After 22 years, one of the Sweden Democrats’ biggest profiles, Björn Söder, is leaving the top of the party. Over the years, Söder has been criticized for several high-profile statements, for example that Sami and Jews are not Swedes.
– A generational change is being prepared. Björn Söder has been given more ceremonial roles and you can see on his X (former Twitter) that he devotes himself more to writing about international delegations. Now he has been formally kicked out of the party board and replaced, says Ann Tiberg.
New formal management layer
Björn Söder was part of the original “Gang of Four”, which also included Jimmie Åkesson, Richard Jomshof and Mattias Karlsson. The gang is now split.
– The split has existed for some time. Even Jomshof does not have the same central role in the party, and they no longer socialize privately, says Ann Tiberg.
The new official gang of four includes Jimmie Åkesson, Mattias Bäckström, Henrik Vinge and Linda Lindberg.
– In most parties, it is the case that the party leader, party secretary, first and second vice-chairmen are the heaviest politicians, who play a central role. But in the Sweden Democrats it is not like that, here you also have informal rulers, says Ann Tiberg.
Informal management layer
The informal gang of four includes Henrik Vinge, Gustav Gellerbrant, Mattias Karlsson and Joakim Wallerstein. One person appears twice, Henrik Vinge.
– Vinge has left all formal roles, he is chairman of an investigation called the Security Commission. But behind the scenes, he is highly involved in the decisions made about the party’s policy, says Ann Tiberg.
Why do you have official and unofficial power holders?
– Many parties feel that way. But the Sweden Democrats excel in informal. What distinguishes these four is that they tried and are trying to rule the party in different ways. There are parliamentary lists that are decided upon centrally. A list for the whole country, in this way you can check who will become members of the Riksdag. When you have congresses, the party board’s proposal always wins.
Another part of this is that the local party support that is paid always then goes to the central organization.
– They have a central control which is an explanation for the fact that they managed to control the party’s message, says Ann Tiberg.
At the same time, the party is looking for a successor to Åkesson on the day he chooses to quit.
– I think they are still groping. They are testing with different names. There is only one woman at the top, who has a formal position. It is a problem for them, says Ann Tiberg.