Hej to everyone on the Scandinavian Politics list,
Just a brief word about changes in the middle of the party-political spectrum in Sweden and Denmark (thanks to Jacob Christensen for his contribution to the item on the latter). It will be interesting to see whether changes in policy and strategy follow changes in leadership.
- In Denmark, the Social Liberals dumped their long-serving leader, Marianne Jelved, following a meeting of the parliamentary group on Friday. Criticism of her within the party had grown since she distanced it earlier this year from its longstanding informal alliance with the Social Democrats, but without signalling any compromise in its opposition to basic elements in the right-wing government's policy, especially on immigration and tax. That seemed to leave the Social Liberals isolated. Jelved was also seriously weakened by the formation of a breakaway party, New Alliance, by Social Liberal defectors at the beginning of May (see newsletter 070505).
The Social Liberals' second in command, Margrethe Vestager, who had been heir apparent since the late 1990s, takes over as chair of the parliamentary group and as "political leader". In a statement on its website, the Social Liberals urge the governing Liberals and Conservatives, and also (perhaps a little oddly) New Alliance, to join it in "working for a government anchored in the centre, independent of the [radical right-wing] Danish People's Party". This opening to the moderate right could presage real change. Last year Jelved called the Liberal prime minister "a dangerous man".
Yet no concrete policy compromises have been signalled in the press; nor did a leading figure on the Social Liberals right wing get the deputy leader's job that he'd hoped for. It's not yet clear, then, how the isolation of the Danish People's Party will be achieved.
There are some curious aspects to the party's announcement of the leadership change. A policy statement by Vestager was posted on the party's YouTube channel on Thursday night, which suggests that the hand-over was prepared in advance. The design of the party website had also been updated by noon on Friday to feature Vestager. But the statement from the parliamentary group on Friday did not explicitly mention the change in leadership. It was only a later press release from the chair of the party organisation that named Vestager as the new political leader.
- Meanwhile, the Swedish Liberals' election committee (see newsletter of 070119 for more discussion of this very Swedish institution) yesterday proposed schools minister Jan Björklund as the party's new leader, which all but guarantees that he will be elected at the party's autumn congress. He will replace Lars Leijonborg, who announced in late May that he would be stepping down.
Leijonborg has led the party for a decade, with the 2002 election as his high point. But his support had been ebbing away since the hacking scandal that engulfed the Liberals in last year's election campaign, and his fate was sealed by their feeble opinion-poll figures since they entered government. Indeed, the scandal and its aftermath provoked something of a backlash within the party against the tougher, mildly populist direction in which Leijonborg had taken it.
Yet little about Björklund's background - he was a military officer before taking up politics, and made his name almost entirely through advocating greater order in Stockholm's schools - suggests much change of policy. The party's social-liberal left simply lacked a plausible and willing leadership candidate. Wherever Björklund wants to take the party policy-wise, however, any Liberal leader would face the same strategic dilemma: how to profile the party without alienating its coalition partners.
Have a great summer!
Best,
Nick Aylott.
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Dr Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer (docent) in political science
School of Social Sciences, Södertörn University College
SE-141 89 Huddinge, Sweden
www.sh.se/samhallsvetenskaper
