'Swedes are fed up with the Moderates': analyst
Oliver Gee - [email protected]
Published: 25 May, 2014 CET.
Updated: Sun 25 May 2014 22:23 CET
Södertörn University political scientist Nick Aylott summarized the EU election exit polls as a good day for small parties - but added that there was nothing worth getting excited about.
"No one will be carried away with manic depression or extreme joy over these results," he told The Local. "But it will be a very different story with the national elections in September." "In general, it's been a good day for small parties and the feminists made the real breakthrough. Now, Sweden's 20 mandates will be even more thinly spread among nine parties compared to eight last time around," he said. Aylott added that the there were two parties that could breathe a big sigh of relief. "The Centre Party and the Christian Democrats, who are both staring oblivion in the face in national politics, get a significant moral boost in keeping their mandates," he said. He blamed the Moderates' fall on a "lacklustre" campaign without a clear message. "Above all, people are just fed up with them. The whole government seems stranded. They've been running out of ideas for weeks and they paid the price for it today." Despite the Social Democrats performing the best, Aylott said that their campaign wasn't much better. "The party itself is divided on the EU, they're never going to be comfortable with it. And they ran a dour and unenthusiastic campaign, which will never fire up voter enthusiasm," he said. "Above all, they suffered from the success of parties on the central left of the spectrum," he said, adding that the Greens and Feminists were likely most responsible for the vote stealing.
Comments
See Also
"No one will be carried away with manic depression or extreme joy over these results," he told The Local. "But it will be a very different story with the national elections in September."
"In general, it's been a good day for small parties and the feminists made the real breakthrough. Now, Sweden's 20 mandates will be even more thinly spread among nine parties compared to eight last time around," he said.
Aylott added that the there were two parties that could breathe a big sigh of relief.
"The Centre Party and the Christian Democrats, who are both staring oblivion in the face in national politics, get a significant moral boost in keeping their mandates," he said.
He blamed the Moderates' fall on a "lacklustre" campaign without a clear message.
"Above all, people are just fed up with them. The whole government seems stranded. They've been running out of ideas for weeks and they paid the price for it today."
Despite the Social Democrats performing the best, Aylott said that their campaign wasn't much better.
"The party itself is divided on the EU, they're never going to be comfortable with it. And they ran a dour and unenthusiastic campaign, which will never fire up voter enthusiasm," he said.
"Above all, they suffered from the success of parties on the central left of the spectrum," he said, adding that the Greens and Feminists were likely most responsible for the vote stealing.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.