The Social Democrat and entrepreneur Jan Emanuel launches a frontal attack on his own party’s leadership ahead of the election. He accuses the Social Democrats of abandoning the working class for identity politics, refuses to campaign for the party, and warns of a return to more open migration policies if the left regains power. Now he hopes the Social Democrats lose the election and that Magdalena Andersson is forced to resign—so that he himself can help build a new, much more conservative social democracy inspired by the Danish model.
“We have to get rid of them,” Jan Emanuel tells Samnytt.
Jan Emanuel is an entrepreneur, commentator, and former Social Democratic member of parliament. He became nationally known by winning Expedition Robinson in 2001 and has since built a fortune, including in the healthcare sector. After a period outside the Social Democrats, he is once again a member and is prominent as a critic of the party’s shift away from traditional class-based politics.
But the relationship with the party he still calls his own has become increasingly conflictual. According to Jan Emanuel, he is not the one who has shifted politically. Instead, the Social Democrats have left both him and large parts of the traditional working class behind.
Stefan Löfven is the greatest disgrace the labor movement has produced as party leader.
Jan Emanuel (S), entrepreneur and commentator
“When the party moves and I stand still—I would say the working class stands still—and the party has darted off in a more identity-political direction, then it’s about staying loyal to the working class, not the party as such.”
READ ALSO: From Selfie Charges to Political Battle – Jan Emanuel Slams Forced Mixing
Party Colleague Called Him “Disgusting” and “Nazi”
The conflict with his old political camp is no longer just ideological. For Jan Emanuel, it has also become personal. He tells of a Social Democratic party colleague, Måns Nilsson, whom he has known and worked with for about 20 years. It is also a person whom Jan Emanuel says he helped bring into the party.
“I paved the way for him when he was joining the party. I was happy that he would join.”
Måns Nilsson is a Social Democrat in Norrtälje and a civics teacher, with long-standing involvement in local social democracy. Among other things, he has served as a member for S in Norrtälje’s education committee and was on the party’s municipal council list in 2022.
READ ALSO: Jan Emanuel Urges S-boss to Move to Deprived Area: “Something Tells Me You Won’t do It”
But the relationship changed when Jan Emanuel began criticizing the Social Democrats’ direction and felt he could no longer vote for the party. The final straw, according to Jan Emanuel, was a picture where he took a selfie with a woman wearing an SD cap.
“And then I’m a Nazi.”
He describes how the man later called him both “disgusting” and “Nazi.”
“And then I became a Nazi. It was a pretty fast journey.”
The woman in the picture is Maria Falk (SD), a local politician in Norrtälje and member of the municipal council for the Sweden Democrats. So it was a selfie with a local SD politician in a party cap that became part of the background for the Nazi accusation.
Many have been called Nazis by representatives of the left, just for not agreeing politically. How did it feel for you?
“Very strange. I get sad, but not for myself but for him and for the party. That it is still so limited in thought.”
Jan Emanuel emphasizes that it’s not about a close private friend he’s celebrated birthdays with, but about a party comrade and colleague from two decades in the same political movement.
The reaction, according to him, says something bigger about the current state of the Social Democrats. He believes parts of the party have forgotten who social democracy actually exists for.
“What is our duty? Who are we supposed to look after? Who do we serve?”
His own answer is clear.
“We serve the proletariat. That is, the working class.”
I hope the party comes back. But I think the party needs a small opposition, a conservative left-wing opposition actively working to bring the party back. And that’s where I am.
Jan Emanuel (S), entrepreneur and commentator
Instead, Jan Emanuel thinks loyalty has come to focus on the organization itself.
“People think that loyalty to the political branch of the labor movement is what matters, instead of seeing who you are supposed to be loyal to.”
He describes this development as a sign of a social democracy that no longer has ideological foundations. And when the conversation turns to Stefan Löfven, the assessment is unforgiving:
“Stefan Löfven is the greatest disgrace the labor movement has produced as party leader.”
“We Have to Get Rid of Them”
Despite the harsh criticism, Jan Emanuel has not given up on the Social Democrats. On the contrary, he wants to come back. Jan Emanuel describes his own political ambition as building an internal “conservative left opposition” to bring the party back to the working class.
“I hope the party comes back. But I think the party needs a small opposition, a conservative left-wing opposition actively working to get the party back. And that’s where I am.”
READ ALSO: The Social Democrats and the Mosques – A Relationship Over 30 Years
The problem is the current leadership.
“It’s not going to be possible with the leadership we have. We have to get rid of those who are also responsible for Sweden becoming worse for the working class, the productive elements.”
Do you see yourself as part of this new Swedish social democracy?
“Yes, absolutely. I want to be there and save the party. Save social democracy.”
But Jan Emanuel sees a problem. As long as today’s party leadership remains, he doesn’t believe the changes he’s calling for are possible. That’s why he’s hoping for an election result that, for most party members, would be a nightmare scenario—the Social Democrats should lose.
“We should remain in opposition, so that Magda is forced to resign at the next congress.”
I don’t trust the polling institutes; so much can happen before election day. And it’s painful not to be able to vote for your own party.
Jan Emanuel (S), entrepreneur and commentator
He expects that such a development would also drag down large parts of the current leadership.
“When Magda is forced to resign, her whole leadership—including my old colleagues Mikael Damberg, Ylva, Morgan, and that whole gang—will also have to go.”
Only then, he reasons, will there be a chance to rebuild social democracy. His model is found on the other side of the Öresund Strait.
“With one hundred percent, the Danish Social Democracy and Mette Frederiksen as the role model.”
READ ALSO: Danish Social Democrats Want to Abolish the Possibility to Seek Asylum
Jan Emanuel argues that Denmark has been much more successful at combining social democratic welfare and class politics with strict immigration policy. He also ties this to the Danish working class’s situation.
“The Danish working class has taken less of a beating than in Sweden.”
What do you think about the election and the result in Sweden next month?
“I don’t trust the polling institutes; so much can happen before election day. And it’s painful not to be able to vote for your own party.”
Refuses to Urge Voters to Vote S
The immediate consequence is that Jan Emanuel will not run a traditional Social Democratic election campaign.
“I can’t go out in a campaign and say ‘vote for the Social Democrats’ when we have the current leadership.”
Above all, it’s about migration.
READ ALSO: Social Democrats’ Ties to the Muslim Brotherhood Go Back to 1969
Jan Emanuel fears that a government depending on parties to the left of the Social Democrats would mean a return to a more open migration policy.
He does not trust pledges that the Social Democrats could control such a government constellation.
“I don’t intend to be manipulated by the party leadership coming up with these arguments,” he tells Samnytt.
He draws a parallel to Stefan Löfven’s time as prime minister.
“Löfven said exactly the same thing.”
For Jan Emanuel, the issue is closely connected to class politics.
If large parts of the working class no longer feel the Social Democrats represent their interests, he believes, the party must dare to ask why. He also thinks this election may again show that voters traditionally labeled as working class are increasingly choosing another party.
“If another party is better social democrats than we are ourselves, then we must act.”
Jan Emanuel does not name SD in that sentence, but the reasoning comes after a discussion about working-class voters leaving the Social Democrats.
He also sees this development as part of a larger change within the left.
READ ALSO: No End to Bulk Discounts for Criminals if Social Democrats Decide
The old conflict between classes, he claims, has increasingly been replaced by identity politics and group conflicts. Jan Emanuel says he still considers himself a Social Democrat but disassociates from the revolutionary left.
“That’s why I’m a ‘sosse’. I’ve abandoned the idea of revolution.”
He also opposes a politics that divides people into minorities and in which some groups, according to him, are considered more worthy of protection than others. This, he says, stands in stark contrast to his own political beliefs.
Wants to Purge Political Activists from Public Service
Jan Emanuel sees the same conflict between politics and morality within the media and the civil service. He levels harsh criticism at what he sees as political activism in publicly funded organizations, particularly targeting public service broadcasters. The solution, according to him, is a real accountability for civil servants.
“Much will fall into place when we genuinely reintroduce accountability for civil servants.”
READ ALSO: The Left Bloc Voted No to Stricter Civil Servant Responsibility
He believes this responsibility should also have consequences for people working in publicly funded organizations.
“When civil servant responsibility is in place, it means that even those working at SVT—everything financed with public money—will be forced to take responsibility for what they actually say.”
And for those acting in a partisan way, the consequences could be drastic.
“Those who so openly act more or less politically, they will lose their jobs.”
Jan Emanuel refers to a much-discussed list of civil servants who declared that they would defy government orders should the Sweden Democrats gain influence. For him, such an attitude means the civil servant puts their own political and moral beliefs above democratically made decisions.
READ ALSO: SVT CEO Praises Public Service – Wants a “Common Reality”
“That is to reject democracy and say ‘I’m not a democrat, but act according to my own moral compass and decide what is right and wrong.’”
We must get rid of those who have made themselves interpreters of what is right and wrong and then, using tax money, spread their own beliefs.
Jan Emanuel (S), entrepreneur and commentator
Jan Emanuel goes so far as to say that those officials would have had to leave their positions if the kind of responsibility he advocates had existed.
What is your view on SVT and Public Service?
“I am a friend of SVT.”
He defends the basic idea of a publicly funded media alternative that strives for neutrality.
“The idea is fundamentally good. But then the neutrality must also be real. What I don’t support is when it isn’t neutral. And that’s where we have failed.”
Therefore, he does not want to attack the entire organization.
“I don’t think one should attack the whole organization.”
READ ALSO: The Panic Around Nick Alinia Reveals Public Service’s Big Lie
Instead, he wants to target the individuals who, in his view, have made themselves judges on which political views are good or evil.
“We must get rid of those who have made themselves interpreters of what is right and wrong and then, with tax money, spread their own beliefs.”
Jan Emanuel ties this back to what he sees as a development also within the Social Democrats: politics is increasingly becoming a matter of personal morality.
“Politics has become about morality. It is considered morally right to think a certain way, and morally wrong to have other opinions.”
He says he believes in basic morality, but for him, it is about how people treat each other—not about dividing people into groups that are politically approved or not.
READ ALSO: Ekeroth: “SVT manipulates—and calls it public service”
This is also where he places his party colleague’s Nazi accusation. For Jan Emanuel, the circle is thus complete. He is still a Social Democrat. He still wants social democracy to succeed. But to save the party, he first hopes it loses the election.
And then he wants to help change it from the inside.
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