Sweden election 2022

[palandio]

it is interesting how Sweden is now following Norway in this new configuration whereby the Centre/Sentre party is part of the red bloc rather than the blue bloc. Any explanation for this? What parties in Finland and Denmark would be equivalent to the Centre party?   

Equivalent to the Swedish or to the Norwegian Centre Party?

Because as far as I understand the Swedish Centre Party has shifted towards the socially left, fiscally right (or "woke neo-liberal") quadrant in recent years, the Norwegian Centre Party on the other hand not at all.

From a historical point of view the Swedish, the Norwegian and the Finnish Centre Party and the Icelandic Progressive Party are all "Agrarian" parties. The Danish party that comes closest (historically) are actually the Liberals (Venstre).

The Swedish Centre Party in its current outlook is more comparable to the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre) in Denmark or to D66 in the Netherlands.

[palandio]

Why weren't the swedish liberal party able to occupy that political space ?

I'm not an expert in Swedish politics, so take the following with a grain of salt.

The Liberals have always been the most pro-Western and pro-NATO party in Sweden and a significant part of their leadership, membership and voter based has been rather security-oriented, sometimes even by profession. Anyways during the 2000s as far as I know the dominant wing of the party cultivated a (by Swedish standards) law and order image which made the party less attractive to the most socially liberal potential members and voters.

The Centre Party on the other hand was a party that had a slowly shrinking agrarian base and was looking for new issues. During the 2000s Maud Olofsson moved the party into the aforementioned direction and a self-reinforcing process started in which newly attracted members and voters moved the party further into that direction.

That's how I would explain it. Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong (even partially).

[palandio]

it is interesting how Sweden is now following Norway in this new configuration whereby the Centre/Sentre party is part of the red bloc rather than the blue bloc. Any explanation for this? What parties in Finland and Denmark would be equivalent to the Centre party?   

Equivalent to the Swedish or to the Norwegian Centre Party?

Because as far as I understand the Swedish Centre Party has shifted towards the socially left, fiscally right (or "woke neo-liberal") quadrant in recent years, the Norwegian Centre Party on the other hand not at all.

From a historical point of view the Swedish, the Norwegian and the Finnish Centre Party and the Icelandic Progressive Party are all "Agrarian" parties. The Danish party that comes closest (historically) are actually the Liberals (Venstre).

The Swedish Centre Party in its current outlook is more comparable to the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre) in Denmark or to D66 in the Netherlands.

It's more complex than that, both the Danish liberal and social liberals were agrarian parties but represented two different groups.

The liberals represented mid-size farmers (the farming middle class), while the social liberal represented the small farmers (the farming working class). but because Denmark is warmer and have better soil, the small farmers the social liberals represented compare better to the traditional farmers in the other Nordic countries.

Thank you for the correction.

Would it be right to say though that the social liberals lost their agrarian orientation earlier than the liberals?