1985 Swedish general election

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1985 Swedish general election
Flag of Sweden.svg
←  1982 15 September 1985 1988  →
All 349 seats in the Riksdag
175 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  (Olof Palme) Felipe Gonzalez ofrece una rueda de prensa junto al primer ministro de Suecia. Pool Moncloa. 28 de septiembre de 1984 (cropped).jpeg Ulf Adelsohn 0c225 3181.jpg Bengt Westerberg2.jpg
Leader Olof Palme Ulf Adelsohn Bengt Westerberg
Party Social Democrats Moderate Liberals
Last election1668621
Seats won1597651
Seat changeDecrease2.svg7Decrease2.svg10Increase2.svg30
Popular vote2,487,5511,187,335792,268
Percentage44.68%21.33%14.23%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.93ppDecrease2.svg2.31ppIncrease2.svg8.33pp
 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Falldin.JPG Bundesarchiv Bild 183-N0701-023, Berlin, Erich Honecker, Lars Werner cropped.jpg Alf Svensson 2003-08-25 001 (cropped).jpg
Leader Thorbjörn Fälldin Lars Werner Alf Svensson
Party Centre Left-Communist Christian Democrats
Last election56200
Seats won43191
Seat changeDecrease2.svg13Decrease2.svg1Increase2.svg1
Popular vote490,999298,419131,548
Percentage8.82%5.36%2.36%
SwingDecrease2.svg6.46ppDecrease2.svg0.20ppIncrease2.svg0.49pp
Riksdagsvalet 1985.svg
Map of the election, showing the distribution of constituency and levelling seats, as well as the largest political bloc within each constituency.
PM before election

Olof Palme
Social Democrats

Elected PM

Olof Palme
Social Democrats

General elections were held in Sweden on 15 September 1985. [1] The Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in the Riksdag, winning 159 of the 349 seats. [2] Its leader, Olof Palme, kept his position as Prime Minister. He would retain this position successfully until his assassination in 1986.

Contents

Campaign

At a campaign meeting in Sundsvall on 22 August, Minister of Social Welfare Sten Andersson promised to increase the state pensions as a compensation for the price increases following the devaluation of the krona in 1982. The Social Democrat (Socialdemokraterna) government also stressed that it had managed to decrease the budget deficit from 90 billion to 60 billion kronas. The Social Democrats also promised not to increase taxes or lower the quality of the welfare system.

The Centre Party had a technical cooperation with the Christian Democrats. The Christian Democrats always received fewer votes than the 4% threshold for gaining seats to the Riksdag. The cooperation was criticized within the Centre Party. The aim was for both parties to gain votes, but in the end the Centre Party's share of the votes decreased in comparison to the previous election in 1982. The Christian Democrats only gained one seat in parliament for its leader, Alf Svensson.

The political debate was dominated by the Moderate Party and the Social Democrats. In January 1985, the Moderate Party had proposed in parliament a detailed plan with tax cuts and cuts in spending. The Social Democrats' leader Olof Palme managed to turn this against the Moderate Party by repeating the negative effects this would have on junior soccer teams. The Moderate Party was supported by 30 percent in an opinion poll by SIFO in June 1985, but its support decreased during the campaign.

The Liberal People's Party had chosen Bengt Westerberg as its party leader in October 1983; he had had trouble getting his message through, not least because of the party's small size in parliament and its only receiving 5.9 percent support in the 1982 election. However, in August Westerberg became viewed by the public as a calm and honest politician, in comparison to the constantly arguing Adelsohn and Palme. The Liberal People's Party was the big winner of the 1985 election, increasing its support to 14.2 percent.

Debates

1985 Swedish general election debates
DateTimeOrganisersModerators P  Present   I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee 
S M C L V Refs
28 August 1985P
Olof Palme 		P
Ulf Adelsohn 		N
Thorbjörn Fälldin 		N
Ola Ullsten 		N
Lars Werner 		[3]

Results

The Centre Party and Christian Democratic Unity (CDU) ran a joint list in some constituencies under the name "Centre". [4] One CDU candidate was elected on the Centre list, the first time the party had had parliamentary representation. [2]

Sweden Riksdag 1985.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Swedish Social Democratic Party 2,487,55144.68159–7
Moderate Party 1,187,33521.3376–10
People's Party 792,26814.2351+30
Centre Party 490,9998.8243–13
Left Party Communists 298,4195.3619–1
Christian Democratic Unity 131,5482.3600
Green Party 83,6451.5000
Centre (CDU–C)73,7111.321–
Other parties21,5460.3900
Total5,567,022100.003490
Valid votes5,567,02299.14
Invalid/blank votes48,2200.86
Total votes5,615,242100.00
Registered voters/turnout6,249,44589.85
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Seat distribution

ConstituencyTotal
seats		Seats won
By partyBy coalition
S M F C V KDS LeftRight
Älvsborg North 10422246
Älvsborg South 7321134
Blekinge 6311133
Bohus 12532257
Fyrstadskretsen 20963111010
Gävleborg 137212185
Gothenburg 187441299
Gotland 21111
Halland 10422246
Jämtland 531132
Jönköping 135322158
Kalmar 10521255
Kopparberg 126212175
Kristianstad12532257
Kronoberg 7321134
Malmöhus12532257
Norrbotten 117111183
Örebro 126221175
Östergötland 168322197
Skaraborg 11522256
Södermanland 9521154
Stockholm County 3614116231719
Stockholm Municipality 291195131415
Uppsala 115221165
Värmland 126212175
Västerbotten 115122165
Västernorrland 116112174
Västmanland 116211174
Total349159765143191178171
Source: Statistics Sweden


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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1858 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. 1 2 Nohlen & Stöver, p1873
  3. ↑ Valet 1985 - Duellen - Olof Palme (S) och Ulf Adelsohn (M) , retrieved 2024-02-01
  4. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1869
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