Andreas Norlén (M) will remain in his position as Speaker of the Swedish Parliament. In Monday’s vote, he received enough votes to secure another term, aided by the Left Party.

Norlén had the support of the Moderates, Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats, and Liberals. When the Left Party also announced it would vote for him, it became clear that he had strong backing ahead of the vote.

The Social Democrats had nominated Johanna Haraldsson as their candidate. Before the vote, the party made it known that they wanted a change in the Speaker’s position and that Norlén should not remain in office.

The Left Party’s decision to support Norlén also had consequences for the ongoing government formation. Magdalena Andersson (S) had previously been tasked by the Speaker to explore forming a government. On Monday, she announced she was returning her assignment.

“There is currently no possibility for me to form a government,” said the Social Democratic leader.

The Left Party’s Explanation

The Left Party’s switch and its choice to support Norlén can likely be seen as a signal to the Social Democrats. Magdalena Andersson believes the Left Party’s actions have changed the parliamentary situation. She points out that the party has now chosen to support the Moderates’ candidate in the Speaker election.

Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar disagrees that the party’s support for Norlén means the Left has formed a new political alliance with the Moderates.

“We have not done that. We have explained the reasons why we need an experienced and competent person, someone who has conducted these negotiations with dignity before and has a long experience in it. It should be a person who is non-political, impartial. So it’s rather strange to claim this is political,” said the Left Party leader to Expressen.

The Left Party’s deputy chair Ida Gabrielsson previously justified the decision by saying that Parliament may need a stable, experienced person as Speaker while the government question remains unresolved. According to the Left Party, the process of forming a new government could be drawn-out, which makes continuity in the work of Parliament necessary for the time being.

The Social Democrats nominated Johanna Haraldsson for the Speaker post, but did not have enough support to unseat Norlén. The Centre Party had announced it would support Haraldsson.

Speaker since 2018

Andreas Norlén was first elected Speaker of the Parliament in 2018 and has held the post since then. He was also re-elected in 2022 and will now serve yet another term.

The Speaker has a central role in parliament and leads, among other things, parliamentary business. The continued government formation will now be one of the first major issues of the new parliamentary term.

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