New Right (Denmark)

Party founders Peter Seier Christensen and Pernille Vermund, February 2019

On 24 September 2015, architect Pernille Vermund and chemical engineer Peter Seier Christensen, both former members of the Conservative People's Party,[6] announced that they were in the process of establishing a new party under the working title Vi Konservative (We Conservative(s))[7] but choose to use the word borgerlig to differentiate themselves from the Conservative People's Party who is often simply referred to as "the Conservatives".[8] Although the founders both were former Conservative members, they said that they would marked themselves as "a mix of Danish People's Party and Liberal Alliance".[8]

On 20 October 2015, the two founders launched the party website and published a manifesto.[9]

On 21 September 2016, the party announced that it had gathered the 20,109 signatures required to run in the up-coming general election confirmed by the Minister of the Interior on 6 October upon request receiving the election letter "D".[10] From the very beginning, Nye Borgerlige set forth three "undeviateabel requirements" (ufravigelige krav) as a prerequisite for backing any government. These were a total asylum freeze, eviction of criminal foreigners after first conviction, and that foreigners staying in Denmark must be able to support for themselves.[11][12][13]

On 12 November 2016, Nye Borgerlige held its first ever annunal meeting (årsmøde) in Fredericia.[14][15][16][17] According to analytics company Gallup in November 2016, the party primarily obtained its voters from Danish People's Party.[18]

After the party founding, municipal council members in several municipalities switched from their original parties to Nye Borgerlige.[19] Most of these were lost in the Danish local elections of 2017 where the party only secured one seat; Mette Thiesen in Hillerød Municipality.[20]

At the 2019 general election in June, Nye Borgerlige reached 2.4% of the vote equal to four seats whereby Nye Borgerlige for the first time acquired representation in the Folketing[21][22] with its first parliamentary group consisting of Pernille Vermund, Peter Seier Christensen, Mette Thiesen, and Lars Boje Mathiesen. During the election campaign and its led-up, Vermund had continuously repeated and emphasised the party's requirements for support.[23][24][25] With the majority in Parliament shifting to the left and incumbent centre-right Venstre prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen defeated, leder of the Social Democrats Mette Frederiksen would the same month form a new minority government (Frederiksen I) who Nye Borgerlige would serve as an opposition party to for the remainder of the election period.[26]

During its first period in the Folketing, Nye Borgerlige gained popularity and became well-known for their successful social media strategy, espessally on Facebook.[27][28][29] In February 2021, it became by virtue of its 18,000 members the Danish politcal party with the third highest membership count succeeded only by the Social Democrats and Venstre.[30] The same month, the party got its highest opinion poll to date suggesting 11%[31] with journalist Lea Korsgaard describing the party as a "cultural phenomenon" in July the same year.[32] The 2021 local elections resulted in a nationwide performance of 3.6% awarding the party 63 seats from the precious single one.[33] Despite this, the party's popularity dwindled must significantly following the launch of a new right-wing-populist party named Denmark Democrats with party leader Inger Støjberg.[34] In the 2022 Danish European Union opt-out referendum, Nye Borgerlige campaigned for a no[35] with the result being a yes.[36]

Nye Borgerlige's parlamentary group in December 2022

At the 2022 general election on 1 November, the party received 3.7% accounting to six seats with the four original MPs being re-elected along with Mikkel Bjørn Sørensen and Kim Edberg Andersen.[37] Mette Thiesen left the party on 7 November due to an incident of her boyfriend having exercised physical violence toward a member of Nye Borgerlige's secretariat consequently becoming the fastest politician in Danish history to leave the party of one's election.[38][39][40][41] Thiesen would later join Danish People's Party on 6 February 2023 in the meanwhile having been an independent.[42][43][44] After the election, Vermund faced internal critique for the campaign i.a. for having focused too littel on immigration policy and runing on too many key issues.[45][46] Press secretary through seven years Lars Kaaber was dismissed on 24 November.[47][48][49] In December, a new grand coalition majority government headed by Mette Frederiksen consisting of the Social Democrats, Venstre, and the Moderates (called the SVM government) took office who Nye Borgerlige is currently serving in opposition to.[50][51]

On 10 January 2023, Pernille Vermund issued a statement that she would step down as leader at the party's next annual meeting in October or before if the NB's national executive (hovedbestyrelse) choose to call for an extraordinary annual meeting before that where a new leader would be elected. She added that she would continue as an MP for the remainder of the election period.[52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Vermund explained the resignation with a want to get her "life and family back".[53]

Before anyone had announced their intention to run, several news media predicted Mikkel Bjørn alongside Boje to be the two main likely contesters in the leadership election despite neither having announced their intention to run.[59][60][61][62][63] At an extraordinary national executive meeting on 17 January, it was decided that the new leader would be elected at an extraordinary annual meeting in held on 7 February in addition to Boje announcing his candidacy.[64][65] On the 18th, Seier announced his resignation as deputy leader meaning a new such also would be appointed.[66]

On 24 January 2023, which was the deadline for announcing one's candidacy,[67] Mikke Bjørn left Nye Borgerlige and immediately joined Danish People's Party attributing internal dissagrements with Boje and a lack of belief in his abilities to lead as the reason.[68][69][70] Youth wing leader Malte Larsen and deputy leader Mitchel Oliver Vestergaard left the party on the same day[71][72] and would both also join the DF during February 2023[73][74] The following day, it was announced that no other candidate than Boje had entered the race.[75][76]

Lars Boje Mathiesen in 2020

As no other candidate had entered the race, Boje subsequently assumed office at the convention in Fredericia on 7 February 2023 with Henriette Ergemann among six aspiring candidates winning the deputy leader election by 204 out of the 317 delegates' votes.[77][78][79]

After 13 days, Ergemann resigned on 20 February following controversy regarding false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and substandard statements concerning specific individuals.[80][81][82][83][84][85][86] The resignation followed a larger discussion about Boje moving the party line away from conservatism toward a more anarchist and non-pragmatic position with appeal to conspiratorial and anti-establishment sentiments.[87][88][89][90][91][92] Nye Borgerlige is expected to continue without a deputy leader until its ordinary annual meeting in October 2023.[82][93] On March 6, Ergemann left the party.[94][95][96]

On 10 March, it was announced that the national executive of Nye Borgerlige the day prior had unanimously chosen to dismiss Boje as party leader end expell him from the party; the reason given beeing disputes over remuneration and campaign finances.[97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] On the 10th, Vermund conveyed her willingness to once again take over as party leader[107][108][109][110] on the 13th withdrawing her former pledge not to run in the next general election.[111][112][113] Serval pieces of internal communication was leaked by Nye Borgerlige as well as unknown sources following Boje's expulsion.[114][115][116][117] As a reverberation of Boje's departure, the party is set to loose a substanitial part of its public funds with effect after 12 months.[118][119][120][121] Boje would continue in the Folketing as an independent.[122]

Head of Secretariat Lars Eldrup stated on 17 March that the party had lost roughly 2,000 members since the general election in November[123] while the party in February had reported that 4,911 out of 16,726 members had not renewed their membership.[124][125] On March 27, city council member of Aarhus Municipality Henrik Arens departured Nye Borgerlige thus leaving the party without representation in any of Denmark's four biggest cities (Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, and Aalborg) who it originally was represended in.[126][127] As of April, the party has gone from 63 to 43 municipal seats.

Co-founder and national executive member Svend Pedersen was expelled on 30 March for racist and derogatory remarks.[128][129][130] On 4 April, co-founder and MP Seier called in sick with stress, practically reducing Nye Borgerlige's number of seats to two.[127][131][132][133] The party is currently led jointly by its national executive until a new leader is expected to be elected.