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Progress Party (Denmark)
Encyclopedia
The Progress Party is a political party in Denmark
, which was founded in 1972. Its founder, the former lawyer
Mogens Glistrup
, gained huge popularity in Denmark
after he appeared on Danish television, showing that he paid 0 % in income tax
. The party was placed on the right of the political spectrum
, as it supported political and economic liberalism
, believed in radical tax cut
s (including removing the income tax altogether), and also vowed to cut government spending
. An example is the suggestion to replace the entire department of defence with an answering machine with the recorded message "we surrender" in Russian. In the late 1970s, its agenda was "the gradual abolition of income tax, the disbandment of most of the civil service, the abolition of the diplomatic service and the scrapping of 90% of all legislation."
The party entered the Danish parliament after the 1973 Landslide Election, where it immediately became the second largest party. After this the party gradually decreased in voter support, and when some of its leading members broke out and established the more moderate Danish People's Party
in 1995, the party soon fell out of parliament altogether.
Mogens Glistrup
in 1972 as a tax protest. The party's initial issues were less bureaucracy, abolishment of the income tax
and simpler law paragraphs. The party entered the Danish Parliament after the 1973 electoral "earthquake". It won 15.9% of the vote and 28 seats, making it the second-largest party in parliament. It did however not form a part of the ruling coalition because the others parties refused to cooperate with it.
The Progress Party's seats in parliament fell to 20 in 1979, partly due to internal splits between "pragmatists" (slappere) who wanted to pursue cooperation with mainstream parties, and "fundamentalists" (strammere) who wanted the party to stand alone. The party started to turn its attention on immigration by 1979, although immigration didn't become important before the late 1980s. Having added a "Mohammedan
-free Denmark" as one of its declared goals in 1980, Glistrup increasingly made comments about Muslim
s, and used the slogan to "Make Denmark a Muslim Free Zone". In 1983, Glistrup was sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud. While Glistrup was in prison, the pragmaists led by Pia Kjærsgaard
took over the leadership of the party. Returning to the party after his release in 1987, Glistrup was no longer in control of the party, and internal strife broke out again. Glistrup refused to vote in favour of a proposition which had been agreed with the government in 1988, and he was stripped of his position as a representative for the party. He was expelled from the national executive of the party in 1991, and went on to found his own party, called Trivselspartiet.
The Progress Party won twelve seats in the 1990 parliamentary election
. Internal disputes were still far from resolved, and eventually led the party to be split when the Danish People's Party
(DF) was founded by Kjærsgaard and the pragmatists in 1995. While liberals remained in the tax-focused Progress Party, the new DF included those who were concerned with immigration as their main issue.
When the party's new leader Kirsten Jacobsen decided to leave politics in 1999, Mogens Glistrup was allowed in the party again in lack of any leading figures. Because of this, the Progress Party's remaining four member in parliament left and founded Freedom 2000. Despite their own positions against immigration, Glistrup's comments in the media had become so extreme that they felt forced to leave the party. Glistrup led the party for the 2001 parliamentary election
, but it had lost almost all its support and received less than one percent of the vote. The party did not run in the 2005 parliamentary election
, nor in the 2007 parliamentary election
. It did however run for the local and regional elections in November 2005. The party generally received less than one percent of the votes (though with several local exceptions), and got one member elected in the municipality of Morsø.
In the 1980s, Glistrup added a fourth point:
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...
, which was founded in 1972. Its founder, the former lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Mogens Glistrup
Mogens Glistrup
Mogens Glistrup was a controversial Danish politician, lawyer, and member of the Danish parliament and founder of the Progress Party....
, gained huge popularity 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...
after he appeared on Danish television, showing that he paid 0 % in income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
. The party was placed on the right of the political spectrum
Political spectrum
A political spectrum is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes symbolizing independent political dimensions....
, as it supported political and economic liberalism
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
, believed in radical tax cut
Tax cut
A tax cut is a reduction in taxes. The immediate effects of a tax cut are a decrease in the real income of the government and an increase in the real income of those whose tax rate has been lowered. Due to the perceived benefit in growing real incomes among tax payers politicians have sought to...
s (including removing the income tax altogether), and also vowed to cut government spending
Government spending
Government spending includes all government consumption, investment but excludes transfer payments made by a state. Government acquisition of goods and services for current use to directly satisfy individual or collective needs of the members of the community is classed as government final...
. An example is the suggestion to replace the entire department of defence with an answering machine with the recorded message "we surrender" in Russian. In the late 1970s, its agenda was "the gradual abolition of income tax, the disbandment of most of the civil service, the abolition of the diplomatic service and the scrapping of 90% of all legislation."
The party entered the Danish parliament after the 1973 Landslide Election, where it immediately became the second largest party. After this the party gradually decreased in voter support, and when some of its leading members broke out and established the more moderate Danish People's Party
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...
in 1995, the party soon fell out of parliament altogether.
History
The Progress Party was founded by tax lawyerLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Mogens Glistrup
Mogens Glistrup
Mogens Glistrup was a controversial Danish politician, lawyer, and member of the Danish parliament and founder of the Progress Party....
in 1972 as a tax protest. The party's initial issues were less bureaucracy, abolishment of the income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
and simpler law paragraphs. The party entered the Danish Parliament after the 1973 electoral "earthquake". It won 15.9% of the vote and 28 seats, making it the second-largest party in parliament. It did however not form a part of the ruling coalition because the others parties refused to cooperate with it.
The Progress Party's seats in parliament fell to 20 in 1979, partly due to internal splits between "pragmatists" (slappere) who wanted to pursue cooperation with mainstream parties, and "fundamentalists" (strammere) who wanted the party to stand alone. The party started to turn its attention on immigration by 1979, although immigration didn't become important before the late 1980s. Having added a "Mohammedan
Mohammedan
Mohammedan is a Western term for a follower of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As an archaic English language term, it is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhammad or the religion, doctrines, institutions and practices that he established...
-free Denmark" as one of its declared goals in 1980, Glistrup increasingly made comments about Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s, and used the slogan to "Make Denmark a Muslim Free Zone". In 1983, Glistrup was sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud. While Glistrup was in prison, the pragmaists led by Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Kjærsgaard
Pia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician. She is a co-founder and current leader of the Danish People's Party, a nativist, national conservative political party in Denmark...
took over the leadership of the party. Returning to the party after his release in 1987, Glistrup was no longer in control of the party, and internal strife broke out again. Glistrup refused to vote in favour of a proposition which had been agreed with the government in 1988, and he was stripped of his position as a representative for the party. He was expelled from the national executive of the party in 1991, and went on to found his own party, called Trivselspartiet.
The Progress Party won twelve seats in the 1990 parliamentary election
Danish parliamentary election, 1990
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 12 December 1990. Although the election resulted in a strong gain for the Social Democratic Party, Poul Schlüter's coalition government was able to continue despite the Danish Social Liberal Party leaving. Schlüter's coalition consisted of the...
. Internal disputes were still far from resolved, and eventually led the party to be split when the Danish People's Party
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...
(DF) was founded by Kjærsgaard and the pragmatists in 1995. While liberals remained in the tax-focused Progress Party, the new DF included those who were concerned with immigration as their main issue.
When the party's new leader Kirsten Jacobsen decided to leave politics in 1999, Mogens Glistrup was allowed in the party again in lack of any leading figures. Because of this, the Progress Party's remaining four member in parliament left and founded Freedom 2000. Despite their own positions against immigration, Glistrup's comments in the media had become so extreme that they felt forced to leave the party. Glistrup led the party for the 2001 parliamentary election
Danish parliamentary election, 2001
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 20 November 2001. For the first time since the 1924 the Social Democrats did not win the most seats. Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre became Prime Minister in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, as the head of the first...
, but it had lost almost all its support and received less than one percent of the vote. The party did not run in the 2005 parliamentary election
Danish parliamentary election, 2005
Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 8 February 2005. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's Venstre retained the largest number of seats in parliament. The governing coalition between the Venstre and the Conservative People's Party remained intact, with the Danish People's Party...
, nor in the 2007 parliamentary election
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...
. It did however run for the local and regional elections in November 2005. The party generally received less than one percent of the votes (though with several local exceptions), and got one member elected in the municipality of Morsø.
Main issues
The party's original three political issues, which remains valid, was:- Abolition of income tax
- Abolition of the "law jungle"
- Elimination of bureaucracy
In the 1980s, Glistrup added a fourth point:
- Stop of immigration from Islamic countries, and research its consequences
Political positions
By 2010, its entire political program consisted of the following points, with the headline "Stop the immigration":- Abolishment of the income tax
- Drastic reduction of bureaucracy
- Drastic reduction of the "law jungle"
- Restoration of borders and border control product
- Stop of immigration
- Stop the allocation of Danish citizenship
- Confrontation with the integration policy
- Locate the responsibility for the mass immigration
- Denmark gradually out of the EU - for trade throughout the world
Political leaders
- Mogens GlistrupMogens GlistrupMogens Glistrup was a controversial Danish politician, lawyer, and member of the Danish parliament and founder of the Progress Party....
(1972–1985) - Pia KjærsgaardPia KjærsgaardPia Merete Kjærsgaard is a Danish politician. She is a co-founder and current leader of the Danish People's Party, a nativist, national conservative political party in Denmark...
(1985–1995) - Kirsten Jacobsen (1995–1999)
- Aage Brusgaard (1999–2001)
- Aase Heskjær (2001–2003)
- Jørn Herkild (2003–2006)
- Henrik Søndergård (2006–2007)
- Ove Jensen (2007–2009)
- Ernst Simonsen (2009–2010)
- Niels Højland (2010–)
- Lars Egmose (2010–)
Organisatorial leaders
- Ulrik Poulsen (1974)
- Palle Tillisch (1975–1976)
- A. Roland Petersen (1976–1979)
- V.A. Jacobsen (1980–1984)
- Poul Sustmann Hansen (1984)
- Ove Jensen (1984)
- Helge Dohrmann (1984–1985)
- Annette Just (1985–1986)
- Johannes Sørensen (1987–1993)
- Poul Lindholm Nielsen (1994)
- Johannes Sørensen (1995–1999)
- Per Larsen (1999)
- Aage Brusgaard (1999–2001)
- Aase Heskjær (2001–2003)
- Jørn Herkild (2003–2006)
- Henrik Søndergård (2006–2007)
- Ove Jensen (2007–2009)
- Ernst Simonsen (2009–2010)
- Niels Højland (2010–)
- Lars Egmose (2010–)
Election results
| Election | # of seats won | # of total votes | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 Danish parliamentary election, 1973 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 4 December 1973 and in the Faroe Islands on 13 December. It has since been referred to as the Landslide Election , as five new or previously unrepresented parties won seats, and more than half the members of the parliament were replaced... |
28 | 485,289 | 15.9% |
| 1975 Danish parliamentary election, 1975 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 9 January 1975. The result was a victory for the Social Democratic Party, who won 53 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 88.2% in Denmark proper, 56.1% in the Faroe Islands and 68.7% in Greenland.-Results:... |
24 | 414,219 | 13.6% |
| 1977 Danish parliamentary election, 1977 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 15 February 1977. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 65 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 88.7% in Denmark proper, 62.9% in the Faroe Islands and 70.0% in Greenland.... |
26 | 453,792 | 14.6% |
| 1979 Danish parliamentary election, 1979 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 23 October 1979. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 68 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 85.6% in Denmark proper, 65.4% in the Faroe Islands and 50.3% in Greenland.... |
20 | 349,243 | 11.0% |
| 1981 Danish parliamentary election, 1981 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 8 December 1981. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing, with 59 of the 179 seats. Voter turnout was 83.3% in Denmark proper, 55.4% in the Faroe Islands and 61.0% in Greenland.... |
16 | 278,383 | 8.9% |
| 1984 Danish parliamentary election, 1984 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 10 January 1981, after the opposition voted against the government's state budget bill. Although the Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing with 56 of the 179 seats, the Conservative People's Party achieved its best-ever result,... |
6 | 120,461 | 3.6% |
| 1987 Danish parliamentary election, 1987 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 8 September 1987. Although the Social Democratic Party remained the largest in the Folketing with 54 of the 179 seats, the Conservative People's Party-led coalition government was able to continue. Voter turnout was 86.7% in Denmark proper, 68.9% in... |
9 | 160,461 | 4.8% |
| 1988 Danish parliamentary election, 1988 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 10 May 1988, just seven months after the last elections. Prime Minister Poul Schlüter chose to call for an election after the Conservative People's Party-led government fell short of a majority in a foreign policy issue after they failed to come to an... |
16 | 298,132 | 9.0% |
| 1990 Danish parliamentary election, 1990 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 12 December 1990. Although the election resulted in a strong gain for the Social Democratic Party, Poul Schlüter's coalition government was able to continue despite the Danish Social Liberal Party leaving. Schlüter's coalition consisted of the... |
12 | 208,484 | 6.4% |
| 1994 Danish parliamentary election, 1994 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 21 September 1994. The coalition of the Social Democratic Party, the Danish Social Liberal Party and the Centre Democrats led by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen remained in power despite the Christian People's Party, which had been part of the government,... |
11 | 214,057 | 6.4% |
| 1998 Danish parliamentary election, 1998 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 11 March 1998. The Social Democratic Party-led government of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen remained in power in a very close vote that required several recounts. The right-wing parties led by Venstre had been expected to win. Venstre leader Uffe... |
4 | 82,437 | 2.4% |
| 2001 Danish parliamentary election, 2001 Parliamentary elections were held in Denmark on 20 November 2001. For the first time since the 1924 the Social Democrats did not win the most seats. Anders Fogh Rasmussen of the centre-right Venstre became Prime Minister in coalition with the Conservative People's Party, as the head of the first... |
0 | 19,340 | 0.6% |