The Centre Democrats ( sv, Centrumdemokraterna) was a minor political party 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 ...

, founded in 1974. While the party has described itself as a "centre alternative," it has been described externally as a right-wing populist party. It agitated against immigration from the 1980s, but toned down the issue in the 2000s, focusing more on local, social and economic issues. The party had some local representation from the 1970s, until 2006, when it lost its final local seat.

History

The party was founded in June 1974 by the lead of John Görnebrand of

Simrishamn Simrishamn (old da, Simmershavn) is a locality and the seat of Simrishamn Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 6,527 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Simrishamn is, for historical reasons, usually still referred to as a ''c ...

as an alliance of multiple local parties in Scania. It was mainly modeled after the Danish Centre Democrats, including influences from

Mogens Glistrup Mogens Glistrup (28 May 1926 in Rønne – 1 July 2008 in Virum) was a Danish politician, lawyer and tax protester. He founded the Progress Party, and was a member of the Folketing (1973–1983 and 1987–1990). He had his parliamentary immunity ...

and his Progress Party. The party won several local municipal seats in elections during the 1970s and 1980s, and was even represented in the municipal government in

Båstad Båstad () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden, with approximately 5,000 permanent residents. It is however one of Sweden's most typical summer resorts. The population is presumably more ...

in a cooperation with the Moderate Party after the 1979 election. Before the 1982 election, Harry Franzén was elected as new party chairman, and the party started to focus considerably more on immigration issues. The party began speaking against immigrant native language education and called the refugee policy a "travel agency mafia" for refugees. During the

Refugee controversy in Sjöbo The refugee controversy in Sjöbo, Sweden are the surrounding events of the 1988 referendum that banned Sjöbo Municipality from admitting foreign refugees. In 1987, despite opposition and demonstrations, local Centre Party politician Sven-Oll ...

, the party supported the side of Sven-Olle Olsson. Right after the 1988 election, the Centre Democrats split in two factions, led by Harry Franzén and John Nielsen. Nielsen broke away in early 1989 with the local Svedala chapter, and turned it into a local chapter of the Progress Party. By the 1991 election, he had however gone back to the Centre Democrats. In turn, many leading members of the Centre Democrats went over to New Democracy by the same election. By 1997, the party had just around 300 members. For the

2006 election The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidential ...

the party lost its final local representation, a seat it had held in

Svalöv Svalöv () is a locality and the seat of Svalöv Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 3,633 inhabitants in 2010. It is around north of Malmö. Sports The following sports clubs are located in Svalöv: * Svalövs BK Division 4 is the si ...

Election results

Local representation

1976 election; 2 mandates in

and 2 in

. 1979 election; 4 mandates in Simrishamn, 3 in Båstad, 1 in

Rättvik Rättvik is a locality on the eastern shore of the lake Siljan and the seat of Rättvik Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden, with 4,686 inhabitants in 2010. Its bandy club IFK Rättvik has reached the highest division Elitserien and has bu ...

and 4 in

. 1982 election; 3 mandates in Simrishamn. 1985 election; 2 mandates in Simrishamn. 1988 election; 3 mandates in Simrishamn, 1 in Båstad, 2 in Svedala and 3 in Svalöv. 1991 election; 6 mandates in Simrishamn and 4 in Svalöv. 1994 election; 5 mandates in Simrishamn and 3 in Svalöv. 1998 election; 5 mandates in Simrishamn and 3 in Svalöv. 2002 election; 1 mandate in Svalöv.

Party chairmen

* John Görnebrand (1974–1982) * Harry Franzén (1982–2006)

References

External links

Official website
in mirrors from the Internet Archive {{Authority control Centrist parties in Sweden 1974 establishments in Sweden Political parties established in 1974 Defunct political parties in Sweden