electionstracker

Denmark 1981 general election

What was the result of the 1981 general election in Denmark?

Social Democrats won 59 of 179 seats with 32.9% of the vote. 83.2% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Denmark
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Social Democrats won 59 of 179 seats with 32.9% of the vote; 83.2% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 2.4 points on 1979.

  • Social Democrats 59 −9 seats 32.9% −5.4 points
  • Conservative People's Party 26 +4 seats 14.5% +2.0 points
  • Socialist Peoples Party 21 +10 seats 11.3% +5.4 points
  • Venstre 20 −2 seats 11.3% −1.2 points
  • Progress Party 16 −4 seats 8.9% −2.1 points
  • Centre Democrats 15 +9 seats 8.3% +5.1 points
  • Danish Social Liberal Party 9 −1 seat 5.1% −0.3 points
  • Left Socialists 5 −1 seat 2.6% −1.1 points
  • Christian Democrats 4 −1 seat 2.3% −0.3 points
  • Greenland and Faroe Islands 4 0 seats
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Denmark 1979 general election, party by party.

90 of 179 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 32.9%

    Share of the vote won by Social Democrats

    Social Democrats won 59 of 179 seats. A majority needs 90.

  2. +10 seats

    Seats gained by Socialist Peoples Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1979. Social Democrats lost 9 seats.

  3. 83.2%

    Voter turnout

    Down 2.4 points on 1979.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Social Democrats59−932.9−5.41,026,726
Conservative People's Party26+414.5+2.0451,478
Socialist Peoples Party21+1011.3+5.4353,373
Venstre20−211.3−1.2353,280
Progress Party16−48.9−2.1278,383
Centre Democrats15+98.3+5.1258,522
Danish Social Liberal Party9−15.1−0.3160,053
Left Socialists5−12.6−1.182,711
Christian Democrats4−12.3−0.372,174
Justice Party of Denmark0−51.4−1.245,174
Communist Party of Denmark001.1−0.834,625
Greenland and Faroe Islands40

± is the change against the Denmark 1979 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Social Democrats 1,026,726
  • Conservative People's Party 451,478
  • Socialist Peoples Party 353,373
  • Venstre 353,280
  • Progress Party 278,383
  • Centre Democrats 258,522
  • Danish Social Liberal Party 160,053
  • Left Socialists 82,711
  • Christian Democrats 72,174
  • Justice Party of Denmark 45,174
  • Communist Party of Denmark 34,625
  • Greenland and Faroe Islands

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

83.2% of the 3,776,333 registered voters cast a ballot (3,143,424 ballots), down 2.4 points on 1979. 3,123,563 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1953 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Social Democrats32.9% of votes33.0% of seats
  • Conservative People's Party14.5% of votes14.5% of seats
  • Socialist Peoples Party11.3% of votes11.7% of seats
  • Venstre11.3% of votes11.2% of seats
  • Progress Party8.9% of votes8.9% of seats
  • Centre Democrats8.3% of votes8.4% of seats
  • Danish Social Liberal Party5.1% of votes5.0% of seats
  • Left Socialists2.6% of votes2.8% of seats
  • Christian Democrats2.3% of votes2.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.8 by votes and 5.7 by seats; Social Democrats led Conservative People's Party by 18.4 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of