / 179 | 12 | Opposition |
| 2011 | 326,082 | 9.2 (#5) | 16 / 179 | 7 | Coalition(2011–2014) |
| External support(2014–2015) | |||||
| 2015 | 148,027 | 4.2 (#8) | 7 / 179 | 9 | Opposition |
| 2019 | 272,093 | 7.7 (#5) | 14 / 179 | 7 | External support |
| 2022 | 293,186 | 8.3 (#4) | 15 / 179 | 1 | Opposition |
| Source:Folketingets Oplysning | |||||
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| Year | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Bodil Boserup | 81,991 | 4.70 (#7) | 1 / 15 | New | COM |
| 1984 | 183,580 | 9.22 (#5) | 1 / 15 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | John Iversen | 162,902 | 9.10 (#5) | 1 / 16 | 0 | |
| 1994 | Lilli Gyldenkilde | 178,543 | 8.58 (#6) | 1 / 16 | 0 | NGLA |
| 1999 | Pernille Frahm | 140,053 | 7.11 (#7) | 1 / 16 | 0 | GUE/NGL |
| 2004 | Margrete Auken | 150,766 | 7.96 (#5) | 1 / 14 | 0 | G/EFA |
| 2009 | 371,603 | 15.87 (#3) | 2 / 13 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | 249,305 | 10.95 (#4) | 1 / 13 | 1 | ||
| 2019 | 364,895 | 13.23 (#3) | 2 / 14 | 1 | ||
| 2024 | Kira Peter-Hansen | 426,472 | 17.42 (#1) | 3 / 15 | 1 |
The party currently has 15 members of the Danish parliament. In the2022 elections, SF gained 1 seat, and won 15 seats in total, the best result withPia Olsen Dyhr as leader to date.[28]
The SF has always been represented in the European Parliament. It gained one seat in1979,1984 (one additional seat on 1 January 1985),1989 and2004. Since 2004, the elected candidate wasMargrete Auken. Without the approval of the party's board, she joined The Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group, instead of theEuropean United Left/Nordic Green Left in 2004. Since then, the party has come around to her point of view, and at the national congress in 2008, it was decided that future SF MEPs will stay in the Greens–EFA group in the European Parliament, but SF will only join theEuropean Green Party as an observer, and not as a member. In the2009 European elections, the party increased its share of votes to 15,6%, and got an additional seat which went toEmilie Turunen, who became a member of theSocial Democrats in March 2013.For the 2019 European Election, SF won back the 2nd seat and is now also represented byKira Marie Peter-Hansen, who is the youngest parliamentarian ever elected for the European Parliament.
SF's current members of the European Parliament since the 2024 elections are:
Currently the party has approximately 236 elected representatives inlocal town councils and 21 representatives in Denmark's fourteenregional councils. During the 1990s, the party gained its first mayors.
Two centre-left parties, the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre) and Green Left, both moved from one to two seats, while the left-wing Red Green Alliance also gained a seat.
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