Denmark Municipal elections 2017 — Results

At a glance

The 2017 Danish municipal elections, held on 21 November 2017, chose the councils of Denmark's 98 municipalities (kommuner), the powerful local authorities that run schools, childcare, elder care, roads and much of the welfare state. They were a strong night for the Social Democrats, who gained seats and mayoralties across the country and reasserted themselves as the dominant force in Danish local government.

The rules of the game

Each municipality elects its council (kommunalbestyrelse) by proportional representation for a four-year term; the councils then choose a mayor (borgmester), the most important locally elected office in Denmark. Alongside the national parties, purely local lists (lokallister) contest many municipalities and collectively win a substantial share of the vote, especially in smaller and rural councils. Municipal politics is highly consensual and turns mainly on local services rather than national ideology.

The result

The Social Democrats won about 32.5% of the national municipal vote and 842 council seats, gaining ground, while Venstre took roughly 23% and 688 seats. The Conservatives and the Danish People's Party each polled around 8.8%, and the Red–Green Alliance and Socialist People's Party made gains in the cities. Local lists together won close to a tenth of the vote. The Social Democrats led the municipal vote in all five regions.

Turnout and the map

Turnout was 70.8%, high for a local election, helped by the simultaneous regional vote. The map above shows the largest party by region, aggregating the municipal results to the five regions; the full breakdown, including the pooled local lists, is available on click.

After the vote

The Social Democrats emerged with 47 mayoralties, the most of any party, cementing their grip on local government — including the prestigious Lord Mayoralty of Copenhagen. The strong local showing prefigured the party's return to national power in 2019 and underlined the resilience of Denmark's two big traditional parties at the municipal level even as the national party system fragmented.

The parties and the mayoralties

The Social Democrats were the clear winners nationally, taking about 32.45% of the municipal vote — up nearly three points on 2013 — and adding mayoralties to hold 47 of the 98 municipal mayors; Venstre followed on roughly 23.06% with 37 mayoralties. The Conservatives (about 8.78%) and the Danish People's Party (about 8.75%) trailed well behind, and turnout was high at 70.8%. Coming two years before the Social Democrats returned to national government, the result showed the party's strength in local Denmark and the continued dominance of the two big traditional parties over the municipal map, even as smaller parties and local lists retained influence on individual councils.

Source

Official results from Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik) — dst.dk/valg. The map aggregates the municipal results to the five regions.

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