Moderate Party
Moderate Party Moderata samlingspartiet | ||
|---|---|---|
County councils[4] 339 / 1,597 | ||
| Municipal councils[5] | 2,435 / 12,780 | |
| Website | ||
| moderaterna | ||
The Moderate Party (Swedish: Moderata samlingspartiet [mʊdɛˈrɑ̌ːta ˈsâmːlɪŋspaˌʈiːɛt] (
listen),[6] lit. 'Moderate Coalition Party'; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates (Moderaterna [mʊdɛˈrɑ̌ːtɛɳa] (listen)), is a liberal-conservative[7] political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liberalism.[8] Internationally, it is a full member of the International Democrat Union[9] and the European People's Party.[10]
The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League (Allmänna valmansförbundet listen); 1938–1952) and Right Wing Party (Högerpartiet [ˈhø̂ːɡɛrpaˌʈiːɛt] (listen); 1952–1969).[11]
After holding minor posts in
The current chairman of the party, Ulf Kristersson, was elected at a special party congress on 1 October 2017, following Anna Kinberg Batra's sudden resignation. Kinberg Batra had replaced Reinfeldt, Prime Minister from 2006 to 2014. Under Reinfeldt's leadership, the party moved more towards the centre.[13] Under Kristersson's leadership, the party moved back to the right and opened up to the Sweden Democrats (SD) following the 2018 Swedish general election.[3] Having formed in late 2021 an informal right-wing alliance with SD and former Alliance members, KD and L, with Kristersson as the prime ministerial candidate, the right-wing bloc obtained a narrow win in the 2022 Swedish general election.[14][15]
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2023) ) |
General Electoral League (1904–1938)
The party was founded on 17 October 1904 in a restaurant called Runan in
At first the party was clearly
From the beginning of the 20th century, social democracy and the labour movement rose to replace liberalism as the major political force for radical reforms. The Moderate Party intensified its opposition to socialism during the leadership of Lindman—the importance of continuance and strengthening national business were cornerstones. But at the same time, recent social issues gained significant political attention; by appeasing the working class, the party also hoped to reduce the threat of revolutionary tendencies. During the governments led by Lindman, several reforms for social progress were made, and it was his first government that initiated the public state pension.
In the 1920s, the Swedish right slowly started to move towards a
The 1930s saw the party in conflict over how to relate to the rising threat of
National Organization of the Right (1938–1952)
The party participated in the third cabinet of Per Albin Hansson during the Second World War. It was a grand coalition including all major parties, only excluding the Communist Party and the pro-Nazi Socialist Party, both parties being members of the parliament at this time.
In 1934 the Social Democrats formed a new government, and except for the World War II era, would stay in power until 1976. From having been a ruling party, the General Electoral League turned into a bastion of right-wing opposition, and in 1938 it was renamed the National Organization of the Right (Swedish: Högerns riksorganisation [ˈhøːɡɛɳʂ ˈrɪ̂ksɔrɡanɪsaˌɧuːn] (listen)), a name that would stay until 1952. Outside Sweden the party was typically called the Conservative Party.
After the Second World War, the party gradually lost support and the Liberals rose to become the second party after the Social Democrats.
Conservative Party (1952–1969)
At the beginning of the 1950s, the party re-emerged after being renamed the Rightist Party (
The party had significant success in the elections during the 1950s and became the largest party of the opposition in 1958. But the next decade brought changes to the political climate of Sweden. The
Moderate Party (1969–present)
By 1968, the dominance of the
In 1970, Gösta Bohman was elected leader of the Moderate Party. During his leadership the party continued its gradual movement from nationalist traditionalist conservatism towards internationalist liberal conservatism, calling for Swedish membership in the EEC since the 1960s and in practice adopting most policies affiliated with classical liberalism. It also adopted a much more liberal social outlook, which was seen as a key factor in the foundation of the Christian Democratic Gathering in 1964, a socially conservative party. Bohman proved a successful leader, and helped lead the non-socialist opposition to victory in the 1976 election.
The Moderate Party joined the government under Thorbjörn Fälldin, with Gösta Bohman as Minister of Economy. The non-socialist parties managed to remain in power until 1982 in different constellations, but the election of 1979 again made the Moderate Party become the second party after the Social Democrats, a position it has held since then. Gösta Bohman was in 1981 replaced by Ulf Adelsohn.
In 1986,
The party gained votes in 1994, but the governing coalition lost its majority. While Bildt stayed on as the Moderate Party leader, failing to unite with the
Prior to the
In the
He is the longest-serving non–Social Democrat Prime Minister since Erik Gustaf Boström who left office in 1900.
In the 2014 European elections, the Moderate Party came in third place nationally with 13.6% of the vote, returning 3 MEPs.
In the 2014 general election, the Red-Green coalition outpolled Reinfeldt's incumbent Alliance coalition, prompting its resignation. The Social Democrat Stefan Löfven became Prime Minister on 3 October 2014. The Moderate Party performed reasonably well also in the 2014 election, making Reinfeldt its most successful leader with 3 of their 4 best election results since 1932.[citation needed] Anna Kinberg Batra was elected to succeed Reinfeldt as party leader on 10 January 2015. Ulf Kristersson succeeded Kinberg-Batra on 1 October 2017.
The Moderate Party made its worst election result since 2002 in the 2018 general election.[18] Ulf Kristersson announced that the party would "create a new Swedish Model" at the Moderate Party Congress on 5 April 2019 and also that the party would be phasing out the New Moderates name. The party also presented its new logo, the old M logo which was used between 1972 and 2006 was adopted again.[19] The change in logo was seen by analysts as a way to show that the party breaks with Reinfeldt's policies.[20] Ulf Kristersson was also critical to multiculturalism.[21]
Kristersson held a meeting in December 2019 with Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, and said that he would cooperate with them in parliament. The anti-immigration party had previously been subject to a cordon sanitaire by all other parties, with Kristersson himself ruling out dialogue with them ahead of the 2018 elections. According to Ann-Cathrine Jungar of Södertörn University, this put Sweden in line with several other European countries in which centre-right and radical-right parties cooperate.[3]
In October 2022, the Tidö Agreement was formed, which led to the formation of the Kristersson Cabinet as Sweden's government.[22] On 18 October 2022, Ulf Kristersson became the new Prime Minister of Sweden.[23] Moderates formed a centre-right coalition with the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. The new government will be backed by the biggest right-wing party, Sweden Democrats (SD), meaning tougher immigration policies as a crucial part of a policy deal with the SD.[24] Soon after his appointment, new foreign minister, Tobias Billström of Moderate Party, announced that Sweden will renounce "feminist foreign policy", implemented by the previous left-wing government.[25]
Ideology and political positions
Part of  |
The Moderate Party states that its ideology is a mix of
The party supports free markets and personal freedom and has historically been the essential force for privatisation, deregulation, lowering tax rates, and a reduction of the public-sector growth rate.[26] Other issues emphasized by the party are such as actions against violent crime and sex crime, increasing and promoting the value of working, and quality in the educational system. The party supports same-sex marriage in Sweden and Sweden's membership in the European Union. The Moderate Party considers itself as a "green-right" party.[27]
The party campaigned for changing currency to the euro in the 2003 referendum. As of 2013, the party was still in favor of the euro, but it expressed that the issue of a membership of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union and the eurozone would not be relevant until the member states have met certain strict requirements set up by the party in regard to budget deficits.[28]
After
With the ascension of
The party is in favour of Swedish membership of NATO and supported Sweden's application for membership.[36] The party expressed a wish that a membership is applied for together with Finland which is what happened in May 2022.[37]
Voter base
Statistical changes in voter base
Socio-economic group and gender of voters
|
Percentage of which voting for the Moderates | |||||
| Groups/Gender | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue-collar workers | 7 | 16 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| White-collar workers | 21 | 32 | 34 | 26 | 22 | 21 |
| Businessmen and farmers | 25 | 44 | 38 | 35 | 29 | 25 |
| Male | 16 | 31 | 32 | 25 | 21 | 21 |
| Female | 11 | 23 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 17 |
| Source: | [38] | |||||
Electoral history
Parliament (Riksdag)
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 188,691 | 31.1 (#2) | 65 / 230
|
Opposition | |
| Mar 1914 |
286,250 | 37.7 (#1) | 86 / 230
|
 21
|
Opposition |
| Sep 1914 |
268,631 | 36.7 (#1) | 86 / 230
|
|
Opposition (1914-1917) |
| Minority (1917) | |||||
| 1917 | 182,070 | 24.7 (#3) | 59 / 230
|
 27
|
Opposition |
| 1920 | 183,019 | 27.9 (#2) | 70 / 230
|
11
|
Opposition |
| 1921 | 449,257 | 25.8 (#2) | 62 / 230
|
8
|
Opposition (1921-1923) |
| Minority (1923-1924) | |||||
| 1924 | 461,257 | 26.1 (#2) | 65 / 230
|
3
|
Opposition |
| 1928 | 692,434 | 29.4 (#2) | 73 / 230
|
8
|
Minority (1928-1930) |
| Opposition (1930-1932) | |||||
| 1932 | 576,053 | 23.1 (#2) | 58 / 230
|
15
|
Opposition |
| 1936 | 512,781 | 17.6 (#2) | 44 / 230
|
9
|
Opposition (1936-1939) |
| Coalition (1939-1940) | |||||
| 1940 | 518,346 | 18.0 (#2) | 42 / 230
|
2
|
Coalition |
| 1944 | 488,921 | 15.8 (#2) | 39 / 230
|
3
|
Coalition (1944-1945) |
| Opposition (1945-1948) | |||||
| 1948 | 478,779 | 12.3 (#2) | 23 / 230
|
16
|
Opposition |
| 1952 | 543,825 | 14.4 (#3) | 31 / 230
|
8
|
Opposition |
| 1956 | 663,693 | 17.1 (#3) | 42 / 231
|
11
|
Opposition |
| 1958 | 750,332 | 19.5 (#2) | 45 / 233
|
3
|
Opposition |
| 1960 | 704,365 | 16.6 (#3) | 39 / 233
|
6
|
Opposition |
| 1964 | 582,609 | 13.7 (#4) | 33 / 233
|
6
|
Opposition |
| 1968 | 621,031 | 12.9 (#4) | 32 / 233
|
1
|
Opposition |
| 1970 | 573,812 | 11.5 (#4) | 41 / 350
|
9
|
Opposition |
| 1973 | 737,584 | 14.3 (#3) | 51 / 350
|
10
|
Opposition |
| 1976 | 847,672 | 15.6 (#3) | 55 / 349
|
4
|
Coalition (1976-1978) |
| Opposition (1978-1979) | |||||
| 1979 | 1,108,406 | 20.3 (#2) | 73 / 349
|
18
|
Coalition |
| 1982 | 1,313,337 | 23.6 (#2) | 86 / 349
|
13
|
Opposition |
| 1985 | 1,187,335 | 21.3 (#2) | 76 / 349
|
10
|
Opposition |
| 1988 | 983,226 | 18.3 (#2) | 66 / 349
|
10
|
Opposition |
| 1991 | 1,199,394 | 21.9 (#2) | 80 / 349
|
14
|
Coalition |
| 1994 | 1,243,253 | 22.4 (#2) | 80 / 349
|
0
|
Opposition |
| 1998 | 1,204,926 | 22.9 (#2) | 82 / 349
|
2
|
Opposition |
| 2002 | 791,660 | 15.1 (#2) | 55 / 349
|
27
|
Opposition |
| 2006 | 1,456,014 | 26.2 (#2) | 97 / 349
|
42
|
Coalition |
| 2010 | 1,791,766 | 30.1 (#2) | 107 / 349
|
10
|
Coalition |
| 2014 | 1,403,630 | 23.3 (#2) | 84 / 349
|
23
|
Opposition |
| 2018 | 1,284,698 | 19.8 (#2) | 70 / 349
|
14
|
Opposition |
| 2022 | 1,237,428 | 19.1 (#3) | 68 / 349
|
2
|
Coalition |
European Parliament
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 621,568 | 23.2 (#2) | 5 / 22
|
|
| 1999 | 524,755 | 20.7 (#2) | 5 / 22
|
0
|
| 2004 | 458,398 | 18.3 (#2) | 4 / 19
|
1
|
| 2009 | 596,710 | 18.8 (#2) | 4 / 18 4 / 20
|
0 0
|
| 2014 | 507,488 | 13.7 (#3) | 3 / 20
|
1
|
| 2019 | 698,770 | 16.8 (#2) | 4 / 20
|
1
|
Organization
The party is organised on national, county and municipal level. Currently the party has around 600 local party associations and 26 county or city associations
In December 2009, the party's reported membership was 55,612 people, the second largest membership after the Social Democrats.[41]
Affiliated organizations
The Moderate Party has the following affiliated groups and organizations:
- Moderate Youth League (Moderata ungdomsförbundet, MUF), organizes young members
- Moderate Seniors (Moderata seniorer [mʊdɛˈrɑ̌ːta sɛnɪˈǒːrɛr] (
listen)), organizes senior members - Moderate Women (Moderatkvinnorna), organizes female members
- Open Moderates (Öppna moderater Swedish pronunciation: [ˈœ̂pːna mʊdɛˈrɑ̌ːtɛr]), organizes LGBT members
Leaders
Chairpersons
- Gustaf Fredrik Östberg, 1904–1905[42]
- Axel G. Svedelius, 1905–1906[42]
- Hugo Tamm, 1907[42]
- Gustaf Fredrik Östberg, 1908–1912[42]
- Arvid Lindman, 1912–1935[42]
- Gösta Bagge, 1935–1944[42]
- Fritiof Domö, 1944–1950[42]
- Jarl Hjalmarson, 1950–1961[42]
- Gunnar Heckscher, 1961–1965[42]
- Yngve Holmberg, 1965–1970[42]
- Gösta Bohman, 1970–1981[42]
- Ulf Adelsohn, 1981–1986[42]
- Carl Bildt, 1986–1999[42]
- Bo Lundgren, 1999–2003[42]
- Fredrik Reinfeldt, 2003–2015[42]
- Anna Kinberg Batra, 2015–2017[42]
- Ulf Kristersson, 2017–present[42]
First deputy party chairpersons (since 1935)
- Bernhard Johansson, 1935
- Martin Skoglund, 1935–1956
- Leif Cassel, 1956–1965
- Gösta Bohman, 1965–1970
- Staffan Burenstam Linder, 1970–1981
- Lars Tobisson, 1981–1999
- Chris Heister, 1999–2003
- Gunilla Carlsson, 2003–2015
- Peter Danielsson, 2015–2019
- Elisabeth Svantesson, 2019–present
Second deputy party chairpersons (since 1935)
- Karl Magnusson, 1935
- Fritiof Domö, 1935–1944
- Jarl Hjalmarson, 1944–1950
- Knut Ewerlöf, 1950–1958
- Gunnar Heckscher, 1958–1961
- Rolf Eliasson, 1961–1965
- Yngve Nilsson, 1965–1970
- Eric Krönmark, 1970–1981
- Ella Tengbom-Velander, 1981–1986
- Ingegerd Troedsson, 1986–1993
- Gun Hellsvik, 1993–1999
- Gunilla Carlsson, 1999–2003
- Kristina Axén Olin, 2003–2009
- Beatrice Ask, 2009–2015
- Elisabeth Svantesson, 2015–2019
- Anna Tenje, 2019–present
Party secretaries (since 1949)
- Gunnar Svärd, 1949–1961
- Yngve Holmberg, 1961–1965
- Sam Nilsson, 1965–1969
- Bertil af Ugglas, 1969–1974
- Lars Tobisson, 1974–1981
- Georg Danell, 1981–1986
- Per Unckel, 1986–1991
- Gunnar Hökmark, 1991–1999
- Johnny Magnusson, 1999–2003
- Sven Otto Littorin, 2003–2006
- Per Schlingmann, 2006–2010
- Sofia Arkelsten, 2010–2012
- Kent Persson, 2012–2015
- Tomas Tobé, 2015–2017
- Anders Edholm, 2017
- Gunnar Strömmer, 2017–2022[43]
- Karin Enström, 2022–present[44]
National ombudsmen (1909–1965)
- Gustaf Gustafsson, 1909–1913
- Karl Hammarberg, 1913–1915
- Jonas Folcker, 1915–1920
- Lennart Kolmodin, 1920–1949
- Nils Hellström, 1949–1965
Prime Ministers
- Christian Lundeberg, 1905[42]
- Arvid Lindman, 1906–1911[42]
- Carl Swartz, 1917[42]
- Ernst Trygger, 1923–1924[42]
- Arvid Lindman, 1928–1930[42]
- Carl Bildt, 1991–1994[42]
- Fredrik Reinfeldt, 2006–2014[42]
- Ulf Kristersson, 2022–present[45]
See also
- Alliance for Sweden
- Elections in Sweden
- Government of Sweden
- Moderate conservatism
- Moderate Women's League of Sweden
- Parliament of Sweden
- Politics of Sweden
- Prime Minister of Sweden
Notes
- ^ Since 2019
References
- ^ "Tusentals medlemmar lämnade S i fjol – bara SD ökade" [Thousands of members leave S last year – only SD increases]. Nyheter Idag (in Swedish). 30 April 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ISBN 9783642413445.. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- "Swedish election: Vote begins amid anti-immigration surge". BBC News. 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- Weekly Graphs. "Elections in Sweden – 9th of September". V-Dem. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- Susanne Wixe (9 September 2018). "This is what's happened in Sweden last night". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- Ulla Engberg (5 June 2018). "Sweden Democrats' leader pleased with the latest poll results". Gruppsida. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
- Krishnadev Calamur (8 September 2018). "Why Sweden's Far Right Is on the Rise". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
- Susanne Wixe (9 September 2018). "This is what's happened in Sweden last night". Aftonbladet
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
- Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018). "Sweden". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- Peter Viggo Jakobsen (2006). Nordic Approaches to Peace Operations: A New Model in the Making?. Taylor & Francis. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-415-38360-8.
- Anja Timm (2008). "Practices of Transparency: exporting Swedish business culture to the Baltic states". In Christina Garsten; Monica Lindh De Montoya (eds.). Transparency in a New Global Order: Unveiling Organizational Visions. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-84844-135-4.
- Björn Wittrock (2012). "The Making of Sweden". In Johann Pall Arnason; Bjorn Wittrock (eds.). Nordic Paths to Modernity. Berghahn Books. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-85745-270-2.
- Hariz Halilovich (2013). Places of Pain: Forced Displacement, Popular Memory and Trans-local Identities in Bosnian War-torn Communities. Berghahn Books. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-85745-777-6.
External links
- Official website
- The Moderate Party at the Parliament of Sweden's website
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