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Centre Party (Sweden)

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"Centerpartiet" and "Centern" redirect here. For the Finnish Centre Party which in Swedish goes by the same names, see Centre Party (Finland).

Centre Party
Centerpartiet
LeaderAnnie Lööf
Founded1913
HeadquartersStora Nygatan 4, Gamla stan, Stockholm
Youth wingCentre Party Youth
Membership37,340 (2009)[1]
IdeologyLiberalism[2]
Social liberalism[3]
Agrarianism[4]
Political positionCentre-right[5][6]
National affiliationThe Alliance
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
European Parliament groupAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliationLiberal International
ColorsGreen
Riksdag
22 / 349
European Parliament
1 / 20
County councils[7]
118 / 1,597
Municipal councils[8]
1,411 / 12,780
Website
http://www.centerpartiet.se/

The Centre Party[10] (Template:Lang-sv, abbreviated C) is a liberal,[11][12] agrarian,[11][12] and social-liberal[3] political party in Sweden. Traditionally part of the Nordic agrarian family, the party has increasingly shifted its focus towards environmental protection, criticism of nuclear power, and decentralisation of governmental authority.[5]

The party was founded in 1913 as the Farmers' League (Template:Lang-sv). In 1922 it merged with Jordbrukarnas Riksförbund (National Farmers Union). The name of the party was changed from Bondeförbundet in 1957. At that time it had been the closest ally of the Social Democrats for 25 years, and its coalition partners between 1936 and 1945 as well as between 1951 and 1957, but it has since revised this strategy in order to establish a closer long-term alliance between the centre-right (Swedish borgerlig, lit. "bourgeois" or "nonsocialist") parties, that achieved power between 1976 and 1982 and between 1991 and 1994. Torbjörn Fälldin was the leader of the Centre Party and Prime Minister in 1976–1982, except a short interregnum in 1978–1979 by Liberal People's Party leader Ola Ullsten. The Centre Party again joined a centre-right government following the 1991 election led by Moderate Party leader Carl Bildt. During the leaderships of Maud Olofsson and Annie Lööf in the 2000s the party has positioned itself clearly on the political right as a small business-friendly party, leaning towards neoliberal and libertarian policies and viewing the Social Democrats as its main opponent.[5][6][13]

In 2005 the Centre Party sold its ownership of the newspaper group Centertidningar AB for 1.8 billion SEK,[14] thus making it the richest political party in the world.[15]

2006 Election

The 2006 Swedish election was a success for the Centre Party. Its support had been slowly increasing through recent elections; in 1998 it received 5.1% of the votes, and this increased to 6.2% in 2002.[16] In the 2006 elections 7.88% of the vote went to the Centre Party, entitling them to 29 of the 349 seats in the Swedish Riksdag.[17] Furthermore, their alliance with the other parties in the Alliance for Sweden, a coalition which won a majority of parliament seats in this election, meant that the Centre Party shared the ministry posts with their Alliance for Sweden allies: the Moderate Party, the Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats.

Specific standpoints

Immigration

Centerpartiet is a pro-immigration party, and in their campaign for the Swedish general election, 2006, they proposed to double the number of immigrants entering Sweden to 90,000 persons, or 1 per cent of the Swedish population. This was to be facilitated by issuing green cards.[18]

In late 2012 the party stated it wanted to open the borders completely to immigration, including removing requirements for some degree of job skills and a clean criminal record. The party stressed the Canadian model and referred to it as a more successful one, stating that had Sweden had followed it the population of Sweden would have been over 40 million in 2012.[19] Along with other controversial new proposals, which included to make polygamy legal and end compulsory schooling, this caused turmoil with parts of the party's traditional rural base who claimed that the new proposals displayed a great rift between them and the party's neo-liberal "Stockholm centre".[20][21]

European Union

Centerpartiet advocates a federative model for the European Union, governed by the principle of subsidiarity.[citation needed] The party is against the introduction of the euro in Sweden, and was a part of the winning no-side in the euro referendum in 2003.

In the European Parliament the Centre Party is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party.[22]

Election results

Election year # of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall seats won 		+/– Government
1914 (Sep) 1,507 0.2 (#4)
0 / 230
 0 in opposition
1917 39,262 5.3 (#5)
9 / 230
 Increase 9 in opposition
1920 52,318 7.9 (#4)
20 / 230
 Increase 11 in opposition
1921 192,269 11.0 (#4)
21 / 230
 Decrease 9 in opposition
1924 190,396 10.8 (#4)
23 / 230
 Increase 2 in opposition
1928 263,501 11.2 (#4)
27 / 230
 Increase 4 in opposition
1932 321,215 14.1 (#3)
36 / 230
 Increase 9 in opposition
1936 418,840 14.4 (#3)
36 / 230
 Steady 0 in opposition
1940 344,345 12.0 (#3)
28 / 230
 Decrease 8 in government
1944 421,094 13.6 (#3)
35 / 230
 Increase 7 in government
1948 480,421 12.4 (#3)
30 / 230
 Decrease 5 in opposition
1952 406,183 10.7 (#4)
26 / 230
 Decrease 4 in government
1956 366,612 9.5 (#4)
19 / 231
 Increase 7 in government
1958 486,760 12.7 (#4)
32 / 231
 Increase 13 in opposition
1960 579,007 13.6 (#4)
34 / 232
 Increase 2 in opposition
1964 559,632 13.2 (#4)
36 / 233
 Increase 1 in opposition
1968 757,215 15.7 (#2)
39 / 233
 Increase 3 in opposition
1970 991,208 19.9 (#2)
71 / 350
 Increase 32 in opposition
1973 1,295,246 25.1 (#2)
90 / 350
 Increase 19 in opposition
1976 1,309,669 24.1 (#2)
86 / 349
 Decrease 4 in government
1979 984,589 18.1 (#3)
64 / 349
 Decrease 22 in government
1982 859,618 15.5 (#3)
56 / 349
 Decrease 8 in opposition
1985 490,999 8.8 (#4)
43 / 349
 Decrease 13 in opposition
1988 607,240 11.3 (#4)
42 / 349
 Decrease 1 in opposition
1991 465,356 8.5 (#4)
31 / 349
 Decrease 11 in government
1994 425,153 7.7 (#3)
27 / 349
 Decrease 4 in opposition
1998 269,762 5.1 (#5)
18 / 349
 Decrease 9 in opposition
2002 328,428 6.19 (#6)
22 / 349
 Increase 4 in opposition
2006 437,389 7.88 (#3)
29 / 349
 Increase 7 in government
2010 390,804 6.56 (#5)
23 / 349
 Decrease 6 in government
2014 370,834 6.1 (#5)
22 / 349
 Decrease 1 in opposition

Voters

Centre Party election results for 2006, showing the significant focus of Centre Party support in rural areas.
  0-4.9%
  5-7.8%
  8-11.9%
  12-15.9%
  16%+

Traditionally, most of the voters and votebank come from rural areas and quite a few are farmers and agricultural producers. In recent years however, since the takeover of Maud Olofsson the party has been attracting liberal voters from urban areas in central Sweden. It is believed that voters from the Liberal People's Party have been moving to the Centre Party due to changes in both parties.[23]

Party Leaders

Current Members of Parliament

See also

References

  1. ^ Cederholm, Robert; Eliasson, Anders (15 March 2010). "Partierna tappar medlemmar". SVT.
  2. ^ Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  3. ^ a b Hans Slomp (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. p. 433. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8.
  4. ^ Policy Reform and Adjustment in the Agricultural Sectors of Developed Countries. CABI. 2006. p. 110. ISBN 9781845930332. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b c "The Centre Party - Centerpartiet", Sveriges Radio/Radio Sweden
  6. ^ a b "Guide: Centerpartiets historia och ideologi", DN, 2011-04-18
  7. ^ "2014: Val till landstingsfullmäktige - Valda", Valmyndigheten, 2014-09-28
  8. ^ "2014: Val till kommunfullmäktige - Valda", Valmyndigheten, 2014-09-26
  9. ^ "Google Translate". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Other languages - Centerpartiet". Centerpartiet. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. ^ a b Svante Ersson; Jan-Erik Lane (28 December 1998). Politics and Society in Western Europe. SAGE. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7619-5862-8. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  12. ^ a b T. Banchoff (28 June 1999). Legitimacy and the European Union. Taylor & Francis. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-415-18188-4. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  13. ^ "'The Centre Party is a confused party': expert", The Local, 14 Jan 2013
  14. ^ Så styckas Centertidningar - Reklam & Media - E24.se
  15. ^ Privata Affärer - Centern blir världens rikaste politiska parti
  16. ^ Väljarbarometern samtliga
  17. ^ Allmänna val 17 september 2006
  18. ^ Centern vill fördubbla invandringen - Sverige - Sydsvenskan - Nyheter dygnet runt
  19. ^ "C vill ha helt fri invandring". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  20. ^ "Centre Party split over radical proposals", The Local, 29 Dec 2012
  21. ^ "Centre Party faces internal rebellion", The Local, 05 Jan 2013
  22. ^ "ALDE Party members". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  23. ^ "Towards a two-party system? The Swedish parliamentary election of September 2006", Nicholas Aylott and Niklas Bolin, West European Politics, 2007 forthcoming
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