General elections were held in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on 16 September 1956.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1858 The

Swedish Social Democratic Party The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...

remained the largest party, winning 106 of the 231 seats in the

Andra kammaren The Andra kammaren (lit. Second Chamber) was the lower house of the bicameral Riksdag of Sweden between 1866 and 1970 that replaced the Riksdag of the Estates. The upper house was the Första kammaren. At the time of its abolition the chamb ...

of the

Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

. A Social Democratic-

Farmers' League Farmers' League (german: Bund der Landwirte, BdL, cs, Německý svaz zemědělců) was an ethnic German agrarian political party in Czechoslovakia. Ideologically the party was moderately conservative, having its base in the Sudetenland countr ...

coalition government was formed by Prime Minister

Tage Erlander Tage Fritjof Erlander (; 13 June 1901 – 21 June 1985) was a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1946 to 1969. He was the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and led the government for an uninterrupted tenur ...

after the election with 125 of the total of 231 seats. Although the non-socialist parties held a majority in the Second Chamber, the Social Democrats held a majority in the First Chamber, so a non-socialist government could not be formed. The election was dominated by economic issues. The right-wing opposition focused issues such as taxes on income and companies, as well as regulation in the construction sector. The Erlander government mainly put front social policy and its policy of full employment. Through the use of radio and television the election was now more centralized than ever, with increased focus on the party leaders. A new generation of younger and more fiery party leaders had been elected between 1944-1950, which effected the climate of the debate. The tendencies of the previous election continued, with both governing parties losing seats, the Farmers league more so than the Social democrats. The election triggered a discussion within the farmers league about parting from the governing coalition, as the governing parties had a difference of opinion on several issues since the past election. In the end however the farmers league decided to stay in government with the Social democrats, with the coalition breaking up over the question of pension reform in 1957, leading to the formation of Tage Erlander's third government and a snap election in 1958.Grenholm, Gunvor, p77

Results

References

{{Swedish elections General elections in Sweden

1956 elections in Sweden