Scaring voters with the Sweden Democrats is not enough

Sweden’s Social Democrats cannot build their election strategy around frightening voters with the Sweden Democrats. They also need to explain what they stand for, argues Mattias Lindström in a reader submission to Dagens Nyheter.

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Growth with social security

Lindström says the party should communicate the value of a progressive centre-ground policy. He compares its current approach to a band giving concerts without playing its biggest hits. The Social Democrats, he argues, ought to be well placed to present themselves as a safe and sensible centrist anchor, but are failing to make that case clearly.

Warnings about the Sweden Democrats have a place during an election campaign, he writes, but they are not enough. Instead, the party should bring forward its “unique selling point” with messages such as “Growth with social security,” “A country where you can afford to be sick,” and “Jobs and integration.” He says the party gains support when it calls for welfare profits to be cut, yet does not make that argument central enough.

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A country where you can afford to be sick

The result, according to Lindström, is that the Social Democrats lose voters to both the right and the left. A strong Left Party creates a double problem: the Social Democrats lose votes to it, while the Left Party and the Greens can also deter moderate voters who might otherwise support Magdalena Andersson’s party.

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Jobs and integration

He describes the Centre Party’s refusal to enter a government with the Left Party, alongside the Left Party’s refusal to support a government without it, as a combination of arrogance and short-term thinking. His advice is for the opposition to unite behind the Social Democrats, not only for the 2026 election but also for 2030. “Play your hits, S!” he concludes.

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Play your hits, S!