Karsten Hønge

{{Infobox officeholder

| name =

| office = Member of the Folketing

| termstart = 18 June 2015

| termend =

| constituency = Funen

| termstart1 = 13 November 2007

| termend1 = 15 September 2011

| constituency1 = Funen

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|9|25|df=y}}

| birth_place = Nykøbing Mors, Denmark

| image = Karsten Hønge på ChrBorg NOV 2018 Foto William Vest-Lillesoe WEB-15.jpg

| caption = Hønge in 2018

| party = Socialist People's Party

}}

Karsten Hønge (born 25 September 1958) is a Danish politician, who is member of the Folketing for the Socialist People's Party. Karsten Hønge is one of few people who has been elected to city councils, county councils, regional council, Folketing, and the European Parliament.{{ft.dk link}}

Political career

He joined SF and its youth wing SFU in 1973. He was a member of the national leadership of SFU in 1974-1977. He was politically active during his time at Thisted Gymnasium, and from 1977 to 1978 was the vice-chairman of Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning, the Danish association of gymnasium students.

From 1978 to 1979, Hønge was a soldier at Skive Garrison; he was a member of the executive committee for the conscripts. Until 2007 he was chairman of the Fynes chapter of the trade union TIB (Træ Industri Byg), who later merged with 3F.

He was a member of the County Council in Fynen County from 2001 to 2006, and served on the city council of Odense from 2005 to 2007, where he was leader of the group and member of the employment committee.

In the public debate, Hønge was one of the first on the left wing to criticize Asmaa Abdol-Hamid from the Red-Green Alliance. He did so at the 2005 local elections, when they both ran for the city council in Odense.[http://nyhederne-dyn.tv2.dk/politik/article.php/id-9380623.html Asmaa-kritiker ind for SF, TV 2, 14. november 2007] In 2006 he wrote the pamphlet "A bull against fundamentalism. A defense for free thoughts." (Danish: ”En bandbulle mod fundamentalisme. Et forsvar for frisind"), critical of religious fundamentalism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jv.dk/artikel/2646002|title="Vikaren fra helvede" kom ind i SF-varmen {{!}} Navne {{!}} jv.dk|date=2018-09-24|website=www.jv.dk|language=da|access-date=2019-08-20}}

Hønge had been a candidate to the Folketing since 1993, and at the 2007 general election, he was elected to the Folketing. In 2013 he was elected to the regional council in the Region of Southern Denmark as the lead candidate from SF.

In January 2014, he joined the Folketing again as a substitute for Anne Baastrup who was on sick leave. As a substitute, he made critical statements concerning the imminent sale of part of Dong to Goldman Sachs, which SF supported as part of the government.[http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik/2014/01/29/132657.htm Portræt: Citatkonge skaber ravage på Borgen (DR Nyheder)] His statements contributed to the resignation of party leader Annette Vilhelmsen and the departure of SF from the government a week later. Due to his role in this, he was given the nickname "the substitute from hell" by the press.{{Cite news|url=http://politiken.dk/indland/politik/art5499933/Portr%C3%A6t-Da-vikaren-fra-helvede-vendte-tilbage-p%C3%A5-Borgent|title=Portræt: Da 'vikaren fra helvede' vendte tilbage på Borgen|last=Mie Louise Raatz|date=30 January 2014|publisher=Politiken}}

At the 2015 general election, Hønge was reelected to the Folketing in Funen constituency. He was reelected in

2019. [http://politik.tv2.dk/valg2015/2015-06-19-samtlige-stemmer-talt-op-se-alle-de-folkevalgte-her Samtlige stemmer talt op: Se alle de folkevalgte her] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621230727/http://politik.tv2.dk/valg2015/2015-06-19-samtlige-stemmer-talt-op-se-alle-de-folkevalgte-her |date=2015-06-21 }}, 19. juni 2015, tv2.dk, set 21. juni 2015

= 2019 election to the European Parliament =

In May 2019, Hønge was a candidate to the European Parliament election, as SF's second candidate on the list after Margrete Auken. The party won two seats, and Hønge won the second. However, since he was also running for reelection to the Folketing at the general election 10 days later, he decided not to take his seat, who instead went to Kira Marie Peter-Hansen.{{Citation|last=Nielsen|first=Nicolas S.|title=SF's gruppeformand: Hønge har truffet et fornuftigt valg|date=27 May 2019|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/ep-valg/sfs-gruppeformand-hoenge-har-truffet-et-fornuftigt-valg|publisher=DR|access-date=28 May 2019}} This was criticized by the voters who voted for him.{{Citation|last=Kielgast|first=Nis|title=Vælgere om Karsten Hønges beslutning: ’Skuffende’ og ’svineri’|date=28 May 2019|url=https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/ep-valg/vaelgere-om-karsten-hoenges-beslutning-skuffende-og-svineri|publisher=DR}} In 2018, Hønge said to a number of media outlets, that he would leave the Folketing, if he were elected to the European Parliament. In weeks prior to the election, Hønge had said to local media on Funen, that the general elections had first priority.Rønn, Mette (13. maj 2019) [https://www.tv2fyn.dk/artikel/hoenge-gaar-til-dobbeltvalg-vil-slet-ikke-vaelges-til-eu Hønge går til dobbeltvalg - vil slet ikke vælges til EU] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123084549/https://www.tv2fyn.dk/artikel/hoenge-gaar-til-dobbeltvalg-vil-slet-ikke-vaelges-til-eu |date=2019-11-23 }}, TV2/Fyn, hentet 1. juni 2019Augustinus, Mia S. (7. maj 2019) [https://www.fyens.dk/fyn/Dobbelt-valgkamp-Hoenge-giver-Folketinget-foersteprioritet/artikel/3347360 Dobbelt valgkamp: Hønge giver Folketinget førsteprioritet], Fyens Stiftstidende, hentet 1. juni 2019 Hønge later apologized that he was unclear in the process, and called it an "election-blunder".Ritzau/JP (28. maj 2019), https://jyllands-posten.dk/politik/ECE11412588/hoenge-undskylder-valgbroeler-en-fortjent-roevfuld-skal-man-laere-af/, Jyllands-Posten, hentet 1. juni 2019 Several members of the Folketing later criticized SF and Hønge's decision, calling it to making fun of the voters and increasing the political alienation.[https://www.berlingske.dk/politik/alvorlig-kritik-hagler-ned-over-karsten-hoenge-uaerligt-forkasteligt-fup Alvorlig kritik hagler ned over Karsten Hønge: Uærligt, forkasteligt, fup og grotesk pinligt. Artikel på Berlingske.dk 28. maj 2019.]{{Cite news|url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/politik/ECE11411012/folketingets-formand-hoenge-burde-ikke-frasige-sig-eumandat/|title=Folketingets formand: Hønge burde ikke frasige sig EU-mandat|date=28 May 2019|work=Jyllands-Posten|access-date=1 June 2019}}

Personal life

Karsten Hønge was born on 25 September 1958 in Nykøbing Mors. He is the son of Anker Hønge, a carpenter and Inger Hønge, a cleaning assistant. He graduated from Thisted Gymnasium in 1978, and became a carpenter in 1983. In 2013 he became journalist from Danish School of Media and Journalism.