Welding a nation

A former welder and trade union leader will be the new Swedish prime minister after beating a conservative led coalition that had cut taxes for the wealthy, reduced employment rights and cut the welfare state.

Stefan Loefven’s Social Democrats finished the largest party in Sweden polling 31.2 per cent giving them 113 parliamentary seats and will start forming a coalition.

The Social Democrats say they will reverse some tax cuts, boost public sector jobs and improve welfare benefits. They will also start tackling the unemployment crisis, with nearly one in ten workers jobless.

There will be changes in education too, with the creation of Swedish privately run “free schools”– adopted by David Cameron – under the spotlight. These proved hugely controversial with one of the main private providers going bankrupt.

Private companies had also secured health service and elderly care contracts, some of which resulted in highly publicised scandals. There was a growing gap between the poorest and the wealthiest fuelled by tax cuts funded by public sector, welfare and health cuts.

“We need solidarity now,” Loefven told his supporters after the poll on September 14. “The Swedish people turned their backs on tax cuts and privatizations as the solutions to all of society’s problems.”

It is likely to be a rocky road to coalition for Loefven, who has led his party since 2012 after being head of engineering union IG Metall since 2006. Coalition and budget negotiations will last weeks and he is unlikely to be formally declared prime minister until October.

The election resulted in the three main centre-left parties polling 43.7 per cent of the vote and the conservative right wing coalition polling 39.3 per cent.

Under the Swedish voting system the number of seats secured by parties in the 349 seat Parliament is closely tied to the percentage of vote they poll.

The main conservative party – the Moderates – were hit hardest polling 23.2 per cent giving them 84 seats, a loss of 23 seats, which still leaves them the second largest party. Their leader Fredrik Reinfeldt, a supporter of Europe-wide austerity and a close ally of David Cameron, quickly resigned.

But a wake-up call with echoes of the UKIP-Tory battleground was the rapid rise of the anti-immigrant, far right Sweden Democrats. They polled 12.9 per cent giving them 49 seats, up 29, all at the expense of the conservative parties.

As the third largest party, their leader Jimmie Akkeson claimed he held the “absolute balance of power” in the new Parliament. “In order to give active support to any government,” he said “we will want something in return, not least on immigration policy.”

All other political parties have refused to consider any deal with his party. Loefven has made clear he refuses to accept the Sweden Democrats as “kingmakers” and deciding who will run Sweden.

He flagged up the possibility of a coalition including some centre right parties to head off the far right threat. Loefven told supporters, “There’s a completely new political map in Sweden and that requires that all take responsibility.”

The Swedish elections are another signal of the growing impact of populist far right, anti-immigrant, anti-European parties across the continent. It is a worrying trend in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary and in the Britain with UKIP.

The Swedish result highlights the fault lines on the right wing of the political spectrum with “traditional” right wing parties losing out to the far right.

Many eyes will be on Sweden, watching how the former trade union negotiator cuts what may be an uncomfortable coalition deal that limits the influence of the far right.