Nya Moderaterna (2015)

The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament. Besides "Moderaterna/Moderata Samlingspartiet" the party has had two other names during its history: "Högern" or The Right (1938-1952) and "Högerpartiet" Right (Wing) Party (1952-1969). Following minor roles in centre-right governments, the Moderates became the leading opposition party to the Swedish Social Democratic Party and since then those two parties have dominated Swedish politics. In 1991, party leader Carl Bildt formed a minority government after the centre-right coalition had the largest mandate in Parliament. This was the first time the Moderates had been head of government, but following the election loss in 1994, the party spent 12 years as opposition leaders, before it could form a majority government following a successful 2006 general election. After Fredrik Reinfeldt became leader, the party slowly moved further towards the political centre and also adopted pragmatic views. The party abandoned several of its old key features such as a proportional income tax and increased military spending. Its former characteristic, according to some slightly neo-liberal, criticism of the labour laws was changed towards conserving the Swedish model and a careful embracing of balance on the labour market.