The Sweden Democrats (SD) love to preach about law and order. Their leaders spend all day on television demanding longer prison sentences, stricter rules, and zero tolerance for people who break the law.
So what happens when you run a simple check on the people SD actually puts on local election ballots?
The numbers reveal an embarrassing reality. Across 138 Swedish cities and towns, 240 out of 3,483 SD candidates (nearly 7% overall) appear in criminal court records.
It turns out that SD’s loud talk about cleaning up Sweden stops the exact second they have to clean up their own candidate lists.
Jimmie Åkesson’s Backyard: Sölvesborg
Sölvesborg isn’t just any small town. It is the home town of SD party leader Jimmie Åkesson and the party’s main political stronghold.
If Jimmie Åkesson cared even a little bit about keeping people named in criminal court records out of politics, Sölvesborg would be completely spotless. Instead, public court databases expose a total failure:
- Candidates appearing in criminal court records: 7
- Total candidates: 54
- Flagged percentage: 12.96%
Nearly 1 out of every 8 SD candidates running in Åkesson’s own front yard appears in criminal court records. If party leadership can’t even run a basic background check in their own home town, why should anyone trust them to run the country?
Kumla and Linköping: Prisons and Major Cities
Kumla: 1 in 4 Candidates Flagged (25.00%)
- 3 out of 12 candidates in Kumla appear in criminal court records.
- Kumla is famous across Sweden for housing one of the country’s highest-security prisons. The fact that 25% of SD’s candidates there are flagged in criminal court records is hard to ignore.
Linköping: 6 Flagged Candidates
- 6 out of 72 candidates in Linköping appear in criminal court records.
- Linköping is Sweden’s 5th largest city. SD likes to claim this only happens when a tiny rural branch makes a mistake, but fielding 6 flagged candidates in a major city proves the problem goes all the way through the party.
Small Towns with Ridiculous Percentages
In some smaller towns, the numbers are even crazier:
- Arjeplog and Vännäs (100% of candidates): SD could only find 1 single candidate to run in each of these towns, and in both cases, that single person appears in criminal court records.
- Vansbro (33.33% of candidates): 1 out of their 3 candidates appears in criminal court records.
- Arvidsjaur, Bollnäs and Kiruna (25.00% of candidates): 1 out of every 4 people on their candidate list appears in criminal court records.
Why This Matters
1. Saying One Thing, Doing Another
SD politicians love pointing fingers and lecturing everyone else about morality and crime. But when almost 7% of their own local candidates are tied to criminal court records, their entire “tough on crime” attitude looks completely fake.
2. Nobody is Doing Background Checks
Having 240 flagged candidates across 138 cities and towns proves that SD doesn’t care who represents them. They don’t do background checks, and they don’t screen their candidates. They just want names on paper to grab power and fill municipal council seats.
3. These People Vote on Your Local Life
Local council members vote on local budgets, schools, elderly care, and community safety. Putting people who pop up in criminal court records into seats of power isn’t just bad political vetting, it hurts public trust in local government.
The Bottom Line
If you preach law and order, you have to follow those standards yourself.
From Jimmie Åkesson’s home town of Sölvesborg to prison towns like Kumla and big cities like Linköping, the numbers don’t lie: SD love pointing fingers at others, but when it comes to their own candidates, they look the other way.
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