Think of the Djurgården Boys - A Co-Operative Wikibox TL
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(A short update coming up here)
When Brian Mulroney stepped down as leader of the Progressive Conservatives in June of 1993 and Jean Charest was elected leader, the party was at rock bottom in all the opinion polls. Charest's election didn't provide that much of a bump and the party seemed to be a on the road to certain decimation from three sides, by their old enemies the Liberals and the insurgent Bloc Québécois and Reform parties.
After the writ was dropped however, the PCs proved most capable of running an effective campaign which slowly but surely ate into the Liberal's lead nationally, Reform's lead out west and turned Quebec into a three-way race. But their well executed campaign wasn't near enough to give the PCs a third consecutive term in office and the Liberals swept to power with 170 seats, making Jean Chrétien Canada's next Prime Minister.
The PCs managed to hold on to their status status as one of the top two parties, a feat that had seemed most difficult only a few months earlier, while the newly formed Bloc Québécois won 35 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House of Commons and became the third largest party. The Reform Party won 22 seats entirely out west, though a lesser number than what was expected earlier in the campaign, while the NDP vote completely collapsed and they ended up with 6.9% and 9 seats, losing official party status.
When Brian Mulroney stepped down as leader of the Progressive Conservatives in June of 1993 and Jean Charest was elected leader, the party was at rock bottom in all the opinion polls. Charest's election didn't provide that much of a bump and the party seemed to be a on the road to certain decimation from three sides, by their old enemies the Liberals and the insurgent Bloc Québécois and Reform parties.
After the writ was dropped however, the PCs proved most capable of running an effective campaign which slowly but surely ate into the Liberal's lead nationally, Reform's lead out west and turned Quebec into a three-way race. But their well executed campaign wasn't near enough to give the PCs a third consecutive term in office and the Liberals swept to power with 170 seats, making Jean Chrétien Canada's next Prime Minister.
The PCs managed to hold on to their status status as one of the top two parties, a feat that had seemed most difficult only a few months earlier, while the newly formed Bloc Québécois won 35 of Quebec's 75 seats in the House of Commons and became the third largest party. The Reform Party won 22 seats entirely out west, though a lesser number than what was expected earlier in the campaign, while the NDP vote completely collapsed and they ended up with 6.9% and 9 seats, losing official party status.
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Towards the end of 1995 Neil Kinnock had been Prime Minister for about four and a half years to some success. The minimum wage had been implemented and begrudgingly accepted by the Tories in opposition, Scotland had been given its own devolved parliament in 1993 and after a slump the economy was recovering slowly but surely. As it looked increasingly likely that the next election would be held in the spring of 1996 the Labour Party was already gearing up for the campaign, with former Downing Street Director of Communications Peter Mandelson who was elected to the Commons in a '94 by-election being put in charge of the campaign and appointed to the cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. But then some difficulties came along...
The Labour Party had never had good relationship with The Sun or any parts of the Murdoch owned press, with the afromentioned tabloid running some particularly damning campaigns against Neil Kinnock during the '91 and '92 elections. So when they ran a frontpage in late September alledging that Neil Kinnock was suffering from a deadly illness most people took it with a grain of salt, and indeed it was not true. However it was not a rumor created in a vacuum as Kinnock had for a long time begun to look more pale and frail, while he had reduced his public appearances. The talk about Kinnock's health eventually wound up into a frenzy despite his attempts to dispell the talk, and the increased number of public appearances taken by Chancellor Gordon Brown certainly didn't help. The satire show Spitting Image even ran a skit during an October episode which portrayed Kinnock as Lenin's corspe laying in a glass casket, while Brown was a Scottish Stalin who sent off cabinet members to gulags on a whim.
While he today maintains that the press speculation didn't influence his decision to step down as party leader, Kinnock went on a PR tour in mid-October, going on both Newsnight and the Today Programme to attempt and dispel rumours of his poor health. According to polls he was somewhat successful with only a small number of people believing the various rumours of Kinnock being in danger of dying, but a great deal still had the impression that he was tired. It was therefore a great surprise when Kinnock in late October announced that he would tender his resignation as leader of the Labour Party with a leadership election to be held on the 29th of November, citing a lack of energy to continue as Prime Minister. In his memoirs he would go on to write about how it was a conversation with his wife Gladys which ultimately made him decide to resign, as he came to realize that going on would be seriously detrimental to his health and probably shorten his lifespan.
In the resulting leadership election it was expected that a "modernising" candidate would definitely be the winner, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown being the definite frontrunner. Home Secretary Tony Blair, Education Secretary Jack Straw and Health Secretary Robin Cook were all touted as candidates with neither deciding to make a run for it, seeing how strong a position already Brown had. All of them would come out strongly in favor of him. The only challenges Brown would face were from leftwingers David Blunkett and Margaret Beckett, which gave him a comfortable margin of victory with nearly 70 percent of the total support. David Blunkett was elected deputy leader, succeeding Roy Hattersley who was also ready to retire.
And so the 'Welsh windbag' was out of frontline politics, replaced by a brooding Scotsman.
-------
Kinnock Ministry (1991-1995)
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service:
The Right Honourable Neil Kinnock
Deputy Prime Minister:
The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs:
The Right Honourable Gerald Kaufman (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Jack Cunningham (1994-1995)
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury:
The Right Honourable John Smith (1991-1992) †
The Right Honourable Gordon Brown (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for the Home Department:
The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Tony Blair (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Defence:
The Right Honourable Martin O’Neill
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, President of the Board of Trade:
The Right Honourable Gordon Brown (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Frank Dobson (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for Employment:
The Right Honourable Tony Blair (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Chris Smith (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Health:
The Right Honourable Robin Cook
Secretary of State for Social Security:
The Right Honourable Michael Meacher (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
The Right Honourable Jack Straw
Secretary of State for Energy:
The Right Honourable Frank Dobson (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Michael Meacher (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for the Environment:
The Right Honourable Bryan Gould (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Ann Taylor (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Transport:
The Right Honourable John Prescott
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:
The Right Honourable David Clark (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1992-1994)
The Right Honourable David Blunkett (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for International Development:
The Right Honourable Ann Clwyd
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
The Right Honourable Chris Smith (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Scotland:
The Right Honourable Donald Dewar (1991-1993)
The Right Honourable George Robertson (1993-1995)
Secretary of State for Wales:
The Right Honourable Barry Jones (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Ron Davies (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland:
The Right Honourable Kevin McNamara (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable David Clark (1992-1995)
Chief Secretary to the Treasury:
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Mo Mowlam (1992-1995)
Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council:
The Right Honourable Jack Cunningham (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley (1994-1995)
Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal:
The Right Honourable Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Lord Richard (1992-1995)
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster:
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Kevin McNamara (1992-1994)
The Right Honourable Gerald Kaufman (1994-1995)
The Right Honourable Peter Mandelson (1995)
Minister for Constitutional Reform:
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Clare Short (1992-1995)
Minister for Women:
The Right Honourable Ann Clwyd (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1992-1995)
Chief Whip:
The Right Honourable Derek Foster
-
Brown Ministry (1995)
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service:
The Right Honourable Gordon Brown
Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State:
The Right Honourable David Blunkett
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs:
The Right Honourable Tony Blair
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury:
The Right Honourable Jack Straw
Secretary of State for the Home Department:
The Right Honourable Jack Cunningham
Secretary of State for Defence:
The Right Honourable Robin Cook
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, President of the Board of Trade:
The Right Honourable George Robertson
Secretary of State for Employment:
The Right Honourable Chris Smith
Secretary of State for Health:
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett
Secretary of State for Social Security:
The Right Honourable John Prescott
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
The Right Honourable Mo Mowlam
Secretary of State for Energy:
The Right Honourable Alistair Darling
Secretary of State for the Environment:
The Right Honourable Ann Taylor
Secretary of State for Transport:
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman
Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:
The Right Honourable David Blunkett
Secretary of State for International Development:
The Right Honourable Stephen Byers
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
The Right Honourable Clare Short
Secretary of State for Scotland:
The Right Honourable John Reid
Secretary of State for Wales:
The Right Honourable Ann Clwyd
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland:
The Right Honourable David Clark
Chief Secretary to the Treasury:
The Right Honourable Geoff Hoon
Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council:
The Right Honourable Frank Dobson
Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal:
The Right Honourable Lord Richard
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster:
The Right Honourable Peter Mandelson
Minister for Constitutional Reform:
The Right Honourable Derek Foster
Minister for Women:
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett
Chief Whip:
The Right Honourable Nick Brown
The Labour Party had never had good relationship with The Sun or any parts of the Murdoch owned press, with the afromentioned tabloid running some particularly damning campaigns against Neil Kinnock during the '91 and '92 elections. So when they ran a frontpage in late September alledging that Neil Kinnock was suffering from a deadly illness most people took it with a grain of salt, and indeed it was not true. However it was not a rumor created in a vacuum as Kinnock had for a long time begun to look more pale and frail, while he had reduced his public appearances. The talk about Kinnock's health eventually wound up into a frenzy despite his attempts to dispell the talk, and the increased number of public appearances taken by Chancellor Gordon Brown certainly didn't help. The satire show Spitting Image even ran a skit during an October episode which portrayed Kinnock as Lenin's corspe laying in a glass casket, while Brown was a Scottish Stalin who sent off cabinet members to gulags on a whim.
While he today maintains that the press speculation didn't influence his decision to step down as party leader, Kinnock went on a PR tour in mid-October, going on both Newsnight and the Today Programme to attempt and dispel rumours of his poor health. According to polls he was somewhat successful with only a small number of people believing the various rumours of Kinnock being in danger of dying, but a great deal still had the impression that he was tired. It was therefore a great surprise when Kinnock in late October announced that he would tender his resignation as leader of the Labour Party with a leadership election to be held on the 29th of November, citing a lack of energy to continue as Prime Minister. In his memoirs he would go on to write about how it was a conversation with his wife Gladys which ultimately made him decide to resign, as he came to realize that going on would be seriously detrimental to his health and probably shorten his lifespan.
In the resulting leadership election it was expected that a "modernising" candidate would definitely be the winner, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown being the definite frontrunner. Home Secretary Tony Blair, Education Secretary Jack Straw and Health Secretary Robin Cook were all touted as candidates with neither deciding to make a run for it, seeing how strong a position already Brown had. All of them would come out strongly in favor of him. The only challenges Brown would face were from leftwingers David Blunkett and Margaret Beckett, which gave him a comfortable margin of victory with nearly 70 percent of the total support. David Blunkett was elected deputy leader, succeeding Roy Hattersley who was also ready to retire.
And so the 'Welsh windbag' was out of frontline politics, replaced by a brooding Scotsman.
-------
Kinnock Ministry (1991-1995)
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service:
The Right Honourable Neil Kinnock
Deputy Prime Minister:
The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs:
The Right Honourable Gerald Kaufman (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Jack Cunningham (1994-1995)
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury:
The Right Honourable John Smith (1991-1992) †
The Right Honourable Gordon Brown (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for the Home Department:
The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Tony Blair (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Defence:
The Right Honourable Martin O’Neill
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, President of the Board of Trade:
The Right Honourable Gordon Brown (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Frank Dobson (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for Employment:
The Right Honourable Tony Blair (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Chris Smith (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Health:
The Right Honourable Robin Cook
Secretary of State for Social Security:
The Right Honourable Michael Meacher (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
The Right Honourable Jack Straw
Secretary of State for Energy:
The Right Honourable Frank Dobson (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Michael Meacher (1992-1995)
Secretary of State for the Environment:
The Right Honourable Bryan Gould (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Ann Taylor (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Transport:
The Right Honourable John Prescott
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:
The Right Honourable David Clark (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1992-1994)
The Right Honourable David Blunkett (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for International Development:
The Right Honourable Ann Clwyd
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
The Right Honourable Chris Smith (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Scotland:
The Right Honourable Donald Dewar (1991-1993)
The Right Honourable George Robertson (1993-1995)
Secretary of State for Wales:
The Right Honourable Barry Jones (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Ron Davies (1994-1995)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland:
The Right Honourable Kevin McNamara (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable David Clark (1992-1995)
Chief Secretary to the Treasury:
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Mo Mowlam (1992-1995)
Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council:
The Right Honourable Jack Cunningham (1991-1994)
The Right Honourable Roy Hattersley (1994-1995)
Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal:
The Right Honourable Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Lord Richard (1992-1995)
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster:
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Kevin McNamara (1992-1994)
The Right Honourable Gerald Kaufman (1994-1995)
The Right Honourable Peter Mandelson (1995)
Minister for Constitutional Reform:
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Clare Short (1992-1995)
Minister for Women:
The Right Honourable Ann Clwyd (1991-1992)
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman (1992-1995)
Chief Whip:
The Right Honourable Derek Foster
-
Brown Ministry (1995)
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service:
The Right Honourable Gordon Brown
Deputy Prime Minister, First Secretary of State:
The Right Honourable David Blunkett
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs:
The Right Honourable Tony Blair
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury:
The Right Honourable Jack Straw
Secretary of State for the Home Department:
The Right Honourable Jack Cunningham
Secretary of State for Defence:
The Right Honourable Robin Cook
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, President of the Board of Trade:
The Right Honourable George Robertson
Secretary of State for Employment:
The Right Honourable Chris Smith
Secretary of State for Health:
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett
Secretary of State for Social Security:
The Right Honourable John Prescott
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
The Right Honourable Mo Mowlam
Secretary of State for Energy:
The Right Honourable Alistair Darling
Secretary of State for the Environment:
The Right Honourable Ann Taylor
Secretary of State for Transport:
The Right Honourable Harriet Harman
Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food:
The Right Honourable David Blunkett
Secretary of State for International Development:
The Right Honourable Stephen Byers
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
The Right Honourable Clare Short
Secretary of State for Scotland:
The Right Honourable John Reid
Secretary of State for Wales:
The Right Honourable Ann Clwyd
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland:
The Right Honourable David Clark
Chief Secretary to the Treasury:
The Right Honourable Geoff Hoon
Leader of the House of Commons, Lord President of the Council:
The Right Honourable Frank Dobson
Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal:
The Right Honourable Lord Richard
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster:
The Right Honourable Peter Mandelson
Minister for Constitutional Reform:
The Right Honourable Derek Foster
Minister for Women:
The Right Honourable Margaret Beckett
Chief Whip:
The Right Honourable Nick Brown
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Jean Charest is always the superior choice. Still, his biggest success, namely his contribution during the referendum, always makes it seem as though he's destined to enter provincial politics. Can't wait to see how Canada plays out.
In the shadow of the Swedish financial crisis, the major political issue of the early nineties was the Swedish application to the European Economic Community, later the European Community and even later the European Union. The application was a consequence of two important events, one international - the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in which Sweden wanted to keep its neutrality even in relation to the EC - and the financial crisis, which many believed made an EC membership necessary to make the economy rebound.
The negotiations were long and tiresome, but after first having ratified the EEA agreement in 1992, Prime Minister Söder signed the Swedish accession treaty in early 1994, allowing the Swedes to acceed to the EU in 1995 if the people affirmed the membership in a promised referendum. While many hurdles had been passed such as allowing a permanent Swedish exception to the European prohibition of snus (a typical Swedish powder tobacco product), the people had began to sour on the idea of Sweden as a member of the EU and the referendum - scheduled to be held soon after the general election of 1994 - was set to be close. The majority of Moderate and Liberal supporters were for the EU, while the Social Democratic, Centre and Christian Democratic voters were split on the issue. Most Labour Union, New Left and Green voters were against a membership. The parties generally followed their voters, with all of the three "centrist" parties on the European issue ending up modestly advocating a "yes" vote while leading figures in especially the Centre Party and the Social Democrats remained opposed. The Labour Union, which was in the process of mending relation with the Social Democrats, also remained neutral. An interesting case was the New Left, where a clear majority of voters and members were opposed but its leader Ylva Johansson was in favor - indeed, the European issue had strongly contributed to her defection from her old party. In order to keep the new party together she took a back seat in the campaign and let other party officials campaign freely for a "no" while the party had no official stance. This left the Greens as the only party clearly against the EU, allowing it to surge somewhat in the polls and even registering above 4% for the first time since 1991.
The referendum resulted in a "yes", with 52,8% in favor, 46,3% abstaining and 0,9% handing in a blank ballot with a turnout of just under 83%. Austria and Finland had already voted in favor and Norway would join the three countries days after Sweden's vote, with the Norwegian referendum being decided by less than 2,000 votes. The 22 Swedish MEPs were appointed by the Riksdag until the first election to the European Parliament was to be held in September 1995. Sweden's first European Commissioner would be a woman - Anna-Greta Leijon, the incumbent Minister for Europe, was appointed Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs in the Commission of Ruud Lubbers.
Along with the EU membership Sweden's electoral system was also in the process of reform, and among several other changes was an introduction of the personal vote. Starting with the election to the European Parliament, voters could vote for a candidate and not just a party. If a candidate gained personal votes equivalent to 5% of the party vote or more, they would "jump ahead" of the list order. The first implementation of the personal vote was however a disaster with many voters being left confused and staying home as a result. Many parties launched several lists, some based on regional representation and some dividing EU opponents and proponents, muddling the ability for voters to make an educated choice of who to vote for. The Post Offices supplying postal votes only offering blank ballots without candidate names didn't help. The People's Party was the worst offender as all of its regional lists were headed by the same two "officially registered" candidates (Maria Leissner and Ulla Orring) which essentially rendered the chance for any other candidate to gain 5% of the votes as nil.
The campaign was in general blighted by this apathy and voter confusion. Most party leaders (with the notable exception of Alf Svensson) stayed away from the campaign trail or were overshadowed by the candidates. The latter situation was the case for both the newcomers among the party leaders, the Moderates' Per Westerberg and the People's Party's Anne Wibble, who ironically both found their limelight stolen by defeated candidates to the party leadership in former Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and the aforementioned Leissner, a former Chairwoman of the party's Youth League and a prominent personality within the party. Ylva Johansson was again absent in the election and in a SIFO poll conducted shortly after the vote almost a third of the New Left voters named MEP-elect and Deputy Party Leader Gudrun Schyman as party leader.
The election resulted in a clear victory for those opposed to the EU. The New Left, despite officially remaining neutral, gained over 20% of the vote and 5 MEPs, all of them but one from the "No" list. The Green Party, buoyed by two popular candidates in founder Per Gahrton and the wunderkind of the 1988 campaign Åsa Domeij, finally broke through in a national election and both was elected to Brussels. The Social Democrats, who campaigned together with the Labour Union (who had their own slates) saw little success as many EU-critical and skeptical Social Democrats stayed home or jumped to the New Left. Adding insult to injury, half of the only six elected Social Democrats ended up being "no" voters (Sören Wibe and Maj-Britt Theorin of the Social Democratic "no" list as well as Kenth Pettersson from the Labour Union "no" list).
The biggest fiasco was however without doubt reserved for the People's Party, who fell just below the threshold of 4% which left them without a seat in Brussels. The party's new leader Anne Wibble was seen as a cold, emotion-less economist who kept talking numbers instead of connecting to voters and Carl Bildt, the popular former Minister for Foreign Affairs and noted cosmopolitan managed to consolidate the pro-Europe vote among the business sector. Ironically, the party now led by a Westerberg had deeply wounded the party that once enjoyed the "Westerberg Effect".
The negotiations were long and tiresome, but after first having ratified the EEA agreement in 1992, Prime Minister Söder signed the Swedish accession treaty in early 1994, allowing the Swedes to acceed to the EU in 1995 if the people affirmed the membership in a promised referendum. While many hurdles had been passed such as allowing a permanent Swedish exception to the European prohibition of snus (a typical Swedish powder tobacco product), the people had began to sour on the idea of Sweden as a member of the EU and the referendum - scheduled to be held soon after the general election of 1994 - was set to be close. The majority of Moderate and Liberal supporters were for the EU, while the Social Democratic, Centre and Christian Democratic voters were split on the issue. Most Labour Union, New Left and Green voters were against a membership. The parties generally followed their voters, with all of the three "centrist" parties on the European issue ending up modestly advocating a "yes" vote while leading figures in especially the Centre Party and the Social Democrats remained opposed. The Labour Union, which was in the process of mending relation with the Social Democrats, also remained neutral. An interesting case was the New Left, where a clear majority of voters and members were opposed but its leader Ylva Johansson was in favor - indeed, the European issue had strongly contributed to her defection from her old party. In order to keep the new party together she took a back seat in the campaign and let other party officials campaign freely for a "no" while the party had no official stance. This left the Greens as the only party clearly against the EU, allowing it to surge somewhat in the polls and even registering above 4% for the first time since 1991.
The referendum resulted in a "yes", with 52,8% in favor, 46,3% abstaining and 0,9% handing in a blank ballot with a turnout of just under 83%. Austria and Finland had already voted in favor and Norway would join the three countries days after Sweden's vote, with the Norwegian referendum being decided by less than 2,000 votes. The 22 Swedish MEPs were appointed by the Riksdag until the first election to the European Parliament was to be held in September 1995. Sweden's first European Commissioner would be a woman - Anna-Greta Leijon, the incumbent Minister for Europe, was appointed Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs in the Commission of Ruud Lubbers.
Along with the EU membership Sweden's electoral system was also in the process of reform, and among several other changes was an introduction of the personal vote. Starting with the election to the European Parliament, voters could vote for a candidate and not just a party. If a candidate gained personal votes equivalent to 5% of the party vote or more, they would "jump ahead" of the list order. The first implementation of the personal vote was however a disaster with many voters being left confused and staying home as a result. Many parties launched several lists, some based on regional representation and some dividing EU opponents and proponents, muddling the ability for voters to make an educated choice of who to vote for. The Post Offices supplying postal votes only offering blank ballots without candidate names didn't help. The People's Party was the worst offender as all of its regional lists were headed by the same two "officially registered" candidates (Maria Leissner and Ulla Orring) which essentially rendered the chance for any other candidate to gain 5% of the votes as nil.
The campaign was in general blighted by this apathy and voter confusion. Most party leaders (with the notable exception of Alf Svensson) stayed away from the campaign trail or were overshadowed by the candidates. The latter situation was the case for both the newcomers among the party leaders, the Moderates' Per Westerberg and the People's Party's Anne Wibble, who ironically both found their limelight stolen by defeated candidates to the party leadership in former Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and the aforementioned Leissner, a former Chairwoman of the party's Youth League and a prominent personality within the party. Ylva Johansson was again absent in the election and in a SIFO poll conducted shortly after the vote almost a third of the New Left voters named MEP-elect and Deputy Party Leader Gudrun Schyman as party leader.
The election resulted in a clear victory for those opposed to the EU. The New Left, despite officially remaining neutral, gained over 20% of the vote and 5 MEPs, all of them but one from the "No" list. The Green Party, buoyed by two popular candidates in founder Per Gahrton and the wunderkind of the 1988 campaign Åsa Domeij, finally broke through in a national election and both was elected to Brussels. The Social Democrats, who campaigned together with the Labour Union (who had their own slates) saw little success as many EU-critical and skeptical Social Democrats stayed home or jumped to the New Left. Adding insult to injury, half of the only six elected Social Democrats ended up being "no" voters (Sören Wibe and Maj-Britt Theorin of the Social Democratic "no" list as well as Kenth Pettersson from the Labour Union "no" list).
The biggest fiasco was however without doubt reserved for the People's Party, who fell just below the threshold of 4% which left them without a seat in Brussels. The party's new leader Anne Wibble was seen as a cold, emotion-less economist who kept talking numbers instead of connecting to voters and Carl Bildt, the popular former Minister for Foreign Affairs and noted cosmopolitan managed to consolidate the pro-Europe vote among the business sector. Ironically, the party now led by a Westerberg had deeply wounded the party that once enjoyed the "Westerberg Effect".
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MEPs elected in the 1995 election
Underlined members elected with personal vote
Social Democrats:
Sören Wibe (No list)
Anita Gradin (Yes list)
Kenth Pettersson (Labour Union no list)
Tommy Waidelich (Yes list)
Maj-Britt Theorin (No list)
Ines Uusman (Yes list)
Moderates:
Carl Bildt
Beatrice Ask
Ivar Virgin
Jan Backman
Liselotte Wågö
Bo Frank
New Left:
Gudrun Schyman (No list)
Jonas Sjöstedt (No list)
Eva-Britt Svensson (No list)
Marie Granlund (Yes list)
Agneta Stark (No list)
Centre:
Birgitta Hambraeus (No list)
Maud Olofsson (Yes list)
Greens:
Per Gahrton
Åsa Domeij
Christian Democrats:
Jerzy Einhorn (Yes list)
Underlined members elected with personal vote
Social Democrats:
Sören Wibe (No list)
Anita Gradin (Yes list)
Kenth Pettersson (Labour Union no list)
Tommy Waidelich (Yes list)
Maj-Britt Theorin (No list)
Ines Uusman (Yes list)
Moderates:
Carl Bildt
Beatrice Ask
Ivar Virgin
Jan Backman
Liselotte Wågö
Bo Frank
New Left:
Gudrun Schyman (No list)
Jonas Sjöstedt (No list)
Eva-Britt Svensson (No list)
Marie Granlund (Yes list)
Agneta Stark (No list)
Centre:
Birgitta Hambraeus (No list)
Maud Olofsson (Yes list)
Greens:
Per Gahrton
Åsa Domeij
Christian Democrats:
Jerzy Einhorn (Yes list)
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Did you really expect anything else from us?
I will admit I've always had a weakness for Per Westerberg. Everything else about your 90s seems to be getting depressingly similar to OTL though.
Is that a criticism of us staying too close to OTL? In that case, duly noted. I admit that especially I could probably be a bit more adventurous (with all things going on here, the circumstances of the 1995 election and the referendum preceding it could definitely have been different), but the balancing act between realism and boredom is more of a challenge than I expected it to be. I'm especially cautious with avoiding personalities straying out of character, which doesn't help.
Really, what you're doing now is fine. I'm mostly just grumpy over the lack of a nuclear-armed fortress of neutrality with eternal state broadcasting monopoly.
You'll have to blame Evil for that one, I'm afraid - if it was up to me I'd have three channels; TV1, TV2 and a 24/7 channel dedicated to Anslagstavlan.
Going into the 1996 election very few people thought that there was any real chance of the Tories getting back into 10 Downing Street, especially following the election of the young Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party. While there had been a slight economic slump during the term the government had handled it well and as the spring of '96 rolled around growth was good and unemployment was dropping rapidly. Joining Brown on the frontlines of the campaign were fellow modernizers Chancellor Jack Straw, Foreign Sec. Tony Blair and Education Sec. Mo Mowlam, which further helped to project the image of Labour as the party most in tune with modern Britain. If the Labour campaign, ran by Peter Mandelson and Alistair Campbell, was an excellent example of how to organise a perfect campaign, the Conservative one was anything but.
Following their loss in 1992 Tom King initially attempted to hold on to the leadership and managed to do so for about a year, despite constant murmurs about his leadership. The killing blow would be the local elections and the first election to the Scottish parliament in 1993, which were major disappointments for the Tories as the party slipped into third behind the SNP north of Hadrian's wall. King was forced out in September of that year and his replacement as leader was Shadow Chancellor Norman Lamont who won the subsequent leadership election by a comfortable margin.
Lamont's election as leader would however not be the salvation that the Tory Party hoped for as it continued to preform underwhelmingly in additional local elections, while the dull and gray haired Lamont didn't exactly give the party the image change it needed. Their campaign was almost entirely based around the issues of immigration and europe, with a booming speech from Lamont warning of the demise of the Pound if Labour got back in kicking off their campaign. This proved to be massively out of step with the main concerns of British voters and the party actually managed the feat of losing seats for the third election in a row.
The changes seen in this election were very and far between, with Brown's Labour Party being returned with a majority basically in equal size to the one they had before the election. The biggest gains of the night were with the Liberal Democrats who gained 8 new seats, while the Tories lost 6 in part due to boundary changes. After the disappointing night for his party Lamont announced his resignation as leader the day after the election.
Following their loss in 1992 Tom King initially attempted to hold on to the leadership and managed to do so for about a year, despite constant murmurs about his leadership. The killing blow would be the local elections and the first election to the Scottish parliament in 1993, which were major disappointments for the Tories as the party slipped into third behind the SNP north of Hadrian's wall. King was forced out in September of that year and his replacement as leader was Shadow Chancellor Norman Lamont who won the subsequent leadership election by a comfortable margin.
Lamont's election as leader would however not be the salvation that the Tory Party hoped for as it continued to preform underwhelmingly in additional local elections, while the dull and gray haired Lamont didn't exactly give the party the image change it needed. Their campaign was almost entirely based around the issues of immigration and europe, with a booming speech from Lamont warning of the demise of the Pound if Labour got back in kicking off their campaign. This proved to be massively out of step with the main concerns of British voters and the party actually managed the feat of losing seats for the third election in a row.
The changes seen in this election were very and far between, with Brown's Labour Party being returned with a majority basically in equal size to the one they had before the election. The biggest gains of the night were with the Liberal Democrats who gained 8 new seats, while the Tories lost 6 in part due to boundary changes. After the disappointing night for his party Lamont announced his resignation as leader the day after the election.
President Gephardt's inauguration was a great show. Unfortunately for the Democratic administration, that day was the zenith of the four years they were elected to.
Upon his election, Gephardt had a strongly Democratic Congress at his back and quickly moved forward with enacting some liberal reforms such as the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and a budget that redistributed taxation levels towards a more progressive system, both center pieces of the Gephardt campaign, as well as gun control measures and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credits. Left-wing voters were satisfied, but many centrists and Republican-leaning voters were reluctant to embrace the reforms and especially the swiftness with which they were implemented. Things were not helped by the administration's push for health care reform that was met by major resistance from the medical industry and its lobbyists as well as conservatives within both parties.
By 1994, the administration was not very popular to say the least and the midterms were dubbed the "Republican Revolution" as the party in opposition made gains throughout the country and swept both the Senate and the House of Representative. In the Senate, the Republicans gained as much as 9 seats including incumbent losses in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Jersey and Virginia. In the House Republicans won 57 new seats including the seat of the incumbent Speaker Tom Foley and 5 other Washington seats as well as several seats in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas where many incumbents such as Martin Frost and Charles Stenholm narrowly lost. There were also several seats such as Indiana's 2nd district where the Democrat hung on with only thousands of votes separating them from a loss. In exit polls, it was found that the wave was driven by the most conservative demographics - the typical new Republican was a middle-aged Southern born-again Evangelical, like the new Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Thanks to his refusal to sign NAFTA, however, the President had managed to keep more non-Southern blue collar workers in the Democratic fold, which kept the wave from becoming even more massive.
The next two years would be marked by gridlock driven by one of the modern age's most radically conservative and unproductive Congresses, and the President's relations with both sides were poor thanks to the split on NAFTA. Facing intense pressure from several lobby groups, Gephardt opened for a renegotiation of NAFTA in his 1995 State of the Union address but promising to veto any proposal that would "hurt the interests of America or its people". While anti-free trade activists were upset, Gephardt's moderated stance on the issue essentially closed the door for a primary challenge from a free trade proponent such as his rival from 1992, Paul Tsongas. Free trade would thus remain a contentious issue as the renegotiation would span across the 1996 electoral season. Most declared Republicans were in favor of free trade, including Governors Pete Wilson of California and Jim Edgar of Illinois, former Governors Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Carroll Campbell of South Carolina as well as Senator John McCain of Arizona and New Jersey-based businessman Steve Forbes. The only major anti-NAFTA candidate was 1992 runner up Pat Buchanan, who shocked the Republicans with wins in both Iowa and New Hampshire before they realized that his campaign operations did not go much further than that. In the end Alexander, the New Hampshire runner up, beat out his rivals for the nomination. To placate conservatives but not cater to the Buchanan wing he chose Phil Gramm, Texas Senator and a former Democrat (like many other Texas politicians) as his Vice Presidential candidate.
While free trade was important to many workers, the debate was soon one of numbers and statistics, and neither major candidate had a personality that inspired voters. When Buchanan signaled that he wouldn't mount a third-party challenge and tepidly endorsed Alexander the election lost the last of its luster. With both tickets seen as competent but boring, neither liberals nor conservatives were expected to turn out in droves. Neither was the result ever a toss-up, as the recovering economy kept Gephardt in the lead throughout the campaign. In the end, record-low turnout and a re-elected President Gephardt was what the country ended up with, along with an even more Republican Congress as they gained a net of three seats, mostly thanks to Southern Democrats retiring. In the House the result was a net wash as Democrats reclaimed some seats lost in 1994 while losing even more Southern seats. While not too popular within his own caucus, Newt Gingrich would nevertheless remain as speaker. The least uninteresting part of the election was probably the Arizona faithless elector, but not even that inspires many scholars today.
Upon his election, Gephardt had a strongly Democratic Congress at his back and quickly moved forward with enacting some liberal reforms such as the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and a budget that redistributed taxation levels towards a more progressive system, both center pieces of the Gephardt campaign, as well as gun control measures and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credits. Left-wing voters were satisfied, but many centrists and Republican-leaning voters were reluctant to embrace the reforms and especially the swiftness with which they were implemented. Things were not helped by the administration's push for health care reform that was met by major resistance from the medical industry and its lobbyists as well as conservatives within both parties.
By 1994, the administration was not very popular to say the least and the midterms were dubbed the "Republican Revolution" as the party in opposition made gains throughout the country and swept both the Senate and the House of Representative. In the Senate, the Republicans gained as much as 9 seats including incumbent losses in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Jersey and Virginia. In the House Republicans won 57 new seats including the seat of the incumbent Speaker Tom Foley and 5 other Washington seats as well as several seats in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas where many incumbents such as Martin Frost and Charles Stenholm narrowly lost. There were also several seats such as Indiana's 2nd district where the Democrat hung on with only thousands of votes separating them from a loss. In exit polls, it was found that the wave was driven by the most conservative demographics - the typical new Republican was a middle-aged Southern born-again Evangelical, like the new Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Thanks to his refusal to sign NAFTA, however, the President had managed to keep more non-Southern blue collar workers in the Democratic fold, which kept the wave from becoming even more massive.
The next two years would be marked by gridlock driven by one of the modern age's most radically conservative and unproductive Congresses, and the President's relations with both sides were poor thanks to the split on NAFTA. Facing intense pressure from several lobby groups, Gephardt opened for a renegotiation of NAFTA in his 1995 State of the Union address but promising to veto any proposal that would "hurt the interests of America or its people". While anti-free trade activists were upset, Gephardt's moderated stance on the issue essentially closed the door for a primary challenge from a free trade proponent such as his rival from 1992, Paul Tsongas. Free trade would thus remain a contentious issue as the renegotiation would span across the 1996 electoral season. Most declared Republicans were in favor of free trade, including Governors Pete Wilson of California and Jim Edgar of Illinois, former Governors Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Carroll Campbell of South Carolina as well as Senator John McCain of Arizona and New Jersey-based businessman Steve Forbes. The only major anti-NAFTA candidate was 1992 runner up Pat Buchanan, who shocked the Republicans with wins in both Iowa and New Hampshire before they realized that his campaign operations did not go much further than that. In the end Alexander, the New Hampshire runner up, beat out his rivals for the nomination. To placate conservatives but not cater to the Buchanan wing he chose Phil Gramm, Texas Senator and a former Democrat (like many other Texas politicians) as his Vice Presidential candidate.
While free trade was important to many workers, the debate was soon one of numbers and statistics, and neither major candidate had a personality that inspired voters. When Buchanan signaled that he wouldn't mount a third-party challenge and tepidly endorsed Alexander the election lost the last of its luster. With both tickets seen as competent but boring, neither liberals nor conservatives were expected to turn out in droves. Neither was the result ever a toss-up, as the recovering economy kept Gephardt in the lead throughout the campaign. In the end, record-low turnout and a re-elected President Gephardt was what the country ended up with, along with an even more Republican Congress as they gained a net of three seats, mostly thanks to Southern Democrats retiring. In the House the result was a net wash as Democrats reclaimed some seats lost in 1994 while losing even more Southern seats. While not too popular within his own caucus, Newt Gingrich would nevertheless remain as speaker. The least uninteresting part of the election was probably the Arizona faithless elector, but not even that inspires many scholars today.
In his election night speech, Thage G. Peterson confidently spoke of "a popular mandate for social democracy", ignoring the historically weak position within the left of the Social Democratic Party. Some derided him for it while ackowledging that he was likely to remain Prime Minister, but Peterson had realized that his position was strong. Behind the scenes, he had started discussions with Stig Malm about the return of the Labour Union into the Social Democratic fold, although the unionists' leadership mess had delayed the process considerably. He also saw an opportunity in the election result, with the New Left barely being beaten into fourth place by the Centre Party that had made gains especially in urban regions for the first time thanks to defecting, disappointed Liberals. Peterson knew that the Centre frontbench led by Börje Hörnlund was a very pragmatic group and that he might be able to negotiate - Peterson was very familiar with the Social Democratic-Centre coalition of the 50's and while he understood that Hörnlund would be wary to lose soft center-right voters the allure of leaving the New Left behind if needed would be strong.
The first budget vote would be negotiated with the left-wing parties and included plans for a fee ceiling for childcare as a response to the many families who could not afford the expanded childcare access that had been implemented during the past years. In 1996, however, the Social Democrats feared that the economy grew slower than expected partly thanks to the government expenses increasing as a result of the 1995 budget. Afraid of not having enough progress to show in time for the next election and of a New Left that had seen its more radical wing grow louder since the European Parliament elections, the Social Democrats made serious overtures to the Centre Party.
Börje Hörnlund had retired in late 1995 but his successor, the former Minister for Agriculture Per-Ola ("Pekka") Eriksson, was also a pragmatic man who had worked closely with Söder and Hörnlund during most of the early 90's negotiations and while initially giving Peterson the cold shoulder the two eventually reached a mutual understanding when Peterson leaked the New Left's demands. The Labour Union leadership had been promised several cabinet posts under the Social Democratic banner after the budget had been passed and were eager to let it pass with a few adjustments such as a tax subsidy for renting home computers from one's employer. The New Left were privately informed that the Social Democrats had dropped out of the budget talks only an hour before the press conference at which the red-green budget co-operation was held.
The other right-wing parties immediately slammed the Centre and there was huge uproar in the party itself. That changed when the New Left presented its shadow budget only days later. While intended as a stunt to show the voters that there was a more left-wing alternative, the budget was based off the initial negotiation positions that had been made intentionally unreasonable in order to provoke the Social Democrats into moving leftwards. Thus the New Left budget had almost Swiss cheese levels of holes, and the party was pummeled by both the left-wing and the right-wing press. Eriksson and the Centre managed to successfully invent an image of themselves as great negotiators and the champions of anti-radical pragmatism, a much better defense of cross-bloc cooperation than Westerberg's People's Party had ever dreamt of and one that worked surprisingly well.
The New Left also had trouble responding efficiently. Ylva Johansson had left politics in early 1996 in order to resume teaching and not become a career politician - though no one believed that finding herself under pressure from the party's Euroskeptic majority wasn't a factor. Unintentionally she made it impossible for the party's left wing to find a successor as Gudrun Schyman was in Brussels (and had lost intra-party clout after Johansson's allies had played up her connections with Lars Werner, the Left-Communists and her background in a Maoist youth organization in anticipation of a leadership challenge) while no one else was willing to step up to the plate. After several early favourites had passed, the person who was elected leader was Stockholm City Commissioner for the Environment Margareta Olofsson. As Olofsson lacked a Riksdag seat, however, she could not participate in the Riksdag's budget debate and the wonky and uncharismatic party group leader in the Riksdag Karin Svensson Smith, who replaced Olofsson in the debates, had failed to impress. The New Left began slumping in the polls and the Greens broke 5% in a SIFO poll conducted in December 1996.
In the shadows, meanwhile, rose another new movement. Under Ulf Adelsohn, the Moderates had sprinkled just enough of red meat on immigration to populist voters, but Per Westerberg was a fundamentally non-populist old-school industrialist and was clearly more pro-immigration than his predecessor. Disappointed anti-immigration voters, although they were few in numbers, started looking for alternatives and many on the older side found Seniors' Party which had recently elected former judge Brynolf Wendt, known from hosting and co-hosting the TV Sverige crime show Efterlyst. While mostly focusing on seniors' rights the party also campaigned for less immigration. One man attracted to the party was the businessman, count, satirist and soon-to-be-senior Ian Wachtmeister, who joined the party. Wendt and Wachtmeister would tour the country and campaign vigorously, leading to a poll showing of 2.2% by the summer of 1997 - only 0.3% from the 2.5% threshold for public funding. The party attracted voters from the Social Democrats, Moderates and especially the Christian Democrats, which had a hard time breaking through in the media, amplified by party leader Alf Svensson falling ill during the late summer and early fall preventing him to campaign. Some expected the new Riksdag to contain as many eight parties, although the Seniors' Party was still a very long shot. The race remained close throughout the whole term, with no bloc ever having a poll result that indicated a majority of more than 4 seats.
When the dust settled, that was not to be - in fact, surprisingly little had changed. The "red" parties entered Election Night with 176 seats and left with 176 seats, and the center-right parties remained at 173. Despite a close and exciting race, turnout kept dropping as many voters were dissatisfied by uninspiring alternatives. The possible entry of the Greens was expected to make the budget negotiations even more difficult as the Social Democrats would not be able to rely on either the New Left or the Centre Party, and a few voters committed to a bloc (mostly the left-wing one) who were scared of such a situation moved back to their former parties in the final days, leaving the Greens just outside the Riksdag with 3.8% of the vote. On the right-wing side the main losers were the overshadowed Christian Democrats and the hapless People's Party who would only stay in the Riksdag thanks to right-wing tactical voters. The Seniors' Party did not manage to attain public funding and ended up at 1.9% of the vote. Still, a record 6.5% of the vote had gone to parties outside the Riksdag.
During the 90's, a few constitutional reforms had been enacted - one was the extension of each term from three to four years starting in 2001 and one was the personal vote reform - if a candidate in a constituency received more than 5% of the votes within their party votes in a constituency, they would be "bumped" to the top of the party list. While a few MPs were elected this way, most personal votes would be gained by the number one candidates anyways, rendering the reform partly moot which resulted in calls from especially the People's Party and Moderates for further reform.
After the many debacles, it was clear that there was only one candidate for Prime Minister, Thage G. Peterson. Again, he had the choice of a red-red cooperation or a red-green alternative. This time, however, the New Left stood firm and demanded that Peterson would commit to the former or face a vote of no confidence, while the Centre had indicated that they would require tough compromises this time. Peterson had to choose wisely which path the country would take.
The first budget vote would be negotiated with the left-wing parties and included plans for a fee ceiling for childcare as a response to the many families who could not afford the expanded childcare access that had been implemented during the past years. In 1996, however, the Social Democrats feared that the economy grew slower than expected partly thanks to the government expenses increasing as a result of the 1995 budget. Afraid of not having enough progress to show in time for the next election and of a New Left that had seen its more radical wing grow louder since the European Parliament elections, the Social Democrats made serious overtures to the Centre Party.
Börje Hörnlund had retired in late 1995 but his successor, the former Minister for Agriculture Per-Ola ("Pekka") Eriksson, was also a pragmatic man who had worked closely with Söder and Hörnlund during most of the early 90's negotiations and while initially giving Peterson the cold shoulder the two eventually reached a mutual understanding when Peterson leaked the New Left's demands. The Labour Union leadership had been promised several cabinet posts under the Social Democratic banner after the budget had been passed and were eager to let it pass with a few adjustments such as a tax subsidy for renting home computers from one's employer. The New Left were privately informed that the Social Democrats had dropped out of the budget talks only an hour before the press conference at which the red-green budget co-operation was held.
The other right-wing parties immediately slammed the Centre and there was huge uproar in the party itself. That changed when the New Left presented its shadow budget only days later. While intended as a stunt to show the voters that there was a more left-wing alternative, the budget was based off the initial negotiation positions that had been made intentionally unreasonable in order to provoke the Social Democrats into moving leftwards. Thus the New Left budget had almost Swiss cheese levels of holes, and the party was pummeled by both the left-wing and the right-wing press. Eriksson and the Centre managed to successfully invent an image of themselves as great negotiators and the champions of anti-radical pragmatism, a much better defense of cross-bloc cooperation than Westerberg's People's Party had ever dreamt of and one that worked surprisingly well.
The New Left also had trouble responding efficiently. Ylva Johansson had left politics in early 1996 in order to resume teaching and not become a career politician - though no one believed that finding herself under pressure from the party's Euroskeptic majority wasn't a factor. Unintentionally she made it impossible for the party's left wing to find a successor as Gudrun Schyman was in Brussels (and had lost intra-party clout after Johansson's allies had played up her connections with Lars Werner, the Left-Communists and her background in a Maoist youth organization in anticipation of a leadership challenge) while no one else was willing to step up to the plate. After several early favourites had passed, the person who was elected leader was Stockholm City Commissioner for the Environment Margareta Olofsson. As Olofsson lacked a Riksdag seat, however, she could not participate in the Riksdag's budget debate and the wonky and uncharismatic party group leader in the Riksdag Karin Svensson Smith, who replaced Olofsson in the debates, had failed to impress. The New Left began slumping in the polls and the Greens broke 5% in a SIFO poll conducted in December 1996.
In the shadows, meanwhile, rose another new movement. Under Ulf Adelsohn, the Moderates had sprinkled just enough of red meat on immigration to populist voters, but Per Westerberg was a fundamentally non-populist old-school industrialist and was clearly more pro-immigration than his predecessor. Disappointed anti-immigration voters, although they were few in numbers, started looking for alternatives and many on the older side found Seniors' Party which had recently elected former judge Brynolf Wendt, known from hosting and co-hosting the TV Sverige crime show Efterlyst. While mostly focusing on seniors' rights the party also campaigned for less immigration. One man attracted to the party was the businessman, count, satirist and soon-to-be-senior Ian Wachtmeister, who joined the party. Wendt and Wachtmeister would tour the country and campaign vigorously, leading to a poll showing of 2.2% by the summer of 1997 - only 0.3% from the 2.5% threshold for public funding. The party attracted voters from the Social Democrats, Moderates and especially the Christian Democrats, which had a hard time breaking through in the media, amplified by party leader Alf Svensson falling ill during the late summer and early fall preventing him to campaign. Some expected the new Riksdag to contain as many eight parties, although the Seniors' Party was still a very long shot. The race remained close throughout the whole term, with no bloc ever having a poll result that indicated a majority of more than 4 seats.
When the dust settled, that was not to be - in fact, surprisingly little had changed. The "red" parties entered Election Night with 176 seats and left with 176 seats, and the center-right parties remained at 173. Despite a close and exciting race, turnout kept dropping as many voters were dissatisfied by uninspiring alternatives. The possible entry of the Greens was expected to make the budget negotiations even more difficult as the Social Democrats would not be able to rely on either the New Left or the Centre Party, and a few voters committed to a bloc (mostly the left-wing one) who were scared of such a situation moved back to their former parties in the final days, leaving the Greens just outside the Riksdag with 3.8% of the vote. On the right-wing side the main losers were the overshadowed Christian Democrats and the hapless People's Party who would only stay in the Riksdag thanks to right-wing tactical voters. The Seniors' Party did not manage to attain public funding and ended up at 1.9% of the vote. Still, a record 6.5% of the vote had gone to parties outside the Riksdag.
During the 90's, a few constitutional reforms had been enacted - one was the extension of each term from three to four years starting in 2001 and one was the personal vote reform - if a candidate in a constituency received more than 5% of the votes within their party votes in a constituency, they would be "bumped" to the top of the party list. While a few MPs were elected this way, most personal votes would be gained by the number one candidates anyways, rendering the reform partly moot which resulted in calls from especially the People's Party and Moderates for further reform.
After the many debacles, it was clear that there was only one candidate for Prime Minister, Thage G. Peterson. Again, he had the choice of a red-red cooperation or a red-green alternative. This time, however, the New Left stood firm and demanded that Peterson would commit to the former or face a vote of no confidence, while the Centre had indicated that they would require tough compromises this time. Peterson had to choose wisely which path the country would take.
Chrétien's first term was plagued by accusations of broken promises due to the cuts the government made in order to cut the deficit, however due to the improving economy there was never any true doubt of his reelection chances. A number of gaffes from the Liberals and strong campaign ran by the PCs still under the leadership of former PM Jean Charest made it look like the Liberals could be pushed down to a majority, and at times made Charest hopeful of returning to 24 Sussex when the PCs and LPCs were tied for a short while.
But it was not to be as Chrétien returned to power with a reduced but strong majority after losing seats in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces to the PCs, while picking up some in Quebec from the Bloc. The PCs gained far fewer seats than expected, with polls showing them at around 90-100 seats in the final stretch of the campaign and a total wipeout awaiting the Reform Party out west. With a gain of only 16 seats, less than what the NDP gained in the election, Jean Charest stepped down as leader of the Progressive Conservatives a week after the election following a leadership review.
The Reform Party lost seats to the Tories, but only 8 of them, not the annihilation that the pundits were expecting, and perhaps this was what could save Preston Manning's hold on the leadership which had been put in question numerous times during the campaign due to their poor showings in the polls. This election was however a triumphant rebirth from the ashes for the NDP under their new leader Lorne Nystrom as the party regained their official party status after losing it in '93. The party gained 17 seats, almost tripling their seat total, and made serious inroads into the crucial province of Ontario while growing in the west.
Still, the election didn't change much at all. Canada still had a Liberal majority government and Chrétien was secure in his position as Prime Minister.
(awaiting CanadianTory's disappointment at the Liberal victory)
But it was not to be as Chrétien returned to power with a reduced but strong majority after losing seats in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces to the PCs, while picking up some in Quebec from the Bloc. The PCs gained far fewer seats than expected, with polls showing them at around 90-100 seats in the final stretch of the campaign and a total wipeout awaiting the Reform Party out west. With a gain of only 16 seats, less than what the NDP gained in the election, Jean Charest stepped down as leader of the Progressive Conservatives a week after the election following a leadership review.
The Reform Party lost seats to the Tories, but only 8 of them, not the annihilation that the pundits were expecting, and perhaps this was what could save Preston Manning's hold on the leadership which had been put in question numerous times during the campaign due to their poor showings in the polls. This election was however a triumphant rebirth from the ashes for the NDP under their new leader Lorne Nystrom as the party regained their official party status after losing it in '93. The party gained 17 seats, almost tripling their seat total, and made serious inroads into the crucial province of Ontario while growing in the west.
Still, the election didn't change much at all. Canada still had a Liberal majority government and Chrétien was secure in his position as Prime Minister.
(awaiting CanadianTory's disappointment at the Liberal victory
)
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(awaiting CanadianTory's disappointment at the Liberal victory
How dare you rob Jean Charest of his rightful place at 24 Sussex!
(I'm so predictable
)Best thing about the 1990s is literally anyone can become PC leader. Perrin Beatty, Bill Casey, Hugh Segal, Kim Campbell, Barbara McDougall, Michael Wilson, David Crombie, Joe Clark, and literally countless other MPs, Premiers, etc.