The Christian Democrats is a political

Politics of Sweden

Politics of Sweden takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the government, led by the Prime Minister of Sweden. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, elected within a multi-party...

 party in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. The party was founded in 1964 but did not enter parliament until 1985 in an electoral cooperation with the Centre Party

Centre Party (Sweden)

The Centre Party is a centrist political party in Sweden. The party maintains close ties to rural Sweden and describes itself as "a green social liberal party". The ideology is sometimes called agrarian, but in a European context, the Centre Party can perhaps best be characterized as social...

 and on the Christian Democrats' own accord in 1991. The leader since April 3, 2004 is Göran Hägglund

Göran Hägglund

Bo Göran Hägglund is a Swedish politician and the current leader of the Christian Democrats of Sweden . He was elected Party Leader on 3 April 2004, succeeding Alf Svensson...

. He succeeded Alf Svensson

Alf Svensson

Alf Robert Olof Svensson is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament from 2009. Alf was the leader of the Christian Democrats in Sweden between 1973 and 3 April 2004. He was a Member of Parliament from 1985 to 1988 and again from 1991 until his election to the European Parliament...

, who had been the party's leader since 1973. The four most important issues for the party are:

• Improving the care of the elderly
• Freedom of choice for families with children in selecting their childcare
• Decreasing regulations on companies
• Lowering taxes to promote growth and combat unemployment

The party name was for a long time abbreviated KDS until 1996, when the new abbreviation became KD as the name changed from the Christian Democratic Unity to the Christian Democrats.
The party had its roots in a movement against the Swedish government's decision in 1963 to remove religious education from the elementary school syllabus.