Democrats (Gothenburg political party)

Democrats Demokraterna
Leader	Martin Wannholt
Founded	2017
Ideology	Localism [1] Anti-West Link [2]
Political position	Big tent [1]
Gothenburg Municipal Council seats	5 / 81
Västra Götaland Regional Council seats	0 / 149
Website
https://demokraterna.se/
Politics of Sweden Political parties Elections

The Democrats (Demokraterna) is a localist political party in Gothenburg Municipality. It has been represented in the municipal council since 2018 and is currently the fifth largest party in the council.

The party was formed as a cross-party coalition in 2017 by former Moderate Party politician Martin Wannholt, ^[3] aimed at halting construction of the West Link, a major railroad tunnel construction set to be completed in 2026. ^[4]

After the 2018 local elections, the Democrats held negotiations with the centre-right Alliance parties aimed at forming a coalition, which collapsed when the Democrats refused to budge on its central question and the coalition parties refused to consider dropping the project. ^{[5] [6]}

Electoral results

Gothenburg Municipal Council

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/-	Outcome
2018	60,013	16.95 (#2)	16 / 81	16	Opposition
2022	21,535	6.14 (#5)	5 / 81	11	Opposition

Västra Götaland Regional Council

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/-	Outcome
2018	37,163	3.44 (#9)	5 / 149	5	Opposition
2022	22,729	2.11 (#9)	0 / 149	5	No seats

References

1. "Demokraternas värderingar (in Swedish)" (PDF). Retrieved October 22, 2023.
2. Nyheter, S. V. T. (September 3, 2018). "Demokraterna tänker inte samarbeta med något parti som är för Västlänken". SVT Nyheter.
3. "PERLENBERG: Varför vill inte Demokraterna bli ett riktigt parti?". May 13, 2019.
4. "Västlänken". October 4, 2024.
5. Hultman, Alexander; Larsson, Arne; Abrahamsson, Anders (September 28, 2018). "Demokraterna avbryter förhandlingar med Alliansen". gp.se (in Swedish). Retrieved December 1, 2020.
6. Ulla Engberg (August 24, 2018). "New local party rattles established parties in Gothenburg". Sveriges Radio. Retrieved December 1, 2020.