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The Liberals Liberalerna | |
|---|---|
_logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | L |
| Chairperson | Simona Mohamsson[1] |
| Party secretary | Fredrik Brange |
| Parliamentary group leader | Lina Nordquist |
| Founded | 5 August 1934; 91 years ago (1934-08-05) |
| Merger of | Free-minded National Association Liberal Party of Sweden |
| Headquarters | Riksgatan 2,Stockholm |
| Student wing | Liberala studenter [sv] |
| Youth wing | Liberal Youth of Sweden |
| Women's wing | Liberala kvinnor |
| Membership(2023) |  9,799[2] |
| Ideology | Liberalism Pro-Europeanism Factions:[3] Conservative liberalism Social Liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Nordic affiliation | Centre Group |
| Colours |
|
| Riksdag | 16 / 349 |
| European Parliament | 1 / 21 |
| County councils[4] | 57 / 1,720 |
| Municipal councils[4] | 509 / 12,614 |
| Website | |
| liberalerna.se | |
The Liberals (Swedish:Liberalerna,L), formerly known as theLiberal People's Party (Swedish:Folkpartiet liberalerna) until 22 November 2015, is aconservative liberal[5][6] andsocial liberal[7]political party in Sweden. The Liberals ideologically have shown a broad variety of liberal tendencies. Currently they are seen as followingeconomic liberalism[8][9] and have been described as beingcentre-right.[10][11][12] The party is a member of theLiberal International andRenew 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 ofLars Leijonborg andJan Björklund in the 2000s positioned itself more towards the right.[10][13][14] It was a part of theAlliance centre-right coalition government led byPrime MinisterFredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014. The party's policies include action toward a freemarket economy and pushing for Sweden to join theEurozone, as well as investing innuclear power;[15] it also focuses ongender equality, theschool system andquality education.[10][13] Many within the party have also argued in favour ofEuropean federalism.[16]
In February 2019, following the conclusion ofgovernment negotiations, Jan Björklund announced his intention to step down from the leadership position after 11 years at the helm of the Liberals. He was succeeded byNyamko Sabuni in June 2019.[17] After the2021 Swedish government crisis, the party withdrew its support for Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, and is now part of a right-wing government together with theModerate Party and theChristian Democrats, withsupport from theSweden Democrats, withUlf Kristersson as their Prime Minister candidate. The party ultimately agreed to join theTidö Agreement and form a coalition government with theChristian Democrats and theModerate Party, which rely on support from theSweden Democrats.[18]
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Historically the party's official ideology wassocial liberalism.[27] Since 2018 the party has been defined as economically liberal and conservative-liberal.[8][9][5]
While initially allied with theSwedish 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 fornationalization 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 (calledthe non-socialists or "de borgerliga", approximatelythe 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 theUnited States and theUnited Kingdom, the party was a strong opponent ofcommunism andNazism during the 20th century. While it was part of and supported the Swedish coalition government and its position ofneutrality during World War II, the party advocated an active stance against theSoviet Union during theCold War. The party (alongsideModeraterna) actively supported the struggle of theBaltic peoples against the Soviet regime, whereas Social Democrats were wary of irritating the Soviets.[28] 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 theVietnam 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 joiningNATO.[citation needed]
On the European level, the Liberal People's Party was strongly supportive of the emergence of theEuropean Union and campaigned for Swedish entry into it (which happened in 1995). It also campaigned for joining theEconomic and Monetary Union of the European Union, but this was voted down by the Swedes in areferendum in 2003. The party has aimed to come across as the most "pro-European" party, trying to break what it refers to as the country's "isolationist" mindset. It is supportive ofEU enlargement, including lettingTurkey join on condition of democratic reforms, and also advocates further integrative measures, with some members, including the youth organization, openly calling for a singlefederal European state.[29]
In 2003, the Liberal People's Party supported the invasion ofIraq, but stopped short of demanding Swedish participation in the US-led "coalition of the willing". In recent years, and especially under the leadership ofJan Björklund, the party has moved markedly towardsconservative liberalism in its social attitudes, taking tougher stands on areas such as crime and punishment, law and order, school and discipline as well as strengthening its abolitionist policies on drugs. In 2008, the Liberal People's Party's support for a controversiallegislative change regulating theNational Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) in particular upset its youth organisation.[citation needed]
In 2021 the party took a morerestrictive migration policy, easierwithdrawal of citizenship for immigrants, and criticisedMuslim schools.[30][31][32]
In an interview withDagens Nyheter in February 2022, Sabuni stated that the Sweden Democrats will "play an important role in an eventual right-wing government" and that she would not be hesitant to work and collaborate with them, stating that there was a possibility of Liberals supporting a Moderate-Christian Democrats-Sweden Democrats government, even if the Liberals were not included in the government while ruling out direct collaboration with the Sweden Democrats.[33]
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| 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: | [34] | |||||
Historically the party had a strong base in the 'free churches' (Protestant congregations not part of the state church that turned into powerfulgrassroots 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 overliberal 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.)
The party enjoys higher support among people above the age of 65, tending to be higher among people who have completed higher education. Its support is lowest among people with a pre-gymnasial education.[35] The party's voters are predominantly urban with more than 30% of L-voters residing inMetropolitan Stockholm. The party's support is especially strong in affluent municipalities such asDanderyd,Lidingö andLomma.[36] According toSveriges Television'sexit poll for the2019 European parliament election, voters of the Liberals were the most likely to approve of Sweden's EU membership.[37] In September 2022, 84% of L-voters supported Sweden's bid to joinNATO.[38]
| Election[39] | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Gustaf Andersson | 376,161 | 12.9 (#4) | 27 / 230 |  3 | Opposition |
| 1940 | 344,113 | 12.0 (#3) | 23 / 230 | 4 | Coalition | |
| 1944 | 398,293 | 12.9 (#4) | 26 / 230 | 3 | Coalition(1944–1945) | |
| Opposition(1945–1948) | ||||||
| 1948 | Bertil Ohlin | 882,437 | 22.7 (#2) | 57 / 230 | 31 | Opposition |
| 1952 | 924,819 | 24.4 (#2) | 58 / 230 | 1 | Opposition | |
| 1956 | 923,564 | 23.8 (#2) | 58 / 231 |  | Opposition | |
| 1958 | 700,019 | 18.2 (#3) | 38 / 231 | 20 | Opposition | |
| 1960 | 744,142 | 17.5 (#2) | 40 / 232 | 2 | Opposition | |
| 1964 | 720,733 | 17.0 (#2) | 43 / 233 | 3 | Opposition | |
| 1968 | Sven Wedén | 688,456 | 14.3 (#3) | 34 / 233 | 9 | Opposition |
| 1970 | Gunnar Helén | 806,667 | 16.2 (#3) | 58 / 350 | 24 | Opposition |
| 1973 | 486,028 | 9.4 (#4) | 34 / 350 | 24 | Opposition | |
| 1976 | Per Ahlmark | 601,556 | 11.1 (#4) | 39 / 349 | 5 | Coalition(1976–1978) |
| Minority(1978–1979) | ||||||
| 1979 | Ola Ullsten | 577,063 | 10.6 (#4) | 38 / 349 | 1 | Coalition |
| 1982 | 327,770 | 5.9 (#4) | 21 / 349 | 17 | Opposition | |
| 1985 | Bengt Westerberg | 792,268 | 14.2 (#3) | 51 / 349 | 30 | Opposition |
| 1988 | 655,720 | 12.2 (#3) | 44 / 349 | 7 | Opposition | |
| 1991 | 499,356 | 9.1 (#3) | 33 / 349 | 11 | Coalition | |
| 1994 | 399,556 | 7.2 (#4) | 26 / 349 | 7 | Opposition | |
| 1998 | Lars Leijonborg | 248,076 | 4.7 (#6) | 17 / 349 | 9 | Opposition |
| 2002 | 710,312 | 13.4 (#3) | 48 / 349 | 31 | Opposition | |
| 2006 | 418,395 | 7.5 (#4) | 28 / 349 | 20 | Coalition | |
| 2010 | Jan Björklund | 420,524 | 7.1 (#4) | 24 / 349 | 4 | Coalition |
| 2014 | 336,977 | 5.4 (#7) | 19 / 349 | 5 | Opposition | |
| 2018 | 355,546 | 5.5 (#7) | 20 / 349 | 1 | External support(2018–2021) | |
| Opposition(2021–2022) | ||||||
| 2022 | Johan Pehrson | 297,566 | 4.6 (#8) | 16 / 349 | 4 | Coalition |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Hadar Cars | 129,376 | 4.82 (#6) | 1 / 22 | New | ELDR |
| 1999 | Marit Paulsen | 350,339 | 13.85 (#4) | 3 / 22 | 2 | |
| 2004 | Cecilia Malmström | 247,750 | 9.86 (#5) | 2 / 19 | 1 | ALDE |
| 2009 | Marit Paulsen | 430,385 | 13.58 (#3) | 3 / 18 3 / 20 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 368,514 | 9.91 (#4) | 2 / 20 | 1 | ||
| 2019 | Karin Karlsbro | 171,419 | 4.13 (#8) | 1 / 20 | 1 | RE |
| 2024 | 183,675 | 4.38 (#8) | 1 / 20 | |
| 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 | 24 June 2025 |
| Simona Mohamsson[40] | 24 June 2025 | Incumbent |
The party has a youth organization calledLiberal Youth of Sweden (Liberala ungdomsförbundet, LUF), which has its own platform and maintains a separate organisation from the party.[41]Since 2024 its chairperson has been Anton Holmlund.[42]
There is also a women's organization calledLiberal Women[43] (Liberala Kvinnor, LK, chairperson Cecilia Elving[44]) and immigrants' organization called Liberal Mångfald, LM, (Liberal Multicultural Association, chairpersonAnna Steele Karlström). Additionally, party members maintain a number of smallad hoc "networks" addressing specific issues.[45]
The Liberals is a member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe andLiberal International. It is also part of Liberal organisations on theNordic andBaltic levels. The party'sMEP sits withRenew Europe parliamentary group (previouslyALDE).
In theEuropean Committee of the Regions, the Liberals sit in theRenew Europe CoR group with one full member for the 2025-2030 mandate.[46]
{{cite web}}:External link in|website={{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)| Riksdag (349 seats) |
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