1948 Swedish general election

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1948 Swedish general election
Flag of Sweden.svg
  1944 19 September 1948 1952  

All 230 seats in the Andra kammaren of the Riksdag
116 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Tage Erlander 1952.jpg Bertil Ohlin.jpg Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp.jpg
Leader Tage Erlander Bertil Ohlin Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp
Party Social Democrats People's Party Farmers' League
Last election1152635
Seats won1125730
Seat changeDecrease2.svg3Increase2.svg31Decrease2.svg5
Popular vote1,789,459882,437480,421
Percentage46.1%22.7%12.4%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Fritiof Domo 1959.JPG Sven Linderot.jpg
Leader Fritiof Domö Sven Linderot
Party Right Communist
Last election3915
Seats won238
Seat changeDecrease2.svg16Decrease2.svg7
Popular vote478,786244,826
Percentage12.3%6.3%

Riksdagsvalet 1948.svg
Largest bloc and seats won by constituency

PM before election

Tage Erlander
Social Democrats

Elected PM

Tage Erlander
Social Democrats

General elections were held in Sweden on 19 September 1948. [1] Despite a campaign by a large part of the Swedish press against socializing insurances, controlled foreign trade and rationing regulations still in use since the war, freshman Prime Minister and Social Democratic leader Tage Erlander managed to defeat the People's Party-led opposition under Bertil Ohlin by a higher election turnout. He maintained his government with only minor losses and the Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party, winning 112 of the 230 seats in the Andra kammaren of the Riksdag. [2] Erlander was to stay on as Prime Minister until 1969.

The election has been described as "one of the fiercest ever" by Rikard Westerberg. [3] The election dealt mostly with the freedom of the business community. Tage Erlander described the ferocity of the election in his memoirs, writing, "the political battle also became more focused on individuals than we were used to in Sweden. And it was crazy personal attacks!". [3] According to Westerberg, the block opposing the social democrats thought the Social democrats will tighten control over business freedoms, will lead to mismangment and "economic dictatorship". [3] The social democrats accused the opposition head, Bertil Ohlin of being a servant to the business community. [3]

Westerberg writes that the election was also defined by Russian expansionism as the Russian backed communists seized power through a coup d'état in February 1948, while Sweden declared neutrality in the Cold war the very same month. [3] [4] At the same time, the Swedish economy was enjoying significant expansion thanks to American investment through the Marshall plan. [3]

Results

Sweden Riksdag 1948.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Swedish Social Democratic Party 1,789,45946.13112–3
People's Party 882,43722.7557+31
Farmers' League 480,42112.3930–5
National Organisation of the Right 478,78612.3423–16
Communist Party 244,8266.318–7
Left Socialist Party 2,9430.0800
Other parties1190.0000
Total3,878,991100.002300
Valid votes3,878,99199.58
Invalid/blank votes16,1700.42
Total votes3,895,161100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,707,78382.74
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, SCB

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References

  1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1858 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p1872
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dahl, Svend (2022-08-18). "SMEDJAN | Valet då näringsfriheten stod på spel". Timbro (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  4. Berglund, Sten; Thomsen, SöRen Risbjerg; WöRlund, Ingemar (June 1991). "The mobilization of the Swedish vote: An ecological analysis of the general elections of 1928, 1948 and 1968". European Journal of Political Research. 19 (4): 413–424. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1991.tb01195.x. ISSN   0304-4130.