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Left Socialists
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The Left Socialists (Danish: Venstresocialisterne, abbr. VS) were a Marxist and socialist political organisation in Denmark. From 1968 to 1998, it was a registered political party also known as the Left Socialist Party. It was formed from a split in the Socialist People's Party (SF). It had a young wing called Youth of the Left Socialists.
Key Information
The party saw minor electoral success before joining the Red–Green Alliance in 1989 to contest elections jointly with other socialist parties. Individual party activity diminished afterwards, culminating in the Left Socialists dissolving themselves in 2013.
History
[edit]The Left Socialists emerged from a split in the Socialist People's Party (SF), which itself was a splinter of the Communist Party of Denmark (DKP).[3][4]: 53 The SF was established in 1959 by members of the DKP who had been expelled from the party for criticising the Soviet Union's intervention in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[5] The results of the 1966 general election opened up the possibility of a leftist majority government for the first time in Danish history, between an SF minority and a plurality of Social Democrats, who were more moderate.[5] The two parties subsequently established a so-called "red cabinet", which lasted until 1968, when six SF members of the Folketing defected and formed the Left Socialists in 1968.[5][6]: 79
In 1989, the Left Socialists, DKP, and Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party agreed to form an electoral alliance – the Red–Green Alliance – to contest the 1990 general election together. The alliance did not win any seats.[7]
In 1998, the Left Socialists deregistered as a political party and became a political organisation. The Left Socialists' activities declined afterwards, with members focusing most of their efforts on the electoral success of the Red–Green Alliance.[8]
Seven members of the Left Socialists, including several of its leaders, were arrested by Danish authorities on 20 February 2006. They were charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation because the organisation had sent money raised from selling t-shirts to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.[9]
At a general meeting on 8 September 2013, the leadership of the Left Socialists voted 14 to 1 to disband, with its chairman Per Clausen explaining they did not want to be "a party within a party", in reference to the Red–Green Alliance.[8]
Ideology
[edit]The Left Socialists described themselves as "Marxist, democratic, and revolutionary socialists".[9]
Publications
[edit]The Left Socialists published a newspaper named Solidaritet ("Solidarity") and maintained a website which posted party press releases and Solidaritet issues. Solidaritet became independent from the Left Socialists when it transformed from a party to an organisation.[8]
Election results
[edit]
| Year | Votes | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | ± pp | # | ± | |
| 1968 | 57,184 | 2.0 | +2.0 | 4 / 179
|
New |
| 1971 | 45,979 | 1.6 | -0.4 | 0 / 179
|
 4
|
| 1973 | 44,843 | 1.5 | -0.1 | 0 / 179
|
 0
|
| 1975 | 63,579 | 2.1 | +0.6 | 4 / 179
|
 4
|
| 1977 | 83,667 | 2.7 | +0.6 | 5 / 179
|
1
|
| 1979 | 116,047 | 3.7 | +1.0 | 6 / 179
|
1
|
| 1981 | 82,711 | 2.7 | -1.0 | 5 / 179
|
1
|
| 1984 | 89,356 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 5 / 179
|
0
|
| 1987 | 46,141 | 1.4 | -1.3 | 0 / 179
|
5
|
| 1988 | 20,303 | 0.6 | -0.7 | 0 / 179
|
0
|
References
[edit]- ^ Escalona, Fabien; Keith, Daniel; March, Luke (17 April 2023). The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Left Parties in Europe. Springer Nature. p. 147. ISBN 1137562641. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
The Left Socialists, a marxist splinter from the Socialist People's Party founded in 1967, was represented in parliament in 1968–1971 and 1975–1987.
- ^ Escalona, Fabien; Keith, Daniel; March, Luke (17 April 2023). The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Left Parties in Europe. Springer Nature. p. 148. ISBN 1137562641. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
In 1989, Enhedslisten was formed as a merger of three small extra-parliamentary parties on the far left. These three parties were the Left Socialists, the Communist Party of Denmark and Socialist Workers' Party (SAP) (Enhedslisten, 2016a).
- ^ Childs, David (30 July 2015). The Changing Face of Western Communism. Taylor & Francis. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-317-37248-6. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ Christensen, Dag Arne (1998). "Foreign Policy Objectives: Left Socialist Opposition in Denmark, Norway and Sweden". Scandinavian Political Studies. 21 (1): 51–70. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9477.1998.tb00003.x. ISSN 1467-9477. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b c Olsen, Jonathan (16 July 2010). "The Danish Socialist People's Party: Still Waiting After all These Years". In Olsen, Jonathan; Koss, Michael; Hough, Daniel (eds.). Left Parties in National Governments. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-230-23650-9. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ Arter, David (1 January 2003). "Scandinavia: What's Left is the Social Democratic Welfare Consensus". Parliamentary Affairs. 56 (1): 75–98. doi:10.1093/pa/gsg006. ISSN 0031-2290. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ Keith, Daniel (28 July 2017). "Radical Left Parties and Left Movements in Northern Europe". In Wennerhag, Magnus; Fröhlich, Christian; Piotrowski, Grzegorz (eds.). Radical Left Movements in Europe. Routledge. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-317-07188-4. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b c "Venstresocialisterne nedlægger sig selv" [The Left Socialists are dissolving themselves]. Politiken (in Danish). Ritzau. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Venstresocialisterne". Left Socialists. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012.
External links
[edit]- VS website Archived 30 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
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