Progress Party (Denmark)

This article is about the former Danish party. For the Norwegian party, see Progress Party (Norway).
Progress Party
Fremskridtspartiet
AbbreviationFrP
Z
LeaderNiels Højland
Niels Michael Wingreen Christensen
FounderMogens Glistrup
Founded22 August 1972
HeadquartersLiljeallé 11 6920 Videbæk
Youth wingYouth of the Danish People's Party
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[9]
Colours  Yellow
Election symbol
Z
Website
frp.dk
Member of European Progressive Democrats in the European Parliament (1979–1984)

The Progress Party (Danish: Fremskridtspartiet, FrP) is a right-wing populist political party in Denmark which was founded in 1972.

The party's founder, the former lawyer Mogens Glistrup, gained widespread popularity as well as notoriety in the country after he appeared on Danish television, stating that he paid 0% in income tax. The party was placed on the right of the political spectrum as it believed in radical tax cuts (including removing the income tax altogether) and vowed to cut government spending. In the late 1970s, its agenda was "the gradual abolition of income tax, the disbandment of most of the civil service, the abolition of the diplomatic service and the scrapping of 90% of all legislation".[10] From the 1980s, the party also adopted anti-immigration as a key issue.[2]

The party entered the Danish parliament after the 1973 landslide election and immediately became the second largest party in Denmark. After this the party gradually decreased in voter support, and when some of its leading members broke out and established the Danish People's Party in 1995, the party soon lost its representation in parliament. It last won members of the Folketing in 1998, and has since become a minor party. In the 2019 general election, it supported the New Right.

  1. ^ Hainsworth, Paul (2008). The Extreme Right in Western Europe. Routledge. p. 49. ISBN 9781134154326.
  2. ^ a b Topaloff, Liubomir K. (2012). Political Parties and Euroscepticism. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 178. ISBN 9781137009685.
  3. ^ [1][2]
  4. ^ Priester, Karin (2012). Rechter und linker Populismus: Annäherung an ein Chamäleon. Campus Verlag. p. 231. ISBN 9783593397931.
  5. ^ Mapping the extreme right in contemporary Europe : from local to transnational. Andrea Mammone, Emmanuel Godin, Brian Jenkins. New York: Routledge. 2012. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-203-12192-4. OCLC 796841092.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ European multiculturalism revisited. Alessandro Silj. London. 2013. ISBN 978-1-84813-873-5. OCLC 990191925.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ a b "420.000 muslimer skal smides ud af landet" [420,000 Muslims must be thrown out of the country]. Ekstra Bladet (in Danish). 20 October 2001. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Mogens Glistrup: founder of Denmark's Fremskridtspartiet". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-07-11.
  9. ^ [7][8]
  10. ^ Cook, Chris; Francis, Mary (1979). The first European elections: A handbook and guide. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 0-333-26575-0.