Social Democrats (Denmark)

The Social Democrats (Danish: Socialdemokratiet) is a social-democratic^[1] political party in Denmark.

The Social Democrats are the largest party in the Folketing and have been in government since 2019.^[2] Since 2015, the party has been led by Mette Frederiksen, who has also served as prime minister since 2019.^[3]

The party was founded in 1871 by Louis Pio (who served as its first leader) and first entered the Folketing in 1882. The party first formed a government in 1924 under Thorvald Stauning, who as prime minister was very important in helping to establish the Danish welfare state.^[4]

• Louis Pio (1871–1872, 1875–1877)
• Carl Würtz (1872–1873)
• Ernst Wilhelm Klein (1873–1875)
• Christen Hørdum (1877–1878, 1880–1882)
• A.C. Meyer (1878)
• Saxo W. Wiegell (1878–1880)
• Peter Christian Knudsen (1882–1910)
• Thorvald Stauning (1910–1939)
• Hans Hedtoft (1939–1955)
• H.C. Hansen (1955–1960)
• Viggo Kampmann (1960–1962)
• Jens Otto Krag (1962–1972)
• Anker Jørgensen (1972–1987)
• Svend Auken (1987–1992)
• Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (1992–2002)
• Mogens Lykketoft (2002–2005)
• Helle Thorning-Schmidt (2005–2015)
• Mette Frederiksen (2015–present)

• Thorvald Stauning (1924–1926, 1929–1942)
• Hans Hedtoft (1947–1950, 1953–1955)
• H.C. Hansen (1955–1960)
• Viggo Kampmann (1960–1962)
• Jens Otto Krag (1962–1968, 1971–1972)
• Anker Jørgensen (1972–1973, 1975–1982)
• Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (1993–2001)
• Helle Thorning-Schmidt (2011–2015)
• Mette Frederiksen (2019–present)