The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

political party in Sweden. The party generally supports

tax cut A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions i ...

s, the

free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties ma ...

and

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

. Internationally, it is a full member of the International Democrat Union and the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...

. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League (''Allmänna valmansförbundet'' ) by a group of conservatives in the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

, the Swedish parliament. The party was later known as The Right (''Högern'' ; 1938–1952) and Right Wing Party (''Högerpartiet'' ; 1952–1969). During this time, the party was usually called the Conservative Party outside of Sweden. After holding minor posts in

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

governments, the Moderates eventually became the leading opposition party to the

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-de ...

and since then those two parties have dominated Swedish politics. After the

1991 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 15 September 1991.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1858 The Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Riksdag, winning 138 of the 34 ...

, party leader Carl Bildt formed a minority government, the first administration since 1930 to be headed by a member of the party which lasted three years. Under party leader and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, the party was returned in government after the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

general elections. In 2010, the party was the leading member of the Alliance, a centre-right coalition, along with the Centre Party (C), the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(KD) and the Liberal People's Party (L), and obtained its best result ever (30.1%), despite the coalition not being able to obtain majority. 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 Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. 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 General elections were held in Sweden on 9 September 2018 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag. Regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The incumbent minority government, consisting of the Social Democrats and the Gr ...

. 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.

History

General Electoral League (1904–1938)

The party was founded on 17 October 1904 in a restaurant called ''Runan'' in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. The intention was to start a campaign organization in support of the group of Conservatives which had emerged in the

. During the 19th century conservatives had organised themselves in the Riksdag but there was no party to support them. The Swedish right was also threatened by the rise of the

(founded in 1889) and the Liberals (1902). The party was called the ''General Electoral League'' ( sv, Allmänna valmansförbundet, links=no). At first the party was clearly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and staunchly conservative. The importance of a strong defence was underlined and other societal institutions embraced by the party were the

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic ( constitutional monar ...

and the state of law. The party held initially a protectionist view towards the economy;

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

s were widely supported as well as interventionist economical measures such as

agricultural subsidies An agricultural subsidy (also called an agricultural incentive) is a government incentive paid to agribusinesses, agricultural organizations and farms to supplement their income, manage the supply of agricultural commodities, and influence the ...

. In the defence policy crisis in 1914 which overturned the parliamentary Liberal government, the party sided with King Gustav but stopped short of accepting a right-wing government by royal appointment, instead opting for an independent-conservative "war cabinet" under

Hjalmar Hammarskjöld Knut Hjalmar Leonard Hammarskjöld (; 4 February 1862 – 12 October 1953) was a Swedish politician, scholar, cabinet minister, Member of Parliament from 1923 to 1938 ( first chamber), and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917. In 1890, he m ...

which was eventually overturned in favour of a Liberal-Social Democratic majority coalition government and thus the breakthrough of parliamentary rule, albeit reluctantly embraced by the right. Arvid Lindman (often called "The Admiral") became influential in the party and served two terms as

Prime Minister of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

, before and after the enactment of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

. In 1907 he proposed universal male suffrage to the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and in 1912 he was formally elected leader. But the party voted against universal suffrage and the party again voted against women's right to vote. It was only because the party was in the minority that Sweden was able to grant the right to vote for all, pushed through by the Liberals and the Social Democrats (the left), against the objections of the right. Although not one of the founders of the party and not a prominent ideologist, Lindman and his achievements as a leader are often appreciated as being of great importance to the new party. His leadership was marked by a consolidation of the Swedish right, and by transforming the party into a modern, effective, political movement. Lindman was a very pragmatic politician, but without losing his principles. He was a formidable negotiator and peace broker. For this, he was widely respected, even by his fiercest political opponents and when he resigned and left the parliament in 1935, the leader of the Social Democrats,

Per Albin Hansson Per Albin Hansson (28 October 1885 – 6 October 1946) was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-liv ...

, expressed his "honest thanks over the battle lines". From the beginning of the 20th century,

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

and the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

rose to replace

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

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 A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

In the 1920s, the Swedish right slowly started to move towards a classical liberal view on economic issues, mainly under the influence of the liberal economist Gustav Cassel, but the economic downturn following the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

frustrated the possible liberal transition of their economic policy. Before that occurred the party gained its greatest success yet with 29.4% in the general election of 1928, often called the ''Cossack Election'', on a clearly anti-socialist programme. The government later formed by the party did not accept the concept of the market economy but continued the protectionist policy by generous financial aid. The government also began complete regulation of agriculture. Production associations, with the objective to administer the regulations and running monopolies on imports, were also established during the period. All this made for a corporate control of the Swedish economy unsurpassed since the popularisation of liberalism at the end of the 19th century. The government of Lindman fell in 1930 after the Social Democrats and the Freeminded People's Party had blocked a proposition for raised customs duty on grain. The 1930s saw the party in conflict over how to relate to the rising threat of National Socialism and

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

. Its loosely affiliated youth organisation, the

National Youth League of Sweden The National Youth League of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges nationella ungdomsförbund ; SNU) was the first youth organisation of the General Electoral Union of Sweden. It was dislodged from its mother party in 1934 due to its pro-Nazi stance. It was the ...

( sv, Sveriges Nationella Ungdomsförbund, links=no) was openly pro-Nazi and set up uniformed "fighting groups" to combat political enemies on the streets. The mother party did not like this development, with Lindman clearly stating that pro-Nazi views were not to be accepted in the party, and in 1933 the National Youth League was separated from the party. While the party set up a new youth league, which came to be called Moderate Youth League or ''The Young Swedes'' (currently the largest youth league in Sweden in terms of membership), the core of the old one (in spite of some districts, such as Young Swedes-

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

joining the new one) set up its own party—the

National League of Sweden The National Youth League of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges nationella ungdomsförbund ; SNU) was the first youth organisation of the General Electoral Union of Sweden. It was dislodged from its mother party in 1934 due to its pro-Nazi stance. It was the ...

—which fought elections as an openly pro-Nazi party and temporarily gained parliamentary representation in the shape of three rightists MPs.

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 A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are ...

including all major parties, only excluding the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

and the pro-Nazi

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

, 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 ( sv, Högerns riksorganisation, links=no ), 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 ( sv, Högerpartiet); its name outside Sweden remained ''Conservative Party.'' Under the leadership of

Jarl Hjalmarson Jarl Harald Hjalmarson (15 June 1904 – 26 November 1993) was the leader of the conservative Swedish Rightist Party (''Högerpartiet''), today known as the Moderate Party, between 1950 and 1961. Born in Helsingborg, he was considered as a mo ...

(1950–1961) the party became an important voice against the rising levels of taxation and a defender of private ownership from, what the party saw as, the growing tendencies of state

centralization Centralisation or centralization (see spelling differences) is the process by which the activities of an organisation, particularly those regarding planning and decision-making, framing strategy and policies become concentrated within a particu ...

. 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 election of 1968 gave the Social Democrats an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

in the parliament and reduced the Rightist Party to become the smallest party of opposition.

Moderate Party (1969–present)

By 1968, the dominance of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

and 24 years of trailing the liberal People's Party among the opposition bloc had pushed the party to the edge of political relevance. Seeking to shed its ultra-conservative image, in 1969, the party changed its name to the Moderate Coalition Party ( sv, Moderata Samlingspartiet, links=no, generally just referred to as ''Moderaterna'') or just the Moderate Party. In 1970,

Gösta Bohman Bo Gösta Bohman (15 January 1911 – 12 August 1997) was a Swedish politician and the leader of the Swedish liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1970 to 1981, during a period in which the party strengthened its position in Swedish politi ...

was elected leader of the Moderate Party. During his leadership the party continued its gradual movement from nationalist

traditionalist conservatism Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain natural laws to which society should adhere ...

towards internationalist

liberal conservatism Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by ...

, calling for Swedish membership in the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

since the 1960s and in practice adopting most policies affiliated with

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, e ...

. 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 Ulf Adelsohn (born 4 October 1941) is a Swedish politician, leader of the Moderate Party from 1981 to 1986 and Governor of Stockholm County from 1992 to 2001. He was a member of the Riksdag from 1982 to 1988 and served as Chairman of the Board o ...

. In 1986, Carl Bildt was elected leader of the party. A son-in-law of Bohman, he managed to lead the party to an election victory in 1991. The Moderate Party led a center-right coalition between 1991 and 1994, with Bildt serving as the first conservative Prime Minister since Arvid Lindman. The cabinet of Carl Bildt did much to reform the Swedish government: they cut taxes, cut public spending, introduced voucher schools, made it possible for counties to privatize health care, liberalised markets for telecommunications and energy, and privatised former publicly owned companies (further deregulations and privatisations were carried out by the following Social Democratic Cabinet of Göran Persson). The negotiations for membership with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

were also finalized. 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 Greens, the non-socialist parties failed to return to government after the election in 1998 as well. Bo Lundgren replaced him and led the party in the disastrous general election of 2002, much owed to his alleged

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...

stances, for which Lundgren continues to receive praise from younger members. Former head of the Moderate Youth Fredrik Reinfeldt was elected as the new party leader in 2003. Prior to the 2006 general election, the Moderate Party adjusted its position in the political spectrum, moving towards the

. To reflect these changes, the party's unofficial name was altered to The New Moderates (Swedish: ''De Nya Moderaterna'' ). This has included focus on proactive measures against unemployment, lower taxes combined with reforms to strengthen the Swedish welfare state. The Moderate Party has since 2006 used the slogan "the Swedish Workers' Party", a slogan formerly synonymous with the Social Democrats. In the 2006 general election, the Moderate Party enjoyed its best result since 1928 with 26.2% of the votes. The Moderate Party had formed the

Alliance for Sweden The Alliance ( sv, Alliansen), formerly the Alliance for Sweden (''Allians för Sverige''), was a centre-right liberal-conservative political alliance in Sweden. The Alliance consisted of the four centre-right political parties in the Riksdag. Th ...

, a political and electoral alliance, along with the Centre Party, the Liberal People's Party and the

prior to this election. After the election, the

was able to form a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

. Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt took office as

on 6 October 2006 along with his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. In the 2010 general election, the Moderate Party performed their best results, since the introduction of

in 1919, with 30.1% of the votes. However, the minor parties in the Alliance performed relatively poorly, and the

Reinfeldt cabinet The cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt ( sv, Regeringen Reinfeldt) was the cabinet of Sweden from 2006 to 2014. It was a coalition cabinet consisting of the four parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden: the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Libe ...

continued in office as a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in t ...

. He is the longest-serving non– Social Democrat Prime Minister since

Erik Gustaf Boström Erik Gustaf Bernhard Boström (11 February 1842 – 21 February 1907) was a Swedish landowner and politician who was a member of the Swedish Parliament (1876–1907) and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Sweden of the 19th century. He ...

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. 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. 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. The change in logo was seen by analysts as a way to show that the party breaks with Reinfeldt's policies. Ulf Kristersson was also critical to

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...

. Kristersson held a meeting in December 2019 with

Jimmie Åkesson Per Jimmie Åkesson (; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician and author, serving as leader of the Sweden Democrats since 2005. He has been a member of the Riksdag (SD) for Jönköping County since 2010. He previously served as leader of the ...

, 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 Södertörn University ( sv, Södertörns högskola, abbreviated as SH) is a public university college ( sv, högskola) located in Flemingsberg in Huddinge Municipality, and the larger area called Södertörn, in Stockholm County, Sweden. In 2 ...

, this put Sweden in line with several other European countries in which centre-right and radical-right parties cooperate. In October 2022, the Tidö Agreement was formed, which led to the formation of the Kristersson Cabinet as Sweden's government. On 18 October 2022, Ulf Kristersson became the new Prime Minister of Sweden. 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. Soon after his appointment, new foreign minister, Tobias Billström of Moderate Party, announced that Sweden will renounce "

feminist foreign policy Feminist foreign policy, or feminist diplomacy, is a concept that calls for a state to promote values and good practices to achieve gender equality, and to guarantee all women enjoy their human rights, through diplomatic relations. The practice was ...

", implemented by the previous left-wing government.

Ideology and political positions

Fredrik Reinfeldt visits Bush at White House, May 15, 2007, cropped to Reinfeldt

The Moderate Party states that its ideology is a mix of

and

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

, and corresponds to what is called

. As is common in European

and conservative parties, the term ''liberalism'' in Sweden refers to the traditional meaning of

rather than

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tech ...

social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

in countries such as Canada or the United States. The party supports

s and

personal freedom Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties m ...

and has historically been the essential force for privatisation, deregulation, lowering tax rates, and a reduction of the public-sector growth rate. 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

. Moderate Party consider itself as a "green-right" party. The party campaigned for changing currency to the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

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 The economic and monetary union (EMU) of the European Union is a group of policies aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union at three stages. There are three stages of the EMU, each of which consists of prog ...

and the

eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU pol ...

would not be relevant until the member states have met certain strict requirements set up by the party in regard to budget deficits. After Fredrik Reinfeldt became leader, the party slowly moved further towards the political centre and also adopted

pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: *Pragmaticism, Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy * Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics *'' Pragmatics'', an academic journal i ...

views. The party abandoned several of its old key features such as a proportional income tax and increased military spending. Criticism of the labour laws, its former characteristic which was

, was changed towards conserving the Swedish model and a careful embracing of balance on the labour market. With the ascension of Anna Kinberg Batra as party leader, the party adjusted its position in the political spectrum and moved back towards the political right. The party abandoned its previously liberal stance on immigration, notably manifested by Fredrik Reinfeldt's summer speech in 2014 in which he appealed for "open hearts" to meet the expected migrant waves. The party supports border controls and tougher rules for immigrants, including temporary residence permits, stricter requirements for family reunification and cuts in welfare benefits. Swedish values was a recurring subject in Anna Kindberg Batra's speech at the

Almedalen Week The Almedalen Week (''Almedalsveckan'', also known as Politician's Week in Almedalen, ''Politikerveckan i Almedalen'') is an annual event taking place in week 26 in and around Almedalen, a park in the city of Visby on the Swedish island Gotland. ...

in 2016, and she said that immigrants should make efforts to learn the

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic cou ...

and take part of Swedish societal orientation, or risk getting reduced benefits and harder to get permanent residence permits. Since 2015, the party has taken up its demand for increased military spending, and has supported the re-introduction of mandatory military service, inactivated in Sweden under Fredrik Reinfeldt in 2010. The party is in favour of Swedish membership of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

and supported Sweden's application for membership. The party expressed a wish that a membership is applied for together with

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

which is what happened in May 2022.

Voter base

Statistical changes in voter base

Electoral history

ImageSize = width:1200 height:240 PlotArea = width:1000 height:160 left:100 bottom:60 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:45 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 Colors = id:SB value:rgb(0.0039,0.6118,0.8588) PlotData = bar:% color:SB width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1911 from:start till:31.3 text:31.3 bar:1914 from:start till:37.7 text:37.7 bar:1914-2 from:start till:36.7 text:36.7 bar:1917 from:start till:24.7 text:24.7 bar:1920 from:start till:27.9 text:27.9 bar:1921 from:start till:25.8 text:25.8 bar:1924 from:start till:26.1 text:26.1 bar:1928 from:start till:29.4 text:29.4 bar:1932 from:start till:23.1 text:23.1 bar:1936 from:start till:17.6 text:17.6 bar:1940 from:start till:18.0 text:18.0 bar:1944 from:start till:15.9 text:15.9 bar:1948 from:start till:12.34 text:12.3 bar:1952 from:start till:14.37 text:14.4 bar:1956 from:start till:17.11 text:17.1 bar:1958 from:start till:19.52 text:19.5 bar:1960 from:start till:16.57 text:16.6 bar:1964 from:start till:13.7 text:13.7 bar:1968 from:start till:13.88 text:13.9 bar:1970 from:start till:11.53 text:11.5 bar:1973 from:start till:14.29 text:14.3 bar:1976 from:start till:15.59 text:15.6 bar:1979 from:start till:20.34 text:20.3 bar:1982 from:start till:23.64 text:23.6 bar:1985 from:start till:21.33 text:21.3 bar:1988 from:start till:18.3 text:18.3 bar:1991 from:start till:21.92 text:21.9 bar:1994 from:start till:22.38 text:22.4 bar:1998 from:start till:22.9 text:22.9 bar:2002 from:start till:15.13 text:15.1 bar:2006 from:start till:26.23 text:26.2 bar:2010 from:start till:30.1 text:30.1 bar:2014 from:start till:23.2 text:23.2 bar:2018 from:start till:19.8 text:19.8 bar:2022 from:start till:19.1 text:19.1

Parliament (''Riksdag'')

European Parliament

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 Each county or city association sends delegates to the party congress, which is held every third year. The 200 congress delegates elect a party chairman, two deputy party chairmen, and members of the party board. The party board appoints a party secretary. In December 2009, the party's reported membership was 55,612 people, the second largest membership after the Social Democrats.

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'' ), organizes senior members *

Moderate Women The Moderate Women ( sv, Moderatkvinnorna ) is a women's wing in Sweden, connected to the Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political ...

(''Moderatkvinnorna''), organizes female members * Open Moderates (''Öppna moderater'' ), organizes

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

members

Leaders

Chairpersons

* Gustaf Fredrik Östberg, 1904–1905 * Axel G. Svedelius, 1905–1906 * Hugo Tamm, 1907 * Gustaf Fredrik Östberg, 1908–1912 * Arvid Lindman, 1912–1935 *

Gösta Bagge Gösta Adolfsson Bagge (27 May 1882 – 3 January 1951) was a Swedish professor of economics and a conservative politician, and leader of the National Organization of the Right from 1935 to 1944. Biography Bagge was born in Stockholm and ...

, 1935–1944 * Fritiof Domö, 1944–1950 *

, 1950–1961 * Gunnar Heckscher, 1961–1965 * Yngve Holmberg, 1965–1970 *

, 1970–1981 *

, 1981–1986 * Carl Bildt, 1986–1999 * Bo Lundgren, 1999–2003 * Fredrik Reinfeldt, 2003–2015 * Anna Kinberg Batra, 2015–2017 * Ulf Kristersson, 2017–present

First deputy party chairpersons (since 1935)

* Bernhard Johansson, 1935 * Martin Skoglund, 1935–1956 * Leif Cassel, 1956–1965 *

, 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 *

, 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 Anna ''Kristina'' Axén Olin (née ''Axén'') (born 21 October 1962) is a Swedish Moderate politician and member of the Riksdag, she is currently a member and the Second vice-Speaker of the Education Committee. She currently takes up seat numb ...

, 2003–2009 *

Beatrice Ask Eva Carin Beatrice Ask (born 20 April 1956) is a Swedish politician and a member of the Moderate Party. She has served as Governor of Södermanland County since 1 January 2020. Ask served as member of the Swedish Riksdag for Stockholm Municip ...

, 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 Anders Gunnar Hökmark (born 19 September 1952) is a Swedish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2004 until 2019. He is member of the Moderate Party, part of the European People's Party. He previously served a ...

, 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 * Karin Enström, 2022–present

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 * Arvid Lindman, 1906–1911 *

Carl Swartz Carl Johan Gustaf Swartz (5 June 1858 – 6 November 1926) was a Swedish right-wing politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from March to October 1917. He also served as Minister for Finance from 1906 to 1911. He married Dagmar Lu ...

, 1917 *

Ernst Trygger Ernst Trygger (27 October 1857 – 23 September 1943) was a Swedish jurist professor and conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1923 to 1924. He also served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1928 to 1930 in t ...

, 1923–1924 * Arvid Lindman, 1928–1930 * Carl Bildt, 1991–1994 * Fredrik Reinfeldt, 2006–2014 * Ulf Kristersson, 2022–present

References

External links

*
The Moderate Party
at the Parliament of Sweden's website {{Authority control 1904 establishments in Sweden Liberal parties in Sweden Centre-right parties in Sweden Conservative parties in Sweden International Democrat Union member parties Liberal conservative parties Member parties of the European People's Party Political parties established in 1904