Which political party in Denmark has the best English website?
Election campaigning is in full swing in Denmark. But which political parties are reaching out to voters who don’t speak Danish as a first language? Emma Firth dug through the websites of the 13 political parties currently in parliament to see which are doing the best job courting English-speaking voters.
Danish political parties don't have election manifestos in the way voters in the UK might be familiar with, but rather announce policies as they go along. So it can be helpful to follow the party's websites to find out what they are campaigning for and who their election candidates are.
However it appears that most of Denmark's political parties expect you to read Danish. Just five of the 13 parties had English options on their website, with no other language alternatives. From these five party websites, three of them had just one page in English, which covered what the party was about, not about specific policies or the election.
Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet)
The party's website has an option at the very bottom of the homepage to switch to English, which translates the whole website into English. You can also find this website using the English name of the party.
There is no clear manifesto on the website from the party who are currently in government. Instead, the website provides the history and broad principals of the party. There are no details of the party's policies for any particular area.
The list of candidates standing in this year's election is slightly hidden within a list of all the party's politicians ('politikere') and there are no photos with the names.
Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti or SF)
If you look up either the Danish or English name online, you will find the 'About' section of this left-wing social democratic party in English. However, that's where it ends. The extensive list of their policies and press releases are all in Danish.
If you want to see what manifestos the party is focussing on for this election, you will need to head to the news, 'nyheder' section of their website and translate yourself. They do clearly set out their policies on areas from education, transport, climate and health under the section 'Det vil vi' but again, only in Danish.
The website lists the party's politicians but doesn't distinguish the parliamentary candidates in this election.
Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre)
There is no option to translate this centre-left party's website into English. When searching for the party you also need to use its Danish name, Radikale Venstre.
Under the heading Aktuelt, which means current, you can find the party's manifestos but you will have to translate this yourself.
The website also lists the party's parliamentary candidates under 'kandidater' section.
Red Green Alliance (Enhedslisten)
If you look up the English name of this left wing party, you will find a description of what they are about in English on the EU part of their website. However the rest of this website is in Danish and quite limited to its EU politics.
The party's main website is their Danish website. However there are no options here to translate any page into English, which is a shame because it is a very comprehensive website.
They have a film, explaining what they are about, as well as a page listing their stance on all policies, broken down by subject. The topics the party is highlighting for this election are described under the news section 'nyheder.'
The candidates standing in this year's election are all listed through an interactive map.
The Alternative (Alternativet)
The environmentalist party's website has an option to convert it all into English, either by searching for the English name of the party, or by an English option in the top right corner of the website.
From here you can read what the party stands for, watch a video in English, see their current member of parliament and read about some of the party's policies. However when you look at the News section of the website, you realise that it hasn't been updated for the 2022 election, as it advertises an election celebration in June.
If you then look at the Danish version of the site, you can see there are more recent articles and a list of all their 2022 parliamentary candidates.
Independent Greens (Frie Grønne)
The Independent Greens pride themselves on their international outlook but their website has no option to translate into English and the can only be searched using the Danish name for the party.
The website itself is helpful if you can translate from Danish to English yourself. It describes the party's policies by subject, lists the party's parliamentary candidates and the news 'nyheder' section of their website highlights the current issues the party is talking about.
Liberal Party (Venstre)
Denmark's largest right wing party (at the time of writing) has an English version of its website, which you can find by searching for the English name of the party, or by clicking 'in English' at the bottom of the Danish website. Here you can read about the party's history, its role in Europe, domestic and foreign policies and the party's principals.
However it is the Danish version of the website that has information about the election, including a manifesto video and a list of all the party's parliamentary candidates.
The Danish website also has more details about the party's policies, including the topics the party is highlighting for the election, under the section 'nyheder.'
Conservatives (Det Konservative Folkeparti)
The Danish Conservative party has an English page on its website, which you can find by searching for the English name of the party, or by clicking 'in English' in the top right corner of the Danish website. Here you can read the party's political manifesto and a brief history of the party.
But the Danish website that has far more detail, including all areas of the party's policies, a link to its twitter feed and an interactive map of its parliamentary candidates,
Liberal Alliance (Liberal Alliance)
The libertarian party's website is only in Danish, which again is a shame as there is a lot of useful information on the website, including a series of entertaining videos to highlight their policies.
There is a section dedicated to the party's policies, divided into subjects such as transport, culture, environment, education.
The topics the party is highlighting for the election are listed under Aktuelt-Nyheder. The website also lists all of this year's parliamentary candidates in an easy to-use map format.
Denmark Democrats (Danmarksdemokraterne)
This new party, led by expelled immigration minister Inger Støjberg, doesn't have an English version of its party website and the website can only be found using the Danish name of the party.
The Danish website has a blog of videos, following the election campaign, as well as a list of its parliamentary candidates and it has a page explaining their policies.
Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti or DF)
The anti-immigration party doesn't have an English version of its party website and the website can only be found using the Danish name of the party. The front page of the website links all the party's social media feeds and news so you can easily see what they are campaigning for in this election. The parliamentary candidates are also listed.
Nye Borgerlige
The far-right Nye Borgerlige party doesn't have an official Englis name (it means "New Right"), less a website in English.
Its Danish-language website has a series of blog posts from its main party members as well as information about its campaign to save Denmark money. This includes cutting integration initiatives and some climate projects.
Moderates (Moderaterne)
This new centrist party, led by former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, doesn't have an English version of its website and it can't be found using the English name of the party. The Danish website lists the party's policies, latest news and list of parliamentary candidates.
So who has the best website for English speakers?
The three party websites with a complete English option are the Social Democrats, Alternative and the Liberals.
The Alternative party's website is the most user-friendly in English, due to its layout, number of topics covered, the use of an English video interview and it is ease of switching from the Danish site. A switch back to the Danish site is needed to get more information about the current election, which is unfortunately absent from its English version, as it is for all of the political party English websites.
The parties who had one 'About' page of their website in English were SF and the Conservatives.
None of the remaining parties have English options on their websites.
The Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy (DIPD) is a group of Danish parties that work together to help democratic societies in developing countries. This website is all in English and so is the 'About' section of the parties involved in this.
As such, the DIPD website is a good resource for a summary of the parties involved in it. This includes the Social Democrats, the Social-Liberals, the Conservatives, the Socialist People's Party, Liberal Alliance, the Danish People's Party, the Liberal party (Venstre), the Red Green Alliance, and the Alternative party.
READ MORE: ‘Bloc politics’: A guide to understanding parliamentary elections in Denmark
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Danish political parties don't have election manifestos in the way voters in the UK might be familiar with, but rather announce policies as they go along. So it can be helpful to follow the party's websites to find out what they are campaigning for and who their election candidates are.
However it appears that most of Denmark's political parties expect you to read Danish. Just five of the 13 parties had English options on their website, with no other language alternatives. From these five party websites, three of them had just one page in English, which covered what the party was about, not about specific policies or the election.
Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet)
The party's website has an option at the very bottom of the homepage to switch to English, which translates the whole website into English. You can also find this website using the English name of the party.
There is no clear manifesto on the website from the party who are currently in government. Instead, the website provides the history and broad principals of the party. There are no details of the party's policies for any particular area.
The list of candidates standing in this year's election is slightly hidden within a list of all the party's politicians ('politikere') and there are no photos with the names.
Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti or SF)
If you look up either the Danish or English name online, you will find the 'About' section of this left-wing social democratic party in English. However, that's where it ends. The extensive list of their policies and press releases are all in Danish.
If you want to see what manifestos the party is focussing on for this election, you will need to head to the news, 'nyheder' section of their website and translate yourself. They do clearly set out their policies on areas from education, transport, climate and health under the section 'Det vil vi' but again, only in Danish.
The website lists the party's politicians but doesn't distinguish the parliamentary candidates in this election.
Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre)
There is no option to translate this centre-left party's website into English. When searching for the party you also need to use its Danish name, Radikale Venstre.
Under the heading Aktuelt, which means current, you can find the party's manifestos but you will have to translate this yourself.
The website also lists the party's parliamentary candidates under 'kandidater' section.
Red Green Alliance (Enhedslisten)
If you look up the English name of this left wing party, you will find a description of what they are about in English on the EU part of their website. However the rest of this website is in Danish and quite limited to its EU politics.
The party's main website is their Danish website. However there are no options here to translate any page into English, which is a shame because it is a very comprehensive website.
They have a film, explaining what they are about, as well as a page listing their stance on all policies, broken down by subject. The topics the party is highlighting for this election are described under the news section 'nyheder.'
The Alternative (Alternativet)
The environmentalist party's website has an option to convert it all into English, either by searching for the English name of the party, or by an English option in the top right corner of the website.
From here you can read what the party stands for, watch a video in English, see their current member of parliament and read about some of the party's policies. However when you look at the News section of the website, you realise that it hasn't been updated for the 2022 election, as it advertises an election celebration in June.
If you then look at the Danish version of the site, you can see there are more recent articles and a list of all their 2022 parliamentary candidates.
Independent Greens (Frie Grønne)
The Independent Greens pride themselves on their international outlook but their website has no option to translate into English and the can only be searched using the Danish name for the party.
The website itself is helpful if you can translate from Danish to English yourself. It describes the party's policies by subject, lists the party's parliamentary candidates and the news 'nyheder' section of their website highlights the current issues the party is talking about.
Liberal Party (Venstre)
Denmark's largest right wing party (at the time of writing) has an English version of its website, which you can find by searching for the English name of the party, or by clicking 'in English' at the bottom of the Danish website. Here you can read about the party's history, its role in Europe, domestic and foreign policies and the party's principals.
However it is the Danish version of the website that has information about the election, including a manifesto video and a list of all the party's parliamentary candidates.
The Danish website also has more details about the party's policies, including the topics the party is highlighting for the election, under the section 'nyheder.'
Conservatives (Det Konservative Folkeparti)
The Danish Conservative party has an English page on its website, which you can find by searching for the English name of the party, or by clicking 'in English' in the top right corner of the Danish website. Here you can read the party's political manifesto and a brief history of the party.
But the Danish website that has far more detail, including all areas of the party's policies, a link to its twitter feed and an interactive map of its parliamentary candidates,
Liberal Alliance (Liberal Alliance)
The libertarian party's website is only in Danish, which again is a shame as there is a lot of useful information on the website, including a series of entertaining videos to highlight their policies.
There is a section dedicated to the party's policies, divided into subjects such as transport, culture, environment, education.
The topics the party is highlighting for the election are listed under Aktuelt-Nyheder. The website also lists all of this year's parliamentary candidates in an easy to-use map format.
Denmark Democrats (Danmarksdemokraterne)
This new party, led by expelled immigration minister Inger Støjberg, doesn't have an English version of its party website and the website can only be found using the Danish name of the party.
The Danish website has a blog of videos, following the election campaign, as well as a list of its parliamentary candidates and it has a page explaining their policies.
Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti or DF)
The anti-immigration party doesn't have an English version of its party website and the website can only be found using the Danish name of the party. The front page of the website links all the party's social media feeds and news so you can easily see what they are campaigning for in this election. The parliamentary candidates are also listed.
Nye Borgerlige
The far-right Nye Borgerlige party doesn't have an official Englis name (it means "New Right"), less a website in English.
Its Danish-language website has a series of blog posts from its main party members as well as information about its campaign to save Denmark money. This includes cutting integration initiatives and some climate projects.
Moderates (Moderaterne)
This new centrist party, led by former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, doesn't have an English version of its website and it can't be found using the English name of the party. The Danish website lists the party's policies, latest news and list of parliamentary candidates.
So who has the best website for English speakers?
The three party websites with a complete English option are the Social Democrats, Alternative and the Liberals.
The Alternative party's website is the most user-friendly in English, due to its layout, number of topics covered, the use of an English video interview and it is ease of switching from the Danish site. A switch back to the Danish site is needed to get more information about the current election, which is unfortunately absent from its English version, as it is for all of the political party English websites.
The parties who had one 'About' page of their website in English were SF and the Conservatives.
None of the remaining parties have English options on their websites.
The Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy (DIPD) is a group of Danish parties that work together to help democratic societies in developing countries. This website is all in English and so is the 'About' section of the parties involved in this.
As such, the DIPD website is a good resource for a summary of the parties involved in it. This includes the Social Democrats, the Social-Liberals, the Conservatives, the Socialist People's Party, Liberal Alliance, the Danish People's Party, the Liberal party (Venstre), the Red Green Alliance, and the Alternative party.
READ MORE: ‘Bloc politics’: A guide to understanding parliamentary elections in Denmark
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