Fredrik Reinfeldt has been compared to a hybrid of Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron - with the former Tory leader's looks and the current leader's moderation. The Swedish conservative leader is his nation's new Prime Minister after winning a narrow victory over the centre-left Social Democrats who have led Sweden for 65 of the last 74 years.
Mr Reinfeldt has promised to "trim" taxes, benefits and regulation - rather than radically alter the Swedish model where average taxes are 55%.
Mr Reinfeldt has said that his welfare policies have been inspired by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. His victory remarks certainly sounded very new Labour (as reported by BBC Online)...
"We ran in the election as the New Moderates, we have won the election as the New Moderates and we will also together with our Alliance friends govern Sweden as the New Moderates."
The headline chosen by The Independent reveals what Britain's most left-leaning mainstream newspaper thinks of Mr Reinfeldt's victory: 'Sweden lurches to the right'.
Incredible. A centre-right party become more centre and less right - and hence get more votes and win. I wonder why no one's trying that here...
Posted by: Julian H | September 18, 2006 at 09:49
good news for swedes everywhere. there are many problems hidden behind the supposedly rosy land of the welfare state, perhaps now they can be addressed
Posted by: Logos | September 18, 2006 at 10:16
From a Swedish Conservative living in the UK: It is hard to describe the happiness I feel that we finally have a new government in Sweden! Eventhough I am certainly disappointed in the too moderate tone of Reinfeldt & Co (Sweden is, in my opinion, worse off and needs a more radical approach), but Sweden's voters have showed that we can actually change governments some times and our democracy is healthier for it. I will not, however, revoke the promise to emigrate I made after the last socialst victory in 2002: I am staying in Britain.
Posted by: Jacob Traff | September 18, 2006 at 10:33
Congratulations Jacob. Though I understand Britain must seem like a capitalist paradise compared to Sweden, we need radicalism here too...
Posted by: Cllr. Gavin Ayling | September 18, 2006 at 13:27
I share the joy of today for Sweden and I'm glad Jacob's going to stay in the UK too!
Just one thing though - without meaning to be unkind to IDS - there's something about Fredrik Reinfeldt that all the press coverage has missed so far. He's ***gorgeous***. Jaw-droppingly, swoon-making, convincingly ruggedly handsome. I fear we have some way to go before any UK party can match.
Posted by: anon | September 18, 2006 at 14:46
One thing this welcome victory shows is that Conservative Party`s can win from the centre and don`t have to promise to destroy the NHS and end the welfare state as some right-wingers wish to win elections.
Posted by: Jack Stone | September 18, 2006 at 19:56
"One thing this welcome victory shows is that Conservative Party`s can win from the centre and don`t have to promise to destroy the NHS and end the welfare state as some right-wingers wish to win elections."
Seeing as the electorate is becoming increasingly keen on a less statist healthcare system we might, one day, be able to run on an anti-NHS ticket.
Plus the centre in Sweden is far to the Left of New Labour or even the Lib Dems here. However, their low corporation tax rate (28%) and relatively recent privatisations and deregulations have delayed the collapse of their welfare state.
Posted by: Richard | September 18, 2006 at 20:17
But no-one has reported on the crucial factor in this election in Sweden - what colour tie did Reinfeldt wear, and how much did he pay for it. It's information like that which will win us an election.
Posted by: Jon White | September 18, 2006 at 20:20
"Incredible. A centre-right party become more centre and less right - and hence get more votes and win. I wonder why no one's trying that here..." Julian H
Why do so many people seem to believe that all we have to do is become less right wing and then we will win an election. When have we ever won an election from the centre. We have had governments like Heath's which started off firmly on the right and got more central as the years went by but it has been a very, very long time indeed since we actually won an election from the centre. Our current popularity owes a great deal to Cameron's ability to convince the public that we have changed. The difficulty is that people really do want things like lower taxes and Euro-skeptic policies but to embrace them makes us look like the same old Tory party. This is a huge obstacle for the party to overcome. If we move anymore to the left than we already have we risk looking like a clone of the Labour party. The most important thing for an opposition is to look like an effective alternative to the Government. We do not look like an alternative by being as left wing as they are.
Posted by: Martin | September 18, 2006 at 20:23
Martin, I believe people keep misunderstanding what is meant by winning from the centre. They often quote Thatcher as an example of how we won from the right. But in fact in 1979 what Thatcher was presenting was the centre ground as the country was in a massive mess and Labour were hard socialists. Another thing that intrigues me are the claims about traditional Conservatism, but Thatcher wasn't a traditional Conservative at all and wanted to change almost everything. She was often criticised by traditional Conservatives at the time. I think we have to adapt our approach to the times we find ourselves in. This is what DC is trying to do with some successes and hopefully more to come,
Matt
Posted by: matt wright | September 19, 2006 at 00:00
Yes, but what exactly is the centre when you drop your only popular policy from the last election (on immigration), a policy that was supported by an overwhelming majority of the people of this country?
There is moving to the centre, and then there is appealing to a liberal elite in the belief that they are the opinion formers and therefore matter more than the rest of us chavscum. The former might be a perfectly acceptable electoral tactic, the latter is just reprehensible.
Posted by: John Hustings | September 19, 2006 at 00:23
"Thatcher wasn't a traditional Conservative at all and wanted to change almost everything. She was often criticised by traditional Conservatives at the time."
I think you are confusing traditional Conservative with "Wet". there was always a pro free market "right wing" of the Conservative Party. Lord Salisbury had very libertarian instincts and the attempts by pre-War Liberals to build the welfare state were strongly opposed by the Tories at the time.
The Mondy Club, also known as a bastion of traditional Conservatism, was also pro free market.
Posted by: Richard | September 19, 2006 at 08:12