Democrats (Gothenburg political party)

Democrats
Demokraterna
LeaderMartin Wannholt
Founded2017
IdeologyLocalism[1]
Anti-West Link[2]
Political positionBig tent[1]
Gothenburg Municipal Council seats
5 / 81
Västra Götaland Regional Council seats
0 / 149
Website
https://demokraterna.se/

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]

  1. ^ a b "Demokraternas värderingar (in Swedish)" (PDF). Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "Demokraterna tänker inte samarbeta med något parti som är för Västlänken". September 3, 2018.
  3. ^ "PERLENBERG: Varför vill inte Demokraterna bli ett riktigt parti?".
  4. ^ "Västlänken".
  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.