Local parties are gaining more and more power - are now cooperating before the election

Benny Engberg is vice chairman of the municipal board and represents the Bollnäs party, the local party he was part of and started just over ten years ago.

Their most important issue was that the population in the municipality would increase.

- "If you get a mandate, you should be happy".

So it sounded the first time we lined up.

But we got six seats and became the second largest party in Bollnäs, he says.

Therefore, local parties achieve success

In the last two elections, the local parties around the country have taken more and more seats in the municipal council.

From 514 seats in the 2010 election to 575 seats in the most recent election in 2018. Today, local parties are involved and govern in 49 municipalities, according to figures from Sweden's municipalities and regions.

- On the one hand, we are not as convinced supporters of political parties anymore.

On the one hand, it has become increasingly common to share votes.

Up to a third of voters vote for different parties in the parliamentary and municipal elections.

Thus, there is an opportunity for local parties to achieve success, says Sofie Blombäck, political scientist at Mid Sweden University.

Both pros and cons

To grow even more, 25 parties are now investing in Local Parties' networks, the purpose of which is to exchange experiences with each other, for the first time in a national campaign.

An animated film about voice sharing.

Benny Engberg is chairman of the network.

- The network exists so that we can help each other in various issues and with this film we hope to be able to spread the issue of voice sharing.

That is what we want to describe, he says.

Political party Sofie Blombäck sees both advantages and disadvantages that local parties would gain more power in Sweden's municipalities.

- It can contribute to deadlocks in the municipality that can make it difficult to form majorities.

But it can also contribute to solutions in various collaborations because you can become more detached from what the bloc policy looks like at the national level, she says.