Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 5, 2026

Moderates (Denmark)

The Moderates is a liberal political party in Denmark founded by former prime minister and current minister of foreign affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

Last revised
Jun 5, 2026
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Moderates
Moderaterne
AbbreviationM
ChairmanLars Løkke Rasmussen
FounderLars Løkke Rasmussen
Founded5 June 2022 (2022-06-05)
Split fromVenstre
HeadquartersLyskær 8, 2730 Herlev
Think tankDet Politiske Mødested
Youth wingUnge Moderaterda
IdeologyLiberalism
Political positionCentre to centre-right
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe1
European Parliament groupRenew Europe2
International affiliationLiberal International
Nordic affiliationCentre Group
Colours
  •   Purple (official)
  •   Light purple (customary)3
Folketing
14 / 179
a
European Parliament
1 / 15
Municipal councils
6 / 2,436
Regions
2 / 205
Election symbol
M
Website
moderaterne.dk

The Moderates (Danish: Moderaterne [mɔˈdɛʁɑˀtɐnə], M) is a liberal political party in Denmark founded by former prime minister and current minister of foreign affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen.4

History

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, founder of the party source ↗

Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced his intention to form a new party in a speech on 5 June 2021. At the same time, he said that his main scenario was that the party would be formed after the 2021 Danish local elections.56

The party's name was, according to Rasmussen, inspired by the fictitious Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg's party De moderate in the hit political TV drama Borgen (itself allegedly inspired by the Social Liberal Party) as well as the Swedish Moderate Party, a centre-right party that was at the time the second largest party in the Swedish Riksdag.78

The Moderates' political position is referred to as centre910 to centre-right.11 According to Rasmussen, the Moderates is a centrist party that has the ambition to create "progress and change in a crossroads between a blue bloc that is tormented by value politics and a red bloc that is stuck in a past view of individual and state".12 Thus, it is not aligned with either bloc in the Folketing.13 The party began collecting voting declarations in June 2021. On 15 September 2021 Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that they had received the 20,182 signatures needed to be eligible to stand in the 2022 Danish general election.141516

The Moderates saw a surge in popularity during campaigning for the 2022 general election, eventually ending up as the third largest party with 16 seats,17 as polls had suggested.18 They had positioned themselves as kingmakers in deciding who the next prime minister should be,19 but the incumbent red bloc won a majority, thus preventing the Moderates from having the decisive seats in the next government.20 Despite this, the Moderates entered negotiations with the Social Democrats and Venstre and successfully formed a grand coalition government, the Frederiksen II Cabinet.21

In the 2026 general election, the Moderates lost two seats and saw a 16% drop in support. However, with the red bloc falling short of a majority, the Moderates emerged as potential kingmakers.22

Initial party logo source ↗

Election results

Parliament

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/- Government
2022 Lars Løkke Rasmussen 327,699 9.27 (#3)
16 / 179
 New Coalition
2026 274,775 7.70 (#6)
14 / 179
 Decrease2 Coalition

Local elections

Municipal elections
Year Seats
No. ±
2025
6 / 2,432
 Increase 6
 
Regional elections
Year Seats
No. ±
2025
1 / 134
 Increase 1
 
Mayors
Year Seats
No. ±
2025
0 / 98
 Steady 0

European Parliament

Year List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2024 Stine Bosse 145,698 5.95 (#10)
1 / 15
 New RE
Notes

Notes

  1. Only 175 of the 179 seats in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing, are obtainable by Danish political parties as Greenland and the Faroe Islands are assigned two seats each due to their status as territories in the Kingdom of Denmark.
See also

See also

References

References

  1. "European liberals grow stronger with new members in Slovenia, Denmark and Bulgaria". ALDE Party. 2025-06-28. Retrieved 2025-09-21.
  2. "Moderaterne vil vælges til Europa-Parlamentet, kommuner og regioner: "Vi udvider paletten"". Altinget.dk (in Danish). 8 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  3. "Oversigt over Folketingssalen". Folketinget (in Danish). Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  4. "Lars Løkke: Mit nye parti skal hedde Moderaterne". Politiken. June 5, 2021.
  5. Winther, Bent (June 5, 2021). "Løkke tænkte på svenske Reinfeldt og danske Nyborg og kastede sig ud i det". Berlingske.dk.
  6. "Nu er det officielt: Lars Løkke stifter nyt parti ved navn Moderaterne". jyllands-posten.dk. June 5, 2021.
  7. "Løkke tænkte på svenske Reinfeldt og danske Nyborg og kastede sig ud i det". 5 June 2021.
  8. "I 'Borgen' indtog Birgitte Nyborg og hendes moderate parti Statsministeriet – så tæt er Løkke på at gøre hende kunsten efter - TV 2". 26 October 2022.
  9. "Centre-left government hangs in balance as Denmark goes to the polls". Euronews. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  10. "Danes go to the polls in thriller election". France 24. 30 October 2022.
  11. "Election will show if Denmark's rebellious streak veers right". Youth Journalism International. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022. Another former Venstre party member is Lars Løkke Rasmussen, a former Danish prime minister known in part for his spending scandals. As reported by Information, Rasmussen is now running with his new centre-right party Moderaterne, which means Moderates..
  12. "Lars Løkke bekræfter nyt parti - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk. April 10, 2021.
  13. "Denmark's PM to explore broad coalition after narrow election win". Reuters. November 2, 2022.
  14. "Løkkes parti tager stormskridt mod stemmesedlen". TV 2 (in Danish). 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  15. "Moderaterne". Vælgererklæring. September 7, 2021.
  16. "Løkkes nye parti klar til stemmesedlen: Afviser ikke statsministerposten". Dr.dk. 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  17. "Løkke erklærede regeringen død for tidligt – og gemte sig bag låste døre - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  18. "Løkke stormer frem i ny måling - Moderaterne står til at blive tredjestørste parti". DR (in Danish). 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  19. "Kongemageren: Lars Løkke skubber De Radikale af brættet med sit nye moderate Venstre". Information (in Danish). 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  20. "Partiledere raser over nordatlantiske mandater: - Når man ser på danskernes stemmetal alene, er der et flertal imod Mette Frederiksen - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  21. "Denmark's new government bridges left-right divide". POLITICO. 2022-12-14. Retrieved 2022-12-18.
  22. Jeppesen, Soren; Rasmussen, Louise (25 March 2026). "Denmark's Frederiksen faces tough coalition talks to remain prime minister". Reuters.com.