Analysis: The SD leader sharpens the rhetoric in the fight for right-wing voters

No other party that has made its way into Parliament has continued to grow as fast as the Swedish Democrats. In the 2010 election, the party gained 5.7 percent, in the last parliamentary election 17.5 percent.

But since the election last autumn, the rise in opinion has stopped.

On the contrary, SVT / Novus's latest voter survey showed that the party in June remained at 16.7 percent.

One explanation for the rise is broken is that it has become narrower on the political right-hand side. The Swedish Democrats have long been allowed to play alone on their own half in Swedish politics. That's not it anymore.

Now, both the Moderates and the Christian Democrats have reshaped their political rhetoric regarding issues such as migration, integration and crime. It reduces the room for the Swedish Democrats and may be a reason for the party's rise in opinion leveling out.

At the same time, KD leader Ebba Busch Thor is taking more and more space in the political debate. In doing so, she and her party threaten SD's continued expansion.

Of course, Jimmie Åkesson knows that, and so in his summer speech before the start of parliament he chooses to attack Ebba Busch Thor. He accuses her of lacking coverage in politics for the harsh rhetoric she often uses, not least in immigration policy. Her tone is harsh, but KD's policy is more reminiscent of the Environmental Party, says Åkesson in the speaker chair in Sölvesborg.

This is a sore point for the Christian Democrats. Ebba Busch Thor has consciously sharpened the rhetoric in both migration and integration to try to attract voters from the Moderates and the Swedish Democrats. However, the party's policy, especially with regard to migration, has not changed much.

Contrary to what many voters believe, for example, the Christian Democrats account for a much more generous family immigration than, for example, the Moderates and the Swedish Democrats.

This is perceived as a risk to the party, according to KD's election analysis after last autumn's parliamentary elections. So far, the strategy of attracting M and SD voters has succeeded beyond expectation, but Åkesson's attack on doubles can shatter hopes of continued electoral gains.

At the same time, Jimmie Åkesson has a difficult balance here. His ambition is to form a conservative bloc in the Riksdag with the Christian Democrats and the Moderates. That means he can't go too hard on Ebba Busch Thor. In addition, she is in fact the only party in parliament who sat down to talk with him. If he is to succeed in achieving something that can be called a conservative block in Parliament, Ebba Busch Thor is a key person.

When it comes to Social Democrats and Stefan Löfven, Jimmie Åkesson has no need to show restraint. On the contrary. The fact that the Social Democrats continue to be the main opponent of the SD, and so it will remain, was made clear by Jimmie Åkesson's speech.

The attacks on the Social Democrats were both numerous and harsh. The party was accused of crippling both Nazism and Islamism. At the same time, he attacked the Social Democrats to let Judaism in Sweden flourish and grow.

The head of the speech was largely aimed at what Jimmie Åkesson contemptuously calls "the left-liberal establishment". It is the government and the two cooperation parties, the Center Party and the Liberals, as well as the Left Party, who released Stefan Löfven as prime minister.

Interesting in this context, however, was that in the speech he chose not to specifically attack the Liberals or its party leader Nyamko Sabuni, which can be interpreted as being anxious to keep a door open if the current government cooperation were to crack.

Otherwise, government policy is governed by "reality-averse extremists", Åkesson ruled, accusing the government of electricity shortages, high fuel prices and a policy that shocks rural areas.

Of course, a lot was also about immigration policy. In addition, the large immigration has created a new underclass and is proof of the Social Democrats' hypocrisy, says the SD leader. According to Jimmie Åkesson, the summer shows explosions, shootings and rapes that "the decay of society continues".

The speech in Sölvesborg was held in front of enthusiastic followers. They like the harsh tone and one of the aims is of course to increase their commitment to the coming political year.

But the harsh language can also be interpreted as a sharpened tone before the start of parliament. After all, the new government majority means that the Swedish Democrats have been completely cut off from political power. Then it is important to hear and be seen all the more in the political debate.