Quick facts
Party name in Swedish: Liberalerna
Leader: Simona Mohamsson
Current number of seats in parliament: 16
Vote share in the last election (2022): 4.61 percent
Part of the current governing coalition?: Yes.
Current ministerial posts: Education and Integration (Simona Mohamsson); Employment (Johan Britz); Upper Secondary School, Higher Education, and Research (Lotta Edholm); Climate and Environment (Romina Pourmokhtari).
2026 election slogan: För din frihet (for your freedom)
Party background
The Liberals in their current configuration formed in 1934, as The People's Party (Folkpartiet), but has its roots in the early days of the 20th century along with the other historical parties in Sweden. That earlier incarnation, called the Free-Minded National Association, grew out of Sweden's suffrage movement and was formed in 1902.
Throughout most of the 20th century the party stood in the centre of the political spectrum, with a core ideological focus on individual freedoms. In the 1980s it began to move more centre-right, supporting free market liberalism and rejecting many of the social state policies of the governing Social Democrats. In 1990 its name was changed to The Liberal People's Party (it was in 2015 that they dropped "people's" and became just "The Liberals").
In the 21st century the party has made social integration a policy priority, along with education. Since the last election, in 2022, the Liberals have been part of Sweden's governing coalition (called the Tidö coalition), along with the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, and the Sweden Democrats.
Key priorities in the 2026 election
Education and integration, with an emphasis on education.
What are their positions on key issues?
Immigration
As part of the current governing coalition, the Liberals have supported the many stricter immigration laws passed by Sweden's current government (although a notable chunk of their MPs were conspicuously absent for the vote on new citizenship laws).
In their 2026 election platform, the Liberals say they want to attract top international talent by introducing a points-based system for labour immigration on the Canadian model, and create a new start-up visa for international entrepreneurs.
The rest of their immigration platform falls pretty squarely in line with the type of laws they have helped pass over the last four years, with a focus on: tightly regulated migration policy; mandatory language and civics tests for citizenship; deporting non-citizens who commit crimes or "undermine democratic values and laws"; and requiring "personal responsibility, work, Swedish language skills, and self-sufficiency [as] prerequisites for becoming part of Swedish society".
The economy (including cost-of-living and taxes)
The Liberals support lower taxes on higher incomes, with the ultimate goal of halving current tax amounts on high earners. They also support tax cuts for anyone who works and make hiring "cheaper and easier". They also want to chop public sector jobs, stating the specific goal of 20,000 fewer bureaucratic support public sector jobs by 2030.
Their policy platform also includes tax cuts for families with children, including a child tax cut of 10,000 kr per child per year, and another tax credit for families with children under 12 (Småbarns-RUT). They also want to introduce tax-free savings on ISK (Investment Savings Account) of up to 500,000 kronor.
Healthcare
In line with their ideological focus on individual freedoms, the Liberals include most of their healthcare policy positions in an election platform section called "When you need society [social services] the most" (När du behöver samhället som mest).
Their healthcare policies emphasise patient choice (including every resident in Sweden getting to have a family doctor), reducing medical bureaucracy (details on how are not given), and better mental health and addiction care. The Liberals also support improved maternity care (including individualised midwife and postpartum care, as well as the right to choose a caesarean section birth), and the expansion of IVF (raising age limits and introducing the right to sibling treatments).
Climate
The Liberals focus on a "technology-driven" approach to climate issues, emphasising market mechanisms like the EU Emissions Trading System, carbon-free energy development (especially nuclear power, but also renewable energy like solar and wind power), and forest conservation.
The party supports Sweden reaching the EU's target of net-zero emissions by 2050 wants to see Sweden put pressure on the countries in Europe and around the world which are responsible for the most carbon emissions.
Crime, security and defence
The Liberals' party platform links gang crime prevention with education and integration, saying the party wants to "catch risk signals early" via strengthening preventative measures in schools, preschools, and child healthcare centres (BVC).
In section five, the party states their support for increased police presence in neighbourhoods, victims' right to redress, and dismantling the economic networks that support gang crime in Sweden (although they're light on detail on how this might be done). On borders, they say they want to see a common EU border guard system to control Europe's borders.
On the national and international defence front, the Liberals have long been proponents of Sweden in Nato and as a strong active member of the EU. Their 2026 election platform includes policy points about stepping up sanctions on Russia and Belarus, strengthening Sweden's total defence, and an explicit plan to enable Ukraine to become a full EU member.
Education
Since education is probably the Liberals' top priority, it gets a lot of space in their election platform.
Their list in this category is long and includes small class sizes, Swedish-language learning for all young children, no screens in preschools, improved salaries and working conditions for teachers, special classes for students with behaviour problems, investment in physical school buildings, phasing out for-profit schools, nationalising schools (currently under municipal jurisdiction), focusing on equal treatment for girls in schools, and eliminating religious schools.
Their full education policy positions can be found in the first two sections of their election platform – called En trygg start i livet ("A safe start in life") and Kunskap som öppnar dörrar ("Knowledge that opens doors").
Which of the other parties will they work with?
As is typical with proportional representation political systems, Swedish governments are often built as coalitions, with multiple parties needing to work together. How many parties have power or influence, and in what ways, can vary a great deal based on the outcome of a given election, and a common question asked of party leaders during election time in Sweden is which of the other parties they would be willing to work with in a governing coalition.
So what have the Liberals said?
The Liberals were the first to cross the long-held red line in Swedish politics against allowing the far-right Sweden Democrats into government (which, in Sweden, means having ministerial portfolios).
In a widely-reported position swing, Liberal leader Simona Mohamsson and Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson announced this past March that they had struck a 15-point deal in which, in the case of an election victory for the Tidö coalition, the Liberal party would agree to support the Sweden Democrats in government in exchange for Sweden Democrat support of some key Liberal policy positions.
Since the Liberal party had long held quite firm on its opposition to allowing the Sweden Democrats (which, as a far-right nationalist party, have some fundamentally illiberal tenets) into government, the recent position swing divided party leadership. It also paved the way for the Moderates to follow suit and announce that they, too, would allow the Sweden Democrats into government if re-elected this September.
What are their chances?
Slim to none. The latest numbers from the highly respected election poll done by Statistics Sweden showed the Liberals at 2.5 percent, far below the 4 percent threshold needed for the party to get any seats in parliament. But the votes aren't counted until they've been cast on September 13th.
This is the first article in a series taking a deep dive into the eight Swedish parties' election platforms. We've based the series on the issues The Local's readers told us in a survey earlier in 2026 that you were interested in.
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