Swedish general election, 1921

Swedish general election, 1921
Sweden
10 September 1921

All 230 seats in the Riksdag
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Hjalmar Branting Arvid Lindman Raoul Hamilton
Party Social Democratic Electoral League Free-minded National
Last election 75 70 47
Seats won 93 62 41
Seat change Increase18 Decrease8 Decrease6
Popular vote 630,855 449,302 325,608
Percentage 36.2% 25.8% 18.7%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Johan Andersson Karl Kilbom Ivar Vennerström
Party Farmers' League Communist Social Democratic Left
Last election 29[1] 7[2] New
Seats won 21 7 6
Seat change Decrease8 Steady0 Increase6
Popular vote 192,269 80,355 56,241
Percentage 11.0% 4.6% 3.2%

Prime Minister before election

Oscar von Sydow
Independent

PM-elect

Hjalmar Branting
Social Democratic

Early general elections were held in Sweden between 10 and 26 September 1921.[3] In the first elections held under universal suffrage, the Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party, winning 93 of the 230 seats in the Second Chamber of the Riksdag. Party leader Hjalmar Branting formed his second government.

Background

Before the elections in 1921, the Social Democratic Left Party of Sweden accepted Lenin's April Theses. It was renamed the Communist Party of Sweden, whilst a breakaway faction of some 6,000 socialists who had been excluded by the communists as non-revolutionary elements kept the previous name.

Electoral system

In 1921, a universal and equal suffrage was introduced for men and women alike, and the Riksdag finally achieved a system of democratic representation for all citizens who were at least 23 years old on election day. Nevertheless, it was still possible, even after 1921, to exclude certain groups from the right to vote. An example was individuals who had been declared incapable of managing their own affairs by a court of law. This limitation of the franchise disappeared only in 1989 when the Riksdag abolished incapacitation.

Alongside the universal franchise reform, a parliamentary system of government developed and gained acceptance, implying that the government requires the Riksdag's confidence and support for all major decisions. As of 1921, all major treaties with foreign states had to be approved by the Riksdag, and the two chambers of the Riksdag now elected their own Speakers along with two deputy speakers each.

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Swedish Social Democratic Party630,85536.293+18
General Electoral League449,30225.862–8
Free-minded National Association325,60818.741–6
Farmers' League192,26911.021–8
Communist Party of Sweden80,3554.670
Social Democratic Left Party of Sweden56,2413.26New
Other parties7,3220.400
Invalid/blank votes5,601
Total1,747,5531002300
Registered voters/turnout3,222,91754.2
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

As a result of the election Prime Minister Oscar von Sydow resigned and was replaced by Hjalmar Branting who also became Foreign Minister of Sweden .

References

  1. Total seats of Farmers' League and Farmers' Association
  2. As Social Democratic Left
  3. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1858 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
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