It is a happy party leader who gives interviews two months after election day.
The SD will go into “full opposition” this term, regardless of who forms the government. Jimmie Åkesson says he sees that a lot of good policy has come out of the Tidö agreement with M, KD and L - but at the same time, the SD has been held back, he believes.
As the largest party in this government coalition, we have had to swallow a lot of things. Sometimes I have sounded like a better Moderate than the Moderates themselves, and that is not really the role I want.
“Forced to do”
He says the SD has had to swallow “bourgeois Moderate economic policy”, above all, including tax cuts for high-income earners. That is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Åkesson. But it is hard to accept.
It is something we have been more or less forced to do because we have got other things.
We would probably have prioritized lowering taxes for people with more normal incomes anyway. In that way, we are not an economically right-wing party. Other parties are very much driven by marginal tax rates and such.
Many of the SD's members of parliament have also felt frustrated over the past four years.
There is a pent-up need for us to put pressure on the Moderates. It's a bit of a release - now the Sweden Democrats are free, he says.
Lowered food VAT and cuts to petrol and diesel taxes have been more important to the SD in budget negotiations. The next term in office will focus on major dental care reform.
Åkesson also says the SD will develop its policies on foreign affairs, rural issues and welfare.
Aiming for 2030
It is still unclear who will form the government, but Åkesson would have preferred to be in opposition to a bourgeois government. Otherwise, he sees a risk that the SD will not be as relevant.
At the same time, he hopes to be able to cooperate across the political divide with S in the long term.
We are basically a party that can negotiate in both directions. We have a left-wing bloc and a right-wing bloc, and then us in the middle as a third bloc.
Åkesson has held the party leadership for 21 years. He has no plans to quit. The SD has had “growing pains” in opposition since entering parliament in 2010.
I am really looking forward to it. It is great fun to see where this can go.
He has previously said that he is aiming to become prime minister in 2030, and he stands by that.
Yes, of course I do.
At the same time, he “absolutely” sees that there are people in the party who could take over as leader.
What do you think?