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The Sweden Democrats are one of the few parties in Europe with a clear conservative and nationalist stance that has been able to influence government policy. Since the 2022 election, the party has been the largest party in the center-right coalition that has governed Sweden, although without sitting in the government itself.
Now the election campaign is approaching and then the election in September. The Sweden Democrats’ party leader Jimmie Åkesson has been clear that the party will not be part of a basis for a government that it itself is not in. Either you are in the government, or you go into opposition.
What is not discussed as much is whether the fact that you have now been involved in and taken responsibility for Sweden for almost four years should change how the party acts politically and communicatively.
The party has increased its voter share in every election to the Riksdag in which it has stood. And in the most recent election in 2022, it received just over 20 percent of the vote. Now it is slightly above 20 percent in opinion polls, while the three classic right-wing and center parties in the government have backed down.
Being part of a four-party coalition and governing a country has been something completely new for both the party and its voters. Now the party has the chance to change Sweden.
Many of the party’s voters have been frustrated that the legislative process is moving so slowly in Sweden. Now, in the last year of its mandate, the government is pushing through a series of reforms that it has spent three years preparing.
Sweden Democrats voters have also learned that a party that governs in a coalition cannot get everything it wants. Compromises have been made that have been painful for impatient voters who may have hoped for bigger and faster results.
There, both the party and its voters undergo a maturation process. Things change slowly in a democracy, and politicians usually need at least two terms in office to be able to leave a lasting impression.
But there is another side too.
Leading Sweden Democrats have often said that the party has the ambition to become Sweden’s largest party. The role model here is the Swedish Social Democrats, who governed and shaped Sweden for most of the 20th century. But then the party must also act as a responsible party that can handle complexity and make decisions that are not always in line with the wishes of the most hardline party sympathizers.
It is probably a fine balancing act. The party must broaden and create trust among more voters while not losing its soul and its old voters. To some extent, then, a new rhetoric must be found around the still sensitive issue of immigration.
Right now, something called “teenage expulsions” is being discussed in Sweden. This means that young people who have come to Sweden with their parents after they have been granted a residence permit for work themselves lose their residence permit when they turn 18 and thus become adults. Here, the left-wing opposition has now said that this is unreasonable. The legislation is wrong. 18-year-olds cannot be forced to leave their families to return to a home country where they may not have any contacts at all.
Many Sweden Democrats sympathizers see no problem with this. Sweden must reduce immigration and one way is to demand that adults have a good reason to be allowed to stay in Sweden.
Interestingly, party leader Jimmie Åkesson has said he wants to discuss the issue because he too believes the law is wrong. It is more important to deport criminals than for 18-year-olds who may have grown up in Sweden to leave the country.
This is a good example of how a party that is growing and wants to take responsibility must learn to compromise with a complex reality. It is also a good example of how a party that has the ambition to become a broad social institution must make choices that are not always appreciated by its original sympathizers.
A larger and more responsible party must be able to compromise. And it must be able to create sympathy for an orderly migration policy. Otherwise, the Sweden Democrats will not have the influence they strive for.