1The Danish People’s Party and new cleavages in Danish politics

When the Danish People’s Party (DF) gained 12.0 per cent of the votes in the Danish 2001 election, it was brought from the margins to the mainstream of Danish politics. Until the time of writing it has functioned (2001-03) not only as the parliamentary basis for the new Liberal-Conservative government that was formed after the election, but also as the government’s main coalition partner in day-to-day politics. This includes large reforms such as the reform package in 2002 that lead to an unprecedented tightening of the conditions of immigrants and immigration. Somewhat reluctantly, even the unions have from time to time practised regular contacts with the party, for instance in order to avoid government regulation against closed shop arrangements. This development since the 2001 election completes a transformation of the new right in Denmark from neoliberal populism to a more centrist and- intentionally- less populist battle against immigration and for other values. This article describes the changing policy positions and analyse the electoral basis of the new right alongside the transformation of the Danish cleavage structure. The first section gives a short description of the history and election results of the Danish People’s Party and its predecessor, the Progress Party. The next section presents an analytical model of cleavag