Denmark European Parliament election 2019 — Results

At a glance

The 2019 European Parliament election in Denmark, held on 26 May 2019, was a strong night for the liberal Venstre and a catastrophe for the Eurosceptic Danish People's Party, which had topped the previous European election in 2014. Held just ten days before the national general election, it served as a curtain-raiser and confirmed the same trends: a collapsing populist right and a resurgent mainstream.

The rules of the game

Denmark elects its MEPs in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation (the d'Hondt method), with parties able to form electoral alliances to maximise seats. Denmark returned 13 members in 2019, rising to 14 once the United Kingdom left the EU and one extra Danish seat was activated. Turnout at European elections is markedly higher in Denmark than the EU average.

The campaign trail

The campaign turned on climate, migration and the degree of EU integration. Venstre positioned itself as the pro-European party of government-in-waiting; the Social Democrats balanced EU pragmatism with their new immigration toughness; and the Danish People's Party struggled to defend the four seats it had won in its 2014 high-water mark, hit by scandals over the misuse of EU funds and by competition for nationalist voters.

The result

Venstre won 23.50% and four seats, finishing first. The Social Democrats took 21.48% and three, and the Socialist People's Party surged to 13.23% and two on the strength of the green wave. The Danish People's Party crashed from 26.6% in 2014 to 10.76%, losing three of its four seats. The Social Liberals won two, and the Conservatives and Red–Green Alliance one each. The hard-Eurosceptic People's Movement against the EU lost its only seat, ending decades of continuous representation.

Turnout and the map

Turnout was 66.08%, very high for a European election. The Social Democrats led in the capital region and on Zealand, while Venstre's rural and Jutland strength carried the three western regions. The map above shows the leading party by region; click any region for the full breakdown.

After the vote

The result foreshadowed the national election ten days later, where the same collapse of the Danish People's Party and recovery of the mainstream parties returned the Social Democrats to power. In the Parliament, Venstre's MEPs sat with the liberal Renew Europe group and the Social Democrats with the Socialists and Democrats, reflecting Denmark's pro-European mainstream.

Source

Official results from Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik) — dst.dk/valg. The regional map is built from the agency's results by municipality, aggregated to the five regions.

Compiled and reviewed from official results by ElectioMap. See our data methodology.