Swedish general election, 2006
Encyclopedia
A general election was held in Sweden
on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Swedish parliament
. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 "fixed seats" in 29 constituencies and 39 members at a national level for what are called "adjustment seats", used to ensure that parties have representation in the Riksdag proportional to their vote. The electoral system used was semi-open list
proportional representation
using the Sainte-Laguë method
of allocating seats. Elections for County
and Municipal
councils were also held on the same day.
of Göran Persson
's Social Democratic Party
attempted, and failed, to gain enough seats to form a majority government
, to continue in minority or to govern in a red-green
coalition government
. His party had been in power since the 1994 election, and Persson has been Prime Minister
since 1996. The Social Democrats before the election had an agreement with the Left Party
and the Green Party
that gave them an influence on government policy in exchange for their support. However, both the Left Party and the Green Party insisted that any red-green government after the election would've had to include them in a coalition.
The four centre-right
parties – The Moderate Party (m), The Liberal People's Party (fp), The Christian Democrats (kd), and The Centre Party (c) – united in Alliance for Sweden
succeeded to gain enough seats to form a coalition government
. The four parties (formerly in opposition) had presented a joint election manifesto (although c, fp, and kd still had individual manifestos). Their candidate for Prime Minister was the Moderate Party
leader, and current Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt
.
for the 2006 election began early, as the opposition decided to present itself as a viable alternative government by forming an alliance: Alliance for Sweden. This alliance was negotiated at a meeting
held in the village
of Högfors, home to the chairman of the Centre Party, Maud Olofsson. The meeting ended on 31 August 2004 with the presentation of a joint declaration outlining the principles under which the four parties intended to run in the election. A year later a similar meeting was held at Bankeryd, home of Göran Hägglund, leader of the Christian Democrats. See Alliance for Sweden
for further information.
The Alliance enjoyed a leading position over the red-green parties according to most polls for over a year. However, the gap between the two blocs (s, v, and mp are assumed to work together) began to close rapidly in January 2006, and the red-green parties took the lead in May 2006; indeed they were ahead of the Alliance in every poll conductued in May and June. However there was a late shift in opinion back to the Alliance during the summer – in mid-August all polls showed the Alliance leading the red-green parties comfortably.
Unemployment
was a major issue in the campaign, specifically the social democratic
government's perceived failure to reduce unemployment despite the good performance of the Swedish economy
(when compared with that of the rest of Europe
). The opposition also argued that "real" unemployment is much higher than the official figure of 4.8% (as of May 2006). They quote a figure of 1,037,000 (or 17.9% of the labour force in January 2006) for those who are "outside the labour market because they do not have a job or are studying". If those who are "wholly or partially outside the labour market" are included then the figure rises to 1,700,000. This gloomy view of the unemployment situation was raised by Jan Edling, a former economist for the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
(LO). However, compared to other OECD countries, Sweden has a low "broad unemployment", as pointed out by the Green Party's Peter Eriksson in the debate.
Alliance for Sweden proposes to address the problem by cutting income tax
for the lowest paid (by increasing the tax-free allowance), cutting the payroll tax
(and abolishing it for parts of the service sector), and making wages paid for household work tax-deductible
. Critics of the proposed tax cuts say that, because they are funded by reducing unemployment benefit
and sick pay, they will attack the most needy in society rather than helping them as Alliance for Sweden claims.
In addition, the Centre Party has proposed a special youth contract
for those under 26, allowing them to be sacked
by their employer up to two years into their job
. This controversial proposal (not adopted by the Alliance as a whole) is intended to increase youth employment by making taking on new employees less risky
for the employer, but it has been criticised by the red-green
parties as reducing job security
for the young. A similar contract introduced by the French government
(the Contrat première embauche) caused angry demonstrations
and riots in France
. In a debate article in Göteborgs-Posten
on 21 March 2006 Wanja Lundby-Wedin
, Chairperson of LO, wrote:
Olofsson replied two days later in the same newspaper:
A survey carried out by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
(Svenskt Näringsliv) indicates that 41% of Swedish companies believe that such a contract would increase their willingness to hire young people "to a great extent" and that 51% believe that it would increase it "to a certain extent". 7% of those surveyed said that they did not think that they would be more willing to hire.
reported a computer break-in into the Social Democrats' internal network to the police. It has been reported that members of the Liberal People's Party
had copied secret information not yet officially released to counter-attack Social Democratic political propositions on at least two occasions. On 5 September the Party Secretary, Johan Jakobsson
, voluntarily chose to resign. Leading members of the party and its youth organization are under police investigation suspected for criminal activity.
TEMO has a summary of all polls conducted since the election in 2002, and is therefore cited as the reference for each poll.
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm (latest sample size 1248)
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm (latest sample size 1002)
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm (latest sample size 1000)
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm
.
Three hours after the polls closed, the result was clear enough for Moderate Party
leader Fredrik Reinfeldt
to declare himself the victor and for Göran Persson
to announce his resignation as Prime Minister
and as leader of the Social Democratic Party
. The four centre-right
parties of Alliance for Sweden
formed, as expected, a government with Fredrik Reinfeldt as Prime Minister. The Speaker had asked Reinfeldt to begin this formation on 19 September but, as is usual, requested the Cabinet of Göran Persson
to stay on as a caretaker government
until the Riksdag formally elected a new prime minister. The newly elected Riksdag
convened on 2 October and the government was presented on 6 October.
The election result is historic in being the worst result for the Social Democrats ever in a general election with universal suffrage
(introduced in 1921) and the best result for the Moderates since 1928.
Minor parties, that are not represented in the Riksdag, got a total of 5.7% of the votes, which was an increase of 2.6 percentage point
s, compared to the 2002 election
. Behind this increase lay a great success for the Sweden Democrats
, gaining 2.9% (+1.5 percentage points) and thus surpassing the limit (2.5%) for gaining governmental financial support for the next four years. Two new parties, Feminist Initiative
(0.7%) and the Pirate Party (0.6%), also contributed to the increase.
Of the 349 elected Riksdag members, 164 (or 47%) are women.
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....
on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Swedish parliament
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 "fixed seats" in 29 constituencies and 39 members at a national level for what are called "adjustment seats", used to ensure that parties have representation in the Riksdag proportional to their vote. The electoral system used was semi-open list
Open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
using the Sainte-Laguë method
Sainte-Laguë method
The Sainte-Laguë method is one way of allocating seats approximately proportional to the number of votes of a party to a party list used in many voting systems. It is named after the French mathematician André Sainte-Laguë. The Sainte-Laguë method is quite similar to the D'Hondt method, but uses...
of allocating seats. Elections for County
County Councils of Sweden
A county council, or landsting, is an elected assembly of a county in Sweden. A county council is a political entity, elected by the county electorate and typically its main responsibilities lie within the public health care system. In each county there is also a county administrative board which...
and Municipal
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...
councils were also held on the same day.
The contenders for government
The minority governmentMinority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
of Göran Persson
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...
's Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
attempted, and failed, to gain enough seats to form a majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
, to continue in minority or to govern in a red-green
Red-green alliance
In politics, a red-green alliance is an alliance of "red" social-democratic or democratic socialist parties with "green" environmentalist parties. The alliance is often based on common left political views, especially a shared distrust of corporate or capitalist institutions...
coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. His party had been in power since the 1994 election, and Persson has been Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
since 1996. The Social Democrats before the election had an agreement with the Left Party
Left Party (Sweden)
The Left Party is a socialist and feminist political party in Sweden, from 1967 to 1990 known as the Left Party – The Communists .On welfare issues, the party opposes privatizations...
and the Green Party
Green Party (Sweden)
-External links:**...
that gave them an influence on government policy in exchange for their support. However, both the Left Party and the Green Party insisted that any red-green government after the election would've had to include them in a coalition.
The four centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
parties – The Moderate Party (m), The Liberal People's Party (fp), The Christian Democrats (kd), and The Centre Party (c) – united in Alliance for Sweden
Alliance for Sweden
The Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
succeeded to gain enough seats to form a coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
. The four parties (formerly in opposition) had presented a joint election manifesto (although c, fp, and kd still had individual manifestos). Their candidate for Prime Minister was the Moderate Party
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament...
leader, and current Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
.
The election campaign
The campaigningPolitical campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
for the 2006 election began early, as the opposition decided to present itself as a viable alternative government by forming an alliance: Alliance for Sweden. This alliance was negotiated at a meeting
Meeting
In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....
held in the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Högfors, home to the chairman of the Centre Party, Maud Olofsson. The meeting ended on 31 August 2004 with the presentation of a joint declaration outlining the principles under which the four parties intended to run in the election. A year later a similar meeting was held at Bankeryd, home of Göran Hägglund, leader of the Christian Democrats. See Alliance for Sweden
Alliance for Sweden
The Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
for further information.
The Alliance enjoyed a leading position over the red-green parties according to most polls for over a year. However, the gap between the two blocs (s, v, and mp are assumed to work together) began to close rapidly in January 2006, and the red-green parties took the lead in May 2006; indeed they were ahead of the Alliance in every poll conductued in May and June. However there was a late shift in opinion back to the Alliance during the summer – in mid-August all polls showed the Alliance leading the red-green parties comfortably.
Unemployment
- See also: Economy of SwedenEconomy of SwedenThe economy of Sweden is a developed diverse economy, aided by timber, hydropower and iron ore. These constitute the resource base of an economy oriented toward foreign trade...
Unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
was a major issue in the campaign, specifically the social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
government's perceived failure to reduce unemployment despite the good performance of the Swedish economy
Economy of Sweden
The economy of Sweden is a developed diverse economy, aided by timber, hydropower and iron ore. These constitute the resource base of an economy oriented toward foreign trade...
(when compared with that of the rest of Europe
Economy of Europe
The economy of Europe comprises more than 731 million people in 48 different states. Like other continents, the wealth of Europe's states varies, although the poorest are well above the poorest states of other continents in terms of GDP and living standards. The difference in wealth across...
). The opposition also argued that "real" unemployment is much higher than the official figure of 4.8% (as of May 2006). They quote a figure of 1,037,000 (or 17.9% of the labour force in January 2006) for those who are "outside the labour market because they do not have a job or are studying". If those who are "wholly or partially outside the labour market" are included then the figure rises to 1,700,000. This gloomy view of the unemployment situation was raised by Jan Edling, a former economist for the Swedish Trade Union Confederation
Swedish Trade Union Confederation
The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...
(LO). However, compared to other OECD countries, Sweden has a low "broad unemployment", as pointed out by the Green Party's Peter Eriksson in the debate.
Alliance for Sweden proposes to address the problem by cutting income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
for the lowest paid (by increasing the tax-free allowance), cutting the payroll tax
Payroll tax
Payroll tax generally refers to two different kinds of similar taxes. The first kind is a tax that employers are required to withhold from employees' wages, also known as withholding tax, pay-as-you-earn tax , or pay-as-you-go tax...
(and abolishing it for parts of the service sector), and making wages paid for household work tax-deductible
Tax deduction
Income tax systems generally allow a tax deduction, i.e., a reduction of the income subject to tax, for various items, especially expenses incurred to produce income. Often these deductions are subject to limitations or conditions...
. Critics of the proposed tax cuts say that, because they are funded by reducing unemployment benefit
Unemployment benefit
Unemployment benefits are payments made by the state or other authorized bodies to unemployed people. Benefits may be based on a compulsory para-governmental insurance system...
and sick pay, they will attack the most needy in society rather than helping them as Alliance for Sweden claims.
In addition, the Centre Party has proposed a special youth contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
for those under 26, allowing them to be sacked
Termination of employment
-Involuntary termination:Involuntary termination is the employee's departure at the hands of the employer. There are two basic types of involuntary termination, known often as being "fired" and "laid off." To be fired, as opposed to being laid off, is generally thought of to be the employee's...
by their employer up to two years into their job
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
. This controversial proposal (not adopted by the Alliance as a whole) is intended to increase youth employment by making taking on new employees less risky
Financial risk
Financial risk an umbrella term for multiple types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Risk is a term often used to imply downside risk, meaning the uncertainty of a return and the potential for financial loss...
for the employer, but it has been criticised by the red-green
Red-green alliance
In politics, a red-green alliance is an alliance of "red" social-democratic or democratic socialist parties with "green" environmentalist parties. The alliance is often based on common left political views, especially a shared distrust of corporate or capitalist institutions...
parties as reducing job security
Job security
Job security is the probability that an individual will keep his or her job; a job with a high level of job security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of becoming unemployed.-Factors affecting job security:...
for the young. A similar contract introduced by the French government
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
(the Contrat première embauche) caused angry demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
and riots in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In a debate article in Göteborgs-Posten
Göteborgs-Posten
Göteborgs-Posten is a major daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Gothenburg, with containing coverage of local, regional, national and international issues. It is chiefly distributed in western Götaland. It has the second largest national circulation, after Dagens Nyheter and before...
on 21 March 2006 Wanja Lundby-Wedin
Wanja Lundby-Wedin
Wanja Elisabeth Lundby-Wedin has been the President of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation since 2000...
, Chairperson of LO, wrote:
"[Maud Olofsson's] new proposal to abolish job security for the young will not result in more jobs. It will only lead to increased insecurity and an even larger exclusion... More than half of youths under 25 who work already have an insecure job; a time-limited job of some sort. This is most usual among our young female members. The most insecure jobs, 'need-employment' or the so-called 'phone and run locumLocumLocum, short for the Latin phrase locum tenens , is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another. For example, a locum doctor is a doctor who works in the place of the regular doctor when that doctor is absent, or when a hospital/practice is short-staffed...
' is entirely on the employer's terms. Every morning many people sit and wait for their employer to ring. Am I needed today or not?".
Olofsson replied two days later in the same newspaper:
"What LOs Chairperson has not understood is that those youths who already have a job are not covered by our proposal. It does however give a new opportunity for the 146,000 youths who are wholly or partially living in the exclusion the Social Democrats have created... One of the main reasons why companies don't take on new staff is that the risk is too large. If the gamble doesn't pay off then the costs are too great. By lowering the threshold for job creation we are convinced that many youths will be able to take their first steps onto a labour market that they today have never been able to set foot on. We are equally convinced that the great majority of these youths will show their employers that they were right to dare to employ them".
A survey carried out by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is a major interest organisation for business and industry in Sweden. It has 48 member associations representing close to 55.000 member companies with more than 1.5 million employees....
(Svenskt Näringsliv) indicates that 41% of Swedish companies believe that such a contract would increase their willingness to hire young people "to a great extent" and that 51% believe that it would increase it "to a certain extent". 7% of those surveyed said that they did not think that they would be more willing to hire.
Computer break-in by Liberal People's Party members
On 4 September 2006, only two weeks before the 2006 general election, the Social Democratic PartySwedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
reported a computer break-in into the Social Democrats' internal network to the police. It has been reported that members of the Liberal People's Party
Liberal People's Party (Sweden)
The Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006...
had copied secret information not yet officially released to counter-attack Social Democratic political propositions on at least two occasions. On 5 September the Party Secretary, Johan Jakobsson
Johan Jakobsson
Johan Mikael Jakobsson is a Swedish team handball player, playing for the Danish club Aalborg Håndbold and for the Swedish national team.- References :* on Aalborg Håndbold's webpage*...
, voluntarily chose to resign. Leading members of the party and its youth organization are under police investigation suspected for criminal activity.
Pre-election opinion polls
The charts below show the results of pre-election polls conducted by the five major polling institutes in Sweden.TEMO has a summary of all polls conducted since the election in 2002, and is therefore cited as the reference for each poll.
Temo
| Party | August 2006 | July 2006 | June 2006 | May 2006 | April 2006 | March 2006 | February 2006 | January 2006 | December 2005 | November 2005 | October 2005 | September 2005 | Last election Swedish general election, 2002 The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats (s) | 37.7% | 34.8% | 36.8% | 38.3% | 36.5% | 34.9% | 36.3% | 34.3% | 34.5% | 35.7% | 32.1% | 35.5% | 39.9% | |
| Moderate Party (m) | 28.0% | 28.6% | 26.3% | 26.9% | 27.9% | 29.2% | 28.4% | 30.9% | 30.3% | 27.6% | 31.6% | 31.4% | 15.3% | |
| Liberal People's Party (fp) | 9.8% | 10.2% | 9.9% | 8.7% | 9.9% | 9.7% | 10.5% | 10.0% | 10.4% | 9.4% | 9.4% | 8.7% | 13.4% | |
| Christian Democrats (kd) | 5.4% | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.9% | 6.3% | 6.4% | 5.1% | 4.4% | 4.9% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 3.7% | 9.1% | |
| Left Party (v) | 3.6% | 4.7% | 5.9% | 5.4% | 5.1% | 6.2% | 6.0% | 6.2% | 5.2% | 6.1% | 5.9% | 5.7% | 8.4% | |
| Centre Party (c) | 6.1% | 5.7% | 5.8% | 6.3% | 6.0% | 5.3% | 6.2% | 5.6% | 6.2% | 6.5% | 5.6% | 6.8% | 6.2% | |
| Green Party (mp) | 5.3% | 5.8% | 4.5% | 4.9% | 5.3% | 5.1% | 4.6% | 4.8% | 5.2% | 4.8% | 4.6% | 4.7% | 4.6% | |
| June List (jl) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2% | 1.0% | 3.2% | 4.5% | - | - | NA | |
| Alliance for Sweden (m, c, fp, kd) | 49.3% | 50.1% | 47.6% | 47.8% | 50.1% | 50.6% | 50.2% | 50.9% | 51.8% | 47.5% | 50.9% | 50.6% | 44.0% | |
| Red-Green bloc (s, v, mp) | 46.5% | 45.2% | 47.2% | 48.6% | 46.8% | 46.2% | 46.9% | 45.3% | 44.9% | 46.6% | 42.6% | 45.9% | 52.9% | |
| Undecided (?) | 22.6% | 22.8% | 18.6% | 19.6% | 20.3% | 21.2% | NA% | NA% | NA% | NA% | NA% | NA% | NA | |
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm
Sifo
| Party | 7 September 2006 | August 2006 | August 2006 | August 2006 | June 2006 | May 2006 | April 2006 | March 2006 | February 2006 | January 2006 | December 2005 | Last election Swedish general election, 2002 The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats (s) | 35.7% | 35.8% | 34.1% | 34.6% | 37.6% | 36.6% | 36.2% | 36.2% | 34.9% | 35.3% | 33.2% | 39.9% | |
| Moderate Party (m) | 26.0% | 24.3% | 28.6% | 26.7% | 26.9% | 25.2% | 26.2% | 28.2% | 28.1% | 30.9% | 29.7% | 15.3% | |
| Liberal People's Party (fp) | 7.6% | 10.2% | 11.1% | 10.3% | 9.2% | 11.7% | 11.5% | 10.2% | 10.7% | 9.3% | 10.6% | 13.4% | |
| Christian Democrats (kd) | 7.5% | 6.5% | 7.0% | 6.9% | 5.0% | 5.2% | 5.4% | 5.9% | 6.0% | 4.8% | 4.6% | 9.1% | |
| Left Party (v) | 7.1% | 5.6% | 5.9% | 5.6% | 6.1% | 6.8% | 6.4% | 5.6% | 6.0% | 6.7% | 6% | 8.4% | |
| Centre Party (c) | 6.2% | 6.7% | 4.9% | 6.6% | 6.2% | 5.8% | 5.3% | 6.7% | 5.8% | 6.9% | 6.7% | 6.2% | |
| Green Party (mp) | 5.7% | 6.0% | 4.5% | 5.9% | 5.2% | 5.5% | 5.2% | 4.4% | 4.9% | 4.1% | 4.5% | 4.6% | |
| June List (jl) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2% | - | - | - | NA | |
| Alliance for Sweden (m, c, fp, kd) | 47.3% | 47.7% | 51.5% | 50.5% | 47.3% | 47.9% | 48.4% | 51.0% | 50.6% | 51.9% | 51.6% | 44.0% | |
| Red-Green bloc (s, v, mp) | 48.2% | 47.3% | 44.9% | 46.1% | 48.9% | 48.9% | 47.8% | 46.2% | 45.8% | 46.1% | 43.7% | 52.9% | |
| Undecided (?) | - | 15.1% | 20.0% | 19.2% | 17.6% | 17.4% | 18.9% | 16.2% | 17.8% | 17.9% | 20.5% | NA | |
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm (latest sample size 1248)
Demoskop
| Party | August 2006 | July 2006 | June 2006 | May 2006 | April 2006 | March 2006 | February 2006 | January 2006 | December 2005 | November 2005 | October 2005 | September 2005 | August 2005 | July 2005 | Last election Swedish general election, 2002 The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats (s) | 33.7% | 35.7% | 37.4% | 36.2% | 37.8% | 36.4% | 36.3% | 37.9% | 31.9% | 33.1% | 35.3% | 35.8% | 31.7% | 29.3% | 39.9% | |
| Moderate Party (m) | 30.4% | 30.9% | 27.4% | 30.3% | 30.0% | 31.0% | 31.6% | 30.8% | 30.5% | 31.3% | 30.8% | 30.6% | 31.6% | 35.8% | 15.3% | |
| Liberal People's Party (fp) | 9.9% | 8.0% | 8.8% | 10.0% | 8.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% | 10.1% | 9.7% | 9.3% | 11% | 8.7% | 10.8% | 9.7% | 13.4% | |
| Christian Democrats (kd) | 5.5% | 5.3% | 5.7% | 4.0% | 4.9% | 3.6% | 4.0% | 3.6% | 4.5% | 3.1% | 3.3% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 4.3% | 9.1% | |
| Left Party (v) | 6.9% | 4.4% | 6.9% | 7.1% | 5.2% | 4.5% | 7.2% | 5.6% | 6.7% | 7.3% | 5.9% | 8.1% | 5.2% | 6.2% | 8.4% | |
| Centre Party (c) | 4.6% | 7.3% | 5.4% | 3.6% | 4.8% | 5.9% | 4.7% | 4.2% | 6.3% | 6.7% | 4.7% | 5.8% | 7.8% | 6.5% | 6.2% | |
| Green Party (mp) | 5.2% | 4.2% | 6.2% | 5.5% | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.5% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 4.2% | 4.2% | 4.4% | 6.2% | 4.7% | 4.6% | |
| Alliance for Sweden (m, c, fp, kd) | 50.5% | 51.5% | 47.3% | 47.9% | 48.5% | 49.8% | 49.4% | 48.7% | 51.0% | 50.4% | 49.8% | 49.1% | 55.0% | 56.3% | 44.0% | |
| Red-Green bloc (s, v, mp) | 45.8% | 44.3% | 50.5% | 48.8% | 47.9% | 46.0% | 49.0% | 49.7% | 44.8% | 44.6% | 45.4% | 48.3% | 43.1% | 40.2% | 52.9% | |
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm (latest sample size 1002)
Skop
| Party | August 2006 | July 2006 | June 2006 | May 2006 | April 2006 | March 2006 | February 2006 | January 2006 | December 2005 | Last election Swedish general election, 2002 The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats (s) | 35.5% | 34.5% | 36.2% | 37.8% | 34.7% | 39.0% | 36.3% | 35.9% | 36.9% | 39.9% | |
| Moderate Party (m) | 26.9% | 24.2% | 25.3% | 24.8% | 21.9% | 23.5% | 26.7% | 23.9% | 24.2% | 15.3% | |
| Liberal People's Party (fp) | 10.1% | 10.9% | 12.0% | 10.2% | 12.7% | 9.6% | 11.0% | 11.8% | 10.7% | 13.4% | |
| Christian Democrats (kd) | 7.2% | 6.8% | 6.2% | 6.4% | 6.9% | 6.4% | 6.0% | 6.6% | 4.6% | 9.1% | |
| Left Party (v) | 4.4% | 5.9% | 5.9% | 6.5% | 7.6% | 5.7% | 5.4% | 6.9% | 6.3% | 8.4% | |
| Centre Party (c) | 6.1% | 7.2% | 5.9% | 6.2% | 7.4% | 6.9% | 6.4% | 6.6% | 6.9% | 6.2% | |
| Green Party (mp) | 5.1% | 6.6% | 4.8% | 4.8% | 5.3% | 5.7% | 5.0% | 4.6% | 6.9% | 4.6% | |
| June List (jl) | 2.0% | 1.2% | - | 1.4% | - | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.6% | 1.6% | NA | |
| Alliance for Sweden (m, c, fp, kd) | 50.3% | 49.1% | 49.4% | 47.6% | 48.9% | 46.4% | 50.1% | 48.9% | 46.4% | 44.0% | |
| Red-Green bloc (s, v, mp) | 45.3% | 47.3% | 46.9% | 49.1% | 47.2% | 50.4% | 46.7% | 47.4% | 50.1% | 52.9% | |
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm (latest sample size 1000)
Ruab
| Party | August 2006 | June 2006 | May 2006 | April 2006 | March 2006 | February 2006 | January 2006 | December 2005 | Last election Swedish general election, 2002 The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democrats (s) | 40.4% | 37.2% | 36.8% | 35.2% | 37.1% | 35.4% | 36.4% | 38.0% | 39.9% | |
| Moderate Party (m) | 29.1% | 30.4% | 29.9% | 32.9% | 30.2% | 32.0% | 31.3% | 29.0% | 15.3% | |
| Liberal People's Party (fp) | 8.7% | 8.4% | 8.8% | 8.9% | 11.0% | 9.7% | 8.7% | 9.3% | 13.4% | |
| Christian Democrats (kd) | 5.0% | 4.7% | 4.7% | 5.2% | 2.8% | 3.7% | 4.0% | 4.2% | 9.1% | |
| Left Party (v) | 4.6% | 5.5% | 7.1% | 5.6% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 5.0% | 4.2% | 8.4% | |
| Centre Party (c) | 5.1% | 5.0% | 4.6% | 4.5% | 5.8% | 4.7% | 6.8% | 6.7% | 6.2% | |
| Green Party (mp) | 4.6% | 6.3% | 5.1% | 5.2% | 4.6% | 6.6% | 5.6% | 4.7% | 4.6% | |
| June List (jl) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1% | 1.5% | NA | |
| Alliance for Sweden (m, c, fp, kd) | 47.9% | 48.5% | 48.0% | 51.5% | 49.8% | 50.1% | 50.8% | 49.2% | 44.0% | |
| Red-Green bloc (s, v, mp) | 49.6% | 49.0% | 49.0% | 46.0% | 47.0% | 46.9% | 47.0% | 46.9% | 52.9% | |
http://www.temo.se/upload/326/valjbsamtliga.htm
Results
The final results were published on 21 September 2006 by the Swedish Election Authority (Valmyndigheten). Apart from separating the minor parties, there were no big changes to the preliminary count from the election night. 6,892,009 people were eligible to vote in the election. The results are here compared with the 2002 electionSwedish general election, 2002
The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-...
.
Three hours after the polls closed, the result was clear enough for Moderate Party
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament...
leader Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
to declare himself the victor and for Göran Persson
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...
to announce his resignation as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
and as leader of the Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
. The four centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
parties of Alliance for Sweden
Alliance for Sweden
The Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
formed, as expected, a government with Fredrik Reinfeldt as Prime Minister. The Speaker had asked Reinfeldt to begin this formation on 19 September but, as is usual, requested the Cabinet of Göran Persson
Cabinet of Göran Persson
Göran Persson served as Prime Minister of Sweden between March 22, 1996 and October 6, 2006. Persson took over after Ingvar Carlsson, who retired as party leader and Prime Minister...
to stay on as a caretaker government
Caretaker government
Caretaker government is a type of government that rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government...
until the Riksdag formally elected a new prime minister. The newly elected Riksdag
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
convened on 2 October and the government was presented on 6 October.
The election result is historic in being the worst result for the Social Democrats ever in a general election with universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
(introduced in 1921) and the best result for the Moderates since 1928.
Minor parties, that are not represented in the Riksdag, got a total of 5.7% of the votes, which was an increase of 2.6 percentage point
Percentage point
Percentage points are the unit for the arithmetic difference of two percentages.Consider the following hypothetical example: in 1980, 40 percent of the population smoked, and in 1990 only 30 percent smoked...
s, compared to the 2002 election
Swedish general election, 2002
The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-...
. Behind this increase lay a great success for the Sweden Democrats
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats is a political party in Sweden, founded in 1988. SD describes itself as a nationalist movement although others use the term far-right. Since 2005, its party chairman is Jimmie Åkesson, while Björn Söder is the party secretary and parliamentary group leader. An Anemone...
, gaining 2.9% (+1.5 percentage points) and thus surpassing the limit (2.5%) for gaining governmental financial support for the next four years. Two new parties, Feminist Initiative
Feminist Initiative (Sweden)
Feminist Initiative is a feminist political party in Sweden. The party was formed in 2005 and announced on 9 September 2005 that it would put up candidates for the 2006 parliamentary elections in Sweden...
(0.7%) and the Pirate Party (0.6%), also contributed to the increase.
Of the 349 elected Riksdag members, 164 (or 47%) are women.
See also
- List of political parties in Sweden
- Elections in SwedenElections in SwedenElections in the Kingdom of Sweden are held every four years, and determine the makeup of the legislative bodies on the three levels of administrative division in the country. At the highest level, these elections determine the allocation of seats in the Riksdag, the national legislative body of...
- Cabinet of Fredrik ReinfeldtCabinet of Fredrik ReinfeldtThe cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt is the current cabinet of Sweden. It is a coalition cabinet consisting of the four parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden: the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats...
External links
- Guide to the Swedish Election 2006 – The LocalThe LocalThe Local is an English-language online news portal localised for Sweden, Germany, France and Switzerland. Each site, while alike in appearance, has separate editorial teams, each focused on its respective market....
- Briefingroom: The insider's guide to... Swedish politics – CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
- NSD: European Election Database – Sweden publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991–2006