Moderate Youth League
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The Moderate Youth League ( sv, Moderata ungdomsförbundet ; MUF), officially known in English as the Swedish Young Conservatives, is the
youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...
of the
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic lib ...
. Of the political youth organizations that received financial support from the Swedish National Board for Youth Affairs in 2009, it had the highest number of members. The Moderate Youth League is more libertarian-leaning and more radical than the mother party. It is generally pro-market, pro-American, pro-Israeli and liberal in social issues such as
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
, gay rights and supports legalization of illegal
file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...
and alcohol manufacturing for private, nonprofit purposes. Its official ideologies are liberalism and conservatism."Moderata Ungdomsförbundets strävan är att vinna unga människor för den samhällsåskådning som Moderata Samlingspartiet företräder, vilken är en syntes av liberala och konservativa idéer." §1 in the bylaws


History

The Moderate Youth League was formed in 1934 as the Young Swedes (Swedish: ''Ungsvenskarna'') as a consequence of the split between the Moderate Party (then the ''General Electoral Union'') and its youth organization, the National Youth League of Sweden (Swedish: ''Sveriges nationella ungdomsförbund'') which had turned into an openly pro-
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
organization. In 1946 the organization changed its name to the Youth Association of the Right (Swedish: ''Högerns ungdomsförbund''). The current name was adopted in 1969.


Organization

The Moderate Youth League is led by a national executive committee, elected every two years at the national congress. The President is supported by two vice-chairmen. Normally, members of the national executive have served at district level first. The current chairman, for example, used to be chairman of the Stockholm district. The national chairman also sits on the national board of the Moderate Party. Districts follow county borders. The largest one is Stockholm, followed by Skåne. They maintain a rivalry, sometimes staging competitions on who can recruit the most members. Other large districts include
Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...
and Östergötland.


Young Conservative Moderates

The Young Conservative Moderates (''Unga konservativa moderater'') are an internal faction of the Moderate Youth League. It was founded in 2004 as ''Mörkblått värn'' (literally Dark-Blue Defence), but changed to its current name after the founder left to join 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 ...
. Young Conservative Moderates seek to promote a
conservative 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 civilization in ...
alternative to the current dominance of
liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
within the organisation. The organisation compromises both
traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
ists and
neoconservatives Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and cou ...
.


Moderate School Youth

The Moderate School Youth (''Moderat skolungdom'', MSU) is a part of the organisation and includes all MUF members between 12 and 20 years of age. At the annual conference, a national executive is elected. They are not decision-makers but more of an elite campaigning team which travel around Sweden. The national chairman has a place on the national executive of the Youth League. The current chairman, since 2020, is Rebecca Nordin Vainio.


Moderate Students

:''not to be confused with the Free Moderate Students'' In 2008, the Moderate Students was founded as a student network within the Moderate Youth League and it has since then grown to become the largest student political organization in Sweden. It is the official student organization of the Moderate Youth League, the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party. It is not to be confused with the Free Moderate Students, founded in the 1940s and still active as an independent student wing of the Moderate Party.


Organization

Moderate Students is a national organization consisting of student associations on various universities and campuses in Sweden. Individual membership is sorted by district. Moderate Students originally existed as a party in the student union at
Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...
and
Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2 ...
.


Politics

Moderate Students focuses primarily on students' economical situations. They have advocated for an extended "work-tax reduction" for young people ( sv, jobbskatteavdrag) and for removing taxes on work and studies in general. They specifically want to repeal the tax on students who take out a student loan and work in addition to their studies. They have also become involved in discussions about the availability of
student housing A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
.


National board members

The 2009 Moderate Students national board consisted of chairman Caroline Garsbo, first vice chairman Jonas Grafström, second vice chairman Anna Alriksson, Erik Persson, Pirita Isegran, and Cecilia Hellgren. The 2010 board was led by chairman Erik Persson and first vice chairman Michael Wigg. Additional members included Lars Hindrum, Ida Drougge, Evelina Kogsta, and Péteris Timofejevs Henriksson. The 2011 board was led by chairman Ida Drougge, first vice chairman Andrea Ström, and second vice chairman Alexandra Westman. Additional members included Evelina Kogsta, Erik Raita, Simon Vallin, and Petter Krönmark. The 2012 board was chaired by Andrea Ström, with Filip Solsjö and Olivia Andersson serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members included Jeanette Widén, Erik Gestrinius, Therese Lindström, and Clara Enocson. The 2014 board, was chaired by Benjamin Dousa, with Armend Dushica and Annie Widerberg serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members included Caroline Jarbratt, Mikael Persson, Jesper Skalberg Karlsson and Denice Sigvardsson. The 2015 board, was chaired by Benjamin Dousa, with Sofia Axelsson and John Eklöf serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members included Jonas Jesslén, Ina Djureståhl, Sara Elingfors and Denice Sigvardsson. The 2016 board, was chaired by Ina Djurestål, with Klas Vestergren and Sofia Lindbom serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members included Jonas Jesslén, Sofia Andersson, Sara Persson and Lucas Kramer. The 2017 board, was chaired by Ina Djurestål, with Sofia Andersson and Greta Eulau serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members include Baran Calisir, Sarah Ullmark, Clara Albinsson and John Backvid. The 2018 board, was chaired by Greta Eulau, with Kristoffer Sundström and Roosa Porthén serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members include Karl Opdal, Pasi Huikuri, Jakob Sommerin Nilsson and Christopher Rydaeus. The current board, as of 2019, is chaired by Greta Eulau, with Lucas Ljungberg and Viktor Hedqvist serving as first and second vice chairmen, respectively. Additional members include Niklas Törnå, Ludvig Berggren, Madelene Nord and Linus Lindeblom.


Chapters

The following Swedish universities have chapters of Moderate Students. *
Blekinge Institute of Technology The Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH; sv, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola) is a public, state funded Swedish institute of technology in Blekinge with 5,900 students (part-time, full-time) and offers about 30 educational programmes in 11 departmen ...
* Dalarna University College * Gävle University College *
Gotland University College Uppsala University – Campus Gotland ( sv, Uppsala universitet – Campus Gotland) is a campus of Uppsala University and a former university college (''högskola'') previously known in English as University of Gotland ( sv, Högskolan på Gotlan ...
* Halmstad University *
Jönköping University Foundation Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipa ...
*
Karlstad University Karlstad University (Swedish ''Karlstads universitet'') is a state university in Karlstad, Sweden. It was originally established as the Karlstad campus of the University of Gothenburg in 1967, and this campus became an independent university c ...
* Kristianstad University College *
Linköping University Linköping University (, LiU) is a public research university based in Linköping, Sweden. Originally established in 1969, it was granted full university status in 1975 and is one of Sweden's largest academic institutions. The university has fou ...
*
Linnaeus University Linnaeus University (LNU) ( sv, Linnéuniversitetet) is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with two campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar respectively. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 b ...
*
Luleå University of Technology Luleå University of Technology is a Public Research University in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The university has four campuses located in the Arctic Region in the cities of Luleå, Kiruna, Skellefteå, and Piteå. With more than 19,000 stude ...
*
Lund University , motto = Ad utrumque , mottoeng = Prepared for both , established = , type = Public research university , budget = SEK 9 billion Mälardalen University College Mälardalen University (Swedish: ''Mälardalens universitet''), or MDU, is a Swedish university college located in Västerås and Eskilstuna, Sweden. It has 16,000 students and around 1000 employees, of which 91 are professors, 504 teachers, a ...
*
Mid Sweden University Mid Sweden University (''Mittuniversitetet'') is a Swedish state university located in the region around the geographical center of Sweden, with two campuses in the cities of Östersund and Sundsvall. The university closed a third campus in H ...
*
Örebro University Örebro University ( sv, Örebro universitet) is a state university in Örebro, Sweden. The university has its roots in the Örebro campus of Uppsala University, which became an independent state university college in 1977, Örebro University Col ...
* Royal Institute of Technology *
University of Skövde The University of Skövde (in Swedish: Högskolan i Skövde, HIS) is a state university in Skövde, Sweden. The University of Skövde was granted university status in 1983 and is now an academic institution with general and specialised educationa ...
*
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 ...
*
Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; sv, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with ...
* Stockholm University *
Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2 ...
* University of Borås *
University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg ( sv, Göteborgs universitet) is a university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current Swedish universities and with 37,000 students and 6000 st ...
*
Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...


Current and former members

Under many years the Moderate Party did not have any official student organisation. The
Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students The Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students ( sv, Fria moderata studentförbundet, ''FMSF'', "Free Moderate Student League") is a Swedish student organisation. It considers itself to be non-partisan, but is politically close to ...
(''Fria moderata studentförbundet'', FMSF) was dislodged from the party because of its radical
neoliberalism 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 fa ...
. Therefore, many students join the Youth League instead. This results in the age of members spanning the whole age-spectrum from roughly 15 to 30. There is, however, widespread cross-membership between the youth and student leagues. In Uppsala, a traditional student town, the radicalism of the Student League has also spread to the local MUF district due to almost all local leaders also being active in the Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students. Naturally many current politicians of the Moderate Party, started their careers in the Youth League. The most famous being the current leader of the party,
Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He ...
, who is a former chairman. The last chairman, Christofer Fjellner, was elected to the
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
before resigning from his Youth League position. The Moderate Youth League played a great part in this, lobbying for him inside the party and campaigning for him in the election. In 2002, Tove Lifvendahl became the first Youth League chairman to be elected to the national board of the party directly after resigning from the Moderate Youth League. Many former leaders left politics but gained prominence in other spheres of society, most of all in business. The Moderate Youth League has around 9,500 members (2004/2005).


Ideology

The Moderate Youth League defines its ideology in four statements. Apart from these, the Youth League publishes no manifestos or political programmes of any sort. These are: * For the freedom of the individual. Against political oppression and coercion. * For every human's responsibility for his/her own future. Against paternalism and the
nanny state Nanny state is a term of British origin that conveys a view that a government or its policies are overprotective or interfering unduly with personal choice. The term likens such a government to the role that a nanny has in child rearing. An early ...
(''förmynderi och politisk klåfingrighet''). * For
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...
and respect for differences. Against
intolerance Intolerance may refer to: * Hypersensitivity Hypersensitivity (also called hypersensitivity reaction or intolerance) refers to undesirable reactions produced by the normal immune system, including allergies and autoimmunity. They are usual ...
and conformity. * For a
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 ...
and a world without borders. Against walls and regulations. The modern Moderate Youth League are staunch supporters of
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
, deregulation and lower taxes. They also adhere to
individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
, which extends to wide-reaching support for gay rights. The League supports free trade, free immigration and wants to abolish foreign aid. Like its opponents in the
Swedish Social Democratic Youth League The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( sv, Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Ungdomsförbund ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since ...
, the Moderate Youth League has suffered from divisions between different factions. The 1990s saw many battles between modernising
neoliberals 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 fa ...
and conservatives. At the congress in Lycksele in 1992, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the former leader between 25 October 2003 – 10 January 2015 of Moderate Party, was elected chairman, defeating the neoliberal
Ulf Kristersson Ulf Hjalmar Ed Kristersson (born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish politician who has been serving as Prime Minister of Sweden since October 2022. He has been the leader of the Moderate Party (M) since October 2017 and a member of the Riksdag (MP ...
. In recent years, however, the division have largely disappeared. With the Moderates becoming more cosmopolitan, the traditionalist Conservatives have all but disappeared. Gay rights were a source of division, but now almost all of the Moderate Youth League supports equal rights of marriage and adoption for homosexuals. A conservative fringe group, however, was formed – Young Conservative Moderates (''Unga konservativa moderater'') – but did not gain widespread membership. In foreign policy, MUF tends to support the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, including the
2003 Iraq War The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including ...
and Swedish NATO membership. Chairwoman Tove Lifvendahl proudly wore an "I love Bush" shirt after
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's election in 2000, although she was quick to criticise him for the
steel tariffs On March 5, 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush placed tariffs on imported steel. The tariffs took effect March 20 and were lifted by Bush on December 4, 2003. Research shows that the tariffs were a net positive, reviving many previously shuttered ...
he later imposed. It is also strongly supportive of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Though generally supportive of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, the Youth League does not support Sweden adopting 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 . ...
.AftonbladetDagens NyheterExpressenSvenska Dagbladet
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Chairpersons


References


External links


Moderata Ungdomsförbundet
(in Swedish) {{Authority control Youth wings of political parties in Sweden Moderate Party International Young Democrat Union Youth organizations established in 1934 1934 establishments in Sweden