A municipal council ( sv, Kommunfullmäktige) is the decision-making body governing each of the 290
municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges kommuner) are its lower-level local government entities. There are 290 municipalities which are responsible for a large proportion of local services, including schools, emergency services and physical ...
. Though the
Swedish Local Government Act ( sv, Kommunallagen) uses the term "municipal assembly" in an English translation of the Act, "municipal council" and even "city council" are used as well, even in official contexts in English by several of Sweden's largest municipalities, including
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
, and
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
.
[City of Göteborg: "The City Council" (English)]
This system of administrative division was established with the municipal reform of 1971. Prior to this reform, municipal governance in Sweden was conducted by either a ''kommunalfullmäktige'' (municipal council in rural areas) or a ''stadsfullmäktige'' (city council in urban areas).
The number of members in each assembly can range from 21 to 101, depending on the population of the municipality in question. Members of the assemblies are chosen to serve for four-year terms through elections using a
party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
system. These
municipal elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
are held on the second Sunday of September, the same day as
Swedish parliamentary elections.
The term ''kommunfullmäktige'' is also used by
Swedish-speakers in Finland, where it corresponds to the ''kunnanvaltuusto'' with the same meaning.
References
External links
Swedish Local Government Act in English
{{authority control
Local government in Sweden
Municipalities of Sweden
sv:Kommunfullmäktige