In his keynote speech to the party's annual conference over the weekend, Socialist People's Party (SPP) leader Villy Søvndal tried to unite the divided party and put a lid on the dissension that's led to a dramatic fall in the opinion polls.
A clearly determined Mr Søvndal told his critics that it's always easy to creae a stir in the tabloids by criticising ministers and party policy, but the dissenters should always remember that it's not an open and fair debate - the criticism comes from a minority while the majority often doesn't have the possibility to respond. Appealing for conciliation and unity instead of division and discord he said: "Let's show that we’re free to debate but we never - never - stab each other in the back."
Although support for the SPP has sunk to below 6 per cent since it became a government partner for the first time ever, he called election night 'the best trip ever'. "We managed to get rid of (Liberal leader) Lars Løkke Rasmussen, (Danish People's Party leader) Pia Kjærsgaard, and ten years of egoism, narrow-mindedness, and inequality, and even though we've lost voters since then it was well worth it .We've all been on a long, hard journey but refused to be denied and ultimately reached our goal."
In response to criticism that the SPP has been forced to compromise and bow down to its senior partners, the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals, he listed 20 issues which the party has helped to improve since gaining power, such as cheaper collective transport, gay church weddings, and a greener Denmark.