The Green Left (; , , abbr. SF) is a democratic socialist political party in Denmark. The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP), who was removed for criticizing the Soviet intervention in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Larsen aimed to create a third way between Denmark's US-oriented social democracy and Soviet-oriented communism, combining democracy with socialism. The SF entered the Folketing in the 1960 Danish general election, while the DKP lost its seats. The SF became involved in peace, anti-nuclear, and grassroots movements, advocating for independence from the Soviet Union.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the SF experienced fluctuating electoral success, gaining significant influence in the peace and environmental movements. During Gert Petersen's period as leader from 1974 to 1991, the SF broadened its appeal, focusing on environmental and gender politics. The party's opposition to Denmark's entry into the European Economic Community in the 1972 referendum boosted its membership and support. In the 1980s, the SF reached its peak electoral success, with 27 seats in the Folketing but faced internal conflicts over European Union policies, resulting in fluctuating support.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the SF continued to play an influential role in Danish politics, supporting the Poul Nyrup Rasmussen government from 1993 to 2001. Led by Holger Nielsen, the SF opposed the 1992 Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum but supported the Edinburgh Agreement. The party saw mixed electoral results, gaining seats in some elections and losing in others. Villy Søvndal became party chair in 2005, shifting the SF further left and emphasizing professionalism, focus-groups, and media strategies. In 2007, SF doubled its seats, becoming the fourth-largest party.
The SF joined the coalition government led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt in 2011, marking its first participation in a cabinet; however, internal conflicts and controversies led to SF leaving the coalition in 2014. The SF under Pia Olsen Dyhr (the leader elected in 2014) supported the Mette Frederiksen-led Social Democrats minority government after the 2019 election. Despite the red bloc winning a narrow majority in 2022, the SF became the largest opposition party when Frederiksen formed a centrist government with the Liberal Party and the Moderates. At the 2026 election, the party finished in second place in both seats and votes for the first time in its history.
History
1959–1969 The SF was founded on 15 February 1959 by Aksel Larsen, a former leader of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP). Larsen was removed from the ranks of the DKP for his criticism over the Soviet intervention in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Larsen and the new SF sought to form a third way between Denmark's United States-oriented social democracy and Soviet Union-oriented communism, which sought to combine democracy with socialism. He was joined by a large share of the members of the DKP. They all supported the idea of independence from the Soviet Union.
In the 1960 Danish general election, the SF entered the Folketing with eleven seats. The DKP lost all six of its seats. In the 1964 Danish general election, the party lost one seat. During the 1960s, the SF became involved in the peace movement and the movements which opposed nuclear weapons and nuclear power. It sought to "walk on two legs", by combining its parliamentary work with involvement in grass roots movements.
In the 1966 Danish general election, the Social 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 Democrat minority 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, the Left Socialists (VS) broke away from the SF. In the 1968 Danish general election, the SF lost nine seats and the VS entered parliament with four. In 1969, the party chairperson Larsen stood down; he was replaced by Sigurd Ømann.
1969–1991 In the 1971 Danish general election, the SF regained ground on the VS, gaining six seats, while the VS left the Folketing. In 1972, the party participated in the referendum campaign against Denmark's entry into the European Economic Community (EEC). The Danish voters voted in favour of the European by a narrow margin. Because of its opposition to the EEC, the SF's membership and support was boosted. In the 1973 Danish general election, 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 the 1975 Danish general election, the SF lost two seats and the VS re-entered the Folketing as well. In the 1977 Danish general election, 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 broader left-wing political party that was oriented towards new voters and new social movements. It became more focused on the environment and gender politics. In the 1979 Danish general election, the party won four seats as the DKP lost its six seats. In the 1981 Danish general election, the party almost doubled from eleven to twenty-one. In the 1984 Danish general election it remained stable. In the 1986 Danish Single European Act referendum, the SF campaigned together with the Social Democrats and the Social Liberal Party against the European Community. The Single European Act was adopted by a narrow margin. In the 1987 Danish general election, it reached its all-time peak with twenty seven seats.
In the 1988 Danish general election, the SF lost three seats. In the 1990 Danish general election, it lost another nine, leaving the party with fifteen seats. In 1991, the party chairman Petersen stood down in favour of Holger K. Nielsen. Between 1982 and 1993, a centre-right government led by Poul Schlüter formed by the Conservatives, the Liberals, and allies was in power, even though the SF formed a majority government with the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals. Combined with its links with the peace and environmental movement, this gave the SF the power to force alternative security and environmental policies.
1991–2001 In 1991, Petersen stood down as party chairman; he was replaced by Holger K. Nielsen who was (compared to the other candidate Steen Gade) closer to the party's socialist past. In the 1992 Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum, the SF campaigned for the "No" vote. The Danish people narrowly voted against the Maastricht Treaty. In 1993, the SF formed a historic compromise with the other parties in the Folketing. It accepted the concessions made to the Danes in the Edinburgh Agreement and to the SF in the National Compromise. Therefore, it campaigned to vote "yes" in the 1993 Danish Maastricht Treaty 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-European Union (EU) line. As a group, the SF became more positive of the EU but also became increasingly divided on the issue.
In the 1994 Danish general election, the SF lost another two seats and the Red–Green Alliance an alliance, which included the DKP and the VS, entered Parliament with six seats. In the 1998 Danish general election, the party remained stable. During the 1998 Danish Amsterdam Treaty referendum, it led the "No" again, this time unsuccessfully as voters strongly voted in favour. Between 1993 and 2001, the SF supported a Social Democrats and Social Liberal minority government led by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen. In the 2000 Danish euro referendum, the SF was part of the successful "No" campaign.
In opposition, 2001–2011 In the 2001 Danish general election, the SF lost one seat and after Liberal Party, the Conservative People's Party and the Danish People's Party gained a majority, it lost almost all political influence in Parliament. There were some local bright spots with great support to SF mayors in Vejle, Them, Nakskov, Kalundborg, and Maribo caused by charismatic candidates. In 2004, the party's sole MEP again decided to sit with The Greens–European Free Alliance group, instead of the European 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 the SF was still only an observer in the European Green Party and not a full member.
In the 2005 Danish general election, the 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. When Holger K. Nielsen announced that he would step down as chairman, three candidates for the post came forth: Pia Olsen Dyhr, Meta Fuglsang, and Villy 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 the political 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 the European Constitution, a historic break from its Eurosceptic past. In the 2007 Danish general election, the 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, mostly Hizb-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. 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 the SF than for the Social Democrats. In the spring of 2008, this changed so that the 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 Anders Fogh Rasmussen's cabinet. This was widely regarded as an attempt to disprove the frequent accusations of SF not being "economically responsible".
In government, 2011–2014