Liberals (Sweden)

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"Liberalerna" redirects here. For the political party in Åland, see Liberals for Åland.

The Liberals
Liberalerna
57 / 1,720
Municipal councils[5]
509 / 12,614
Website
www.liberalerna.se

The Liberals (

centre-right.[11][12][13] The party is a member of the Liberal International and Renew Europe
.

Historically, the party was positioned in the centre of the Swedish political landscape, willing to cooperate with both the political left and the right. It has since the leadership of Lars Leijonborg and Jan Björklund in the 2000s positioned itself more towards the right.[11][14][15] It was a part of the Alliance centre-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014. The party's policies include action toward a free market economy and pushing for Sweden to join the Eurozone, as well as investing in nuclear power;[16] it also focuses on gender equality, the school system and quality education.[11][14]

In February 2019, following the conclusion of

restrictive migration policy, easier withdrawal of citizenship for immigrants, and has strongly criticised Muslim schools.[19][20][21] The party ultimately agreed to join the Tidö Agreement and form a coalition government with the Christian Democrats and the Moderate Party, which rely closely on support from the Sweden Democrats.[22]

History

2006 computer hacking scandal

Main article:
2006 Swedish electoral espionage affair

On 4 September 2006, only weeks before the 2006 general election, the Social Democratic Party reported to the police that its internal network had been hacked into. It has been reported that members of the then-named Liberal People's Party had, in order to counter Social Democrat political propositions, on at least two occasions copied secret information that had not yet been officially released. On 5 September, Party Secretary Johan Jakobsson voluntarily chose to resign. Leading members of the party and its youth organisation both were placed under a police investigation, suspected for criminal activity. All members of the party were acquitted by the court; however, an official of the party's youth organisation, and one from the Social Democrats as well as a newspaper reporter, were found guilty.[25][26][27][28][29]

Ideology

People's Party election workers, 1940 election

The official party ideology has historically been social liberalism,[30] which translates as a strong ideological commitment to a mixed economy, with support for comprehensive but market-based welfare state programs.[citation needed]

While initially allied with the Swedish Social Democratic Party in the struggle for democracy (achieved in 1921) and social reform, the People's Party came to be part of the opposition from the thirties and onwards, opposing Social Democrat demands for nationalization of private businesses. It has stayed opposed to the Social Democrats ever since, often as the largest or second-largest party of the opposition block (called the non-socialists or "de borgerliga", approximately the bourgeois), but often equally critical towards parties on the right. Over time, this has shifted towards a more clear-cut rightwing role. In the mid-nineties the party seemed to have ruled out the alternative of co-operation with the Social Democrats, focusing instead on bringing them down by strengthening the opposition.[citation needed]

Foreign policy is another high-profile issue. Always oriented towards the United States and the United Kingdom, the party was a strong opponent of Communism and Nazism during the 20th century. While it was part of and supported the Swedish coalition government and its position of neutrality during World War II, the party advocated an active stance against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The party (alongside Moderaterna) actively supported the struggle of the Baltic peoples against the Soviet regime, whereas Social Democrats were wary of irritating the Soviets.[31] As a consequence, it suffered several sharply worded rebukes from the often-ruling Social Democrats for endangering Swedish relations with the Soviet Union. It also criticised what it perceived as Social Democrat tolerance of left-wing dictatorships in the third world, and supported the United States in the Vietnam War. After the end of the Cold War, it became the first Swedish party to call for abandoning the country's traditional neutrality in favor of joining NATO.[citation needed]

Among issues concerning the developing world, the party supported decolonization and advocated boycotting South Africa to help overthrow apartheid rule. It also opposed third world Communist dictatorships. Nowadays it is strongly supportive of Israel, and former Party leader Per Ahlmark has been especially vocal on the issue.[citation needed]

On the European level, the Liberal People's Party was strongly supportive of the emergence of the

federal European state.[32]

In 2003, the Liberal People's Party supported the invasion of

National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) in particular upset its youth organisation.[citation needed
]

Voter base

Statistical changes in voter base

Socio-economic group and gender of voters Percentage of which voting for the Liberals
Groups/Gender 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Blue-collar workers 8 5 5 3 3 2
White-collar workers 20 11 10 8 7 6
Businessmen and farmers 15 7 7 7 5 6
Male 14 8 8 6 6 5
Female 16 8 8 5 5 4
Source: [33]

Historically the party had a strong base in the 'free churches' (Protestant congregations not part of the state church that turned into powerful grassroots movements in the late 19th century), but with the exception of certain regions, that is not a significant feature today. Tensions between factions sometimes described as "the free religionists" and "the metropolitan liberals" (occasionally in the form of an open left-right conflict, with the "free religious" members emphasizing the social aspect over liberal economics) was an important part of party life until the seventies. It provoked a party split in the twenties, centred on the question of an alcohol ban, but differences were eventually repaired. (The re-merging of the parties in 1934 is one of the party's plethora of official creation dates, some others being 1895, 1900 and 1902, providing frequent cause for anniversary celebrations.)

Support for the party is more marked among people above the age of 65, and tends to be higher among people who have completed more education. Its support is lowest among people with a pre-

Metropolitan Stockholm. The party's support is especially strong in affluent municipalities such as Danderyd, Lidingö and Lomma.[35] According to Sveriges Television's exit poll for the 2019 European parliament election, voters of the Liberals were the most likely to approve of Sweden's EU membership.[36] In September 2022, 84% of L-voters supported Sweden's bid to join NATO.[37]

Affiliated organisations and international memberships

The party has a youth organization called Liberal Youth of Sweden (Liberala ungdomsförbundet, LUF), which has its own platform and maintains a separate organisation from the party.[38] Since 2019 its chairperson is Romina Pourmokhtari.[39]

There is also a women's organization called Liberal Women[40] (Liberala Kvinnor, LK, chairperson Cecilia Elving[41]) and immigrants' organization called Liberal Mångfald, LM, (Liberal Multicultural Association, chairperson Anna Steele Karlström). Additionally, party members maintain a number of small ad hoc "networks" addressing specific issues.[42]

Representation in the EU institutions

The Liberals is a member of the

Baltic levels. The party's MEP sits with Renew Europe parliamentary group (previously ALDE
).

In the European Committee of the Regions, the Liberals sit in the Renew Europe CoR group with one full member for the 2020-2025 mandate.[43]

Electoral results

Riksdag

Election[44] Votes % Seats +/– Government
1936 376,161 12.9 (#4)
27 / 230
 Increase 3 Opposition
1940 344,113 12.0 (#3)
23 / 230
 Decrease 4 Coalition
1944 398,293 12.9 (#4)
26 / 230
 Increase 3 Coalition (1944–1945)
Opposition (1945–1948)
1948 882,437 22.7 (#2)
57 / 230
 Increase 31 Opposition
1952 924,819 24.4 (#2)
58 / 230
 Increase 1 Opposition
1956 923,564 23.8 (#2)
58 / 231
 Steady 0 Opposition
1958 700,019 18.2 (#3)
38 / 231
 Decrease 20 Opposition
1960 744,142 17.5 (#2)
40 / 232
 Increase 2 Opposition
1964 720,733 17.0 (#2)
43 / 233
 Increase 3 Opposition
1968 688,456 14.3 (#3)
34 / 233
 Decrease 9 Opposition
1970 806,667 16.2 (#3)
58 / 350
 Increase 24 Opposition
1973 486,028 9.4 (#4)
34 / 350
 Decrease 24 Opposition
1976 601,556 11.1 (#4)
39 / 349
 Increase 5 Coalition (1976–1978)
Minority (1978–1979)
1979 577,063 10.6 (#4)
38 / 349
 Decrease 1 Coalition
1982 327,770 5.9 (#4)
21 / 349
 Decrease 17 Opposition
1985 792,268 14.2 (#3)
51 / 349
 Increase 30 Opposition
1988 655,720 12.2 (#3)
44 / 349
 Decrease 7 Opposition
1991 499,356 9.1 (#3)
33 / 349
 Decrease 11 Coalition
1994 399,556 7.2 (#4)
26 / 349
 Decrease 7 Opposition
1998 248,076 4.7 (#6)
17 / 349
 Decrease 9 Opposition
2002 710,312 13.4 (#3)
48 / 349
 Increase 31 Opposition
2006 418,395 7.5 (#4)
28 / 349
 Decrease 20 Coalition
2010 420,524 7.1 (#4)
24 / 349
 Decrease 4 Coalition
2014 336,977 5.4 (#7)
19 / 349
 Decrease 5 Opposition
2018 355,546 5.5 (#7)
20 / 349
 Increase 1 External support (2018–2021)
Opposition (2021–2022)
2022 297,566 4.61 (#8)
16 / 349
 Decrease 4 Coalition

European Parliament

Election Votes % Seats +/–
1995 129,376 4.8 (#6)
1 / 22
1999 350,339 13.8 (#4)
3 / 22
 Increase 2
2004 247,750 9.9 (#5)
2 / 19
 Decrease 1
2009 430,385 13.6 (#3)
3 / 18
3 / 20
 Increase 1
Steady 0
2014 368,514 9.9 (#4)
2 / 20
 Decrease 1
2019 171,419 4.13 (#8)
1 / 20
 Decrease 1
2024 183,675 4.38 (#8)
1 / 20
 Steady 0

Party leaders

Leader Took office Left office
Gustaf Andersson 1935 28 September 1944
Bertil Ohlin 28 September 1944 1967
Sven Wedén 1967 26 September 1969
Gunnar Helén 1969 7 November 1975
Per Ahlmark 7 November 1975 4 March 1978
Ola Ullsten 4 March 1978 1 October 1983
Bengt Westerberg 1 October 1983 4 February 1995
Maria Leissner 4 February 1995 15 March 1997
Lars Leijonborg 15 March 1997 7 September 2007
Jan Björklund 7 September 2007 28 June 2019
Nyamko Sabuni 28 June 2019 8 April 2022
Johan Pehrson 8 April 2022 Incumbent

Symbols

  • Current logo
    Current logo
  • Transitionary logo after being renamed to the Liberals (2015)
    Transitionary logo after being renamed to the Liberals (2015)
  • Logo of the Liberal People's Party
    Logo of the Liberal People's Party

See also

References

  1. ^ "Olofsgård från Jönköping blir Liberalernas partisekreterare". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 12 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Stort medlemstapp för Liberalerna" [Big drop in membership drop for The Liberals]. Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 14 January 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  3. ^ "2018 Val till riksdagen - Valda" (in Swedish). Election Authority (Sweden). Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  4. ^ "Valresultat 2019" (in Swedish). Election Authority (Sweden). 31 May 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Rådata och statistik". Valmyndigheten (in Swedish). 10 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  6. ISBN 978-1-351-24549-4
    .
  7. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8
    . Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  8. ^ "Liberalerna" [Liberals]. Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish).
  9. ^ Mühlbauer, Peter (2018). "Trump mahnt Zollreziprozität an" (in German). Telepolis. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  10. ^ Hecking, Claus (2018). "Diese Regierungsbildung wird kompliziert" (in German). Der Spiegel. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  11. ^ a b c "The Liberal Party - Folkpartiet". Sveriges Radio. 27 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Crisis, conservatism, and China: the centre-right jockeys for position". The Local. 9 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  13. ISBN 978-1-134-07354-2
    .
  14. ^ a b "Folkpartiet – historia och ideologi". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 18 April 2011.
  15. ^ Hennel, Lena (23 July 2014). "Alliansens ståndaktige soldat". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish).
  16. ^ "Liberalerna vill att kärnkraftsreaktorn Ringhals 1 återstartas". SVT Nyheter. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Nyamko Sabuni ny partiledare för Liberalerna" (in Swedish). The Liberals. 28 June 2019.
  18. ^ "Nyamko Sabuni om samarbetet i höst: "SD kommer att vara en viktig del"". 2 February 2022.
  19. ^ Larsson, Simon (2 May 2021). "Fyra partierna är överens – vill ändra migrationslagen". Expressen. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  20. ^ "L-förslag: Medborgarskap ska kunna återkallas". SVT Nyheter. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Muslimska friskolan får kritik även från politiskt håll". SVT Nyheter. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  22. ^ a b Szumski, Charles (17 October 2022). "Swedish Moderates strike government deal, far-right influence increases". www.euractiv.com.
  23. ^ Johnson, Simon (6 February 2019). "Swedish Liberal leader to step down, casts shadow over govt's stability". Reuters. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  24. ^ "Valresultat 2022". val.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  25. ^ Liberal admits Social Democrat computer hack, The Local, 4 September 2006 Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ Press officer behind Liberals' computer scandal, The Local, 4 September 2006 Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Police to question more Liberal activists, The Local, 5 September 2006 Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ Liberal party secretary resigns, The Local, 5 September 2006 Archived 25 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ Three convicted for people's party's computer infringement, Sveriges Radio, 27 April 2007 Archived 5 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ISBN 978-0-203-40341-9
    .
  31. ISBN 91-7566-530-1
  32. ^ "Liberalernas nya politik: Kämpa för EU-federation". www.europaportalen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  33. ^ "VALU: Väljargrupper". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  34. ^ "Partisympatier maj 2019" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 11 June 2019.
  35. ^ "Valresultat 2022 – för riksdagsvalet, region- och kommunval". valresultat.svt.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  36. ^ "Visualiseringar av Valun för EU-valet 2019". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  37. ^ "SVT:s Vallokalsundersökning Riksdagsvalet 2022" (PDF).
  38. ^ "Liberala ungdomsförbundet" (in Swedish). LUF. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  39. ^ "Romina Pourmokthari" (in Swedish). LUF. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  40. ^ "Liberala Kvinnor" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  41. ^ "Cecilia Elving ny ordförande i Liberala Kvinnor" (in Swedish). Liberala Kvinnor. 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  42. ^ "Våra vänner" (in Swedish). The Liberals. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  43. ^ "CoR Members Page".
  44. ^ Statistiska Centralbyrån Archived 17 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 8 July 2012
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