Sweden’s Moderates have made household finances, tougher criminal justice policy and shorter healthcare waits their three main promises ahead of Sweden’s 13 September election, setting out the core message of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s campaign for another term.
A Moderate campaign built around work and punishment
The Moderate Party (Moderaterna) is entering the Swedish election campaign with the slogan “Effort should pay off — crime should be punished”, a formula that links two of the party’s most familiar themes: economic incentives and law and order.
The message was presented by Kristersson, Minister of Finance (Finansminister) Elisabeth Svantesson and Minister of Justice (Justitieminister) Gunnar Strömmer. Together, they framed the election as a choice between continuing the current centre-right course or returning to what the party describes as a red-green alternative based on higher taxes.
The three promises are deliberately broad. The Moderates say Swedes should have more money left in their wallets, while welfare funding is maintained; criminals should spend more time in prison; and patients should face shorter healthcare queues. The package is designed to speak both to everyday economic pressure and to security concerns, two issues that have shaped Swedish politics throughout the current parliamentary term.
More money in Swedish households’ wallets
The first promise concerns household finances. The Moderates say an ordinary family with children should have SEK 5,000 more per month during the next mandate period, equal to about €455 at the European Central Bank’s 22 June 2026 reference rate.
Part of that promise is linked to tax policy. The party has already proposed strengthening the earned income tax credit by up to SEK 1,000 per month for people who work, or about €91. For a family where both parents work, the Moderates say this could mean up to SEK 2,000 per month more, around €182. The party also wants lower taxation on pensions earned through work and additional tax relief for older people who continue working after retirement age.
The Moderates present this as part of the Swedish “work line”, the idea that employment should be financially preferable to relying on benefits. At the same time, the party says welfare resources should continue to increase each year. The political tension is clear: the Moderates want to combine tax cuts, welfare commitments and fiscal credibility in a campaign where the opposition is expected to challenge both the cost and the distributional impact of the proposals.
Crime policy moves from gang violence to domestic abuse
The second promise focuses on crime and punishment. Strömmer said that “criminals should be locked up so that well-behaved people dare to go out”, summarising the party’s view that public safety requires longer sentences and stronger tools for police and prosecutors.
The Moderates argue that Sweden has already moved in the right direction on organised crime, pointing to a decline in fatal gang violence during the current term. But the party says the work is not finished, and wants to continue tightening criminal justice policy.
A notable element in the new campaign message is the extension of the law-and-order agenda to men’s violence against women. Kristersson said the issue should be fought “with the same force” as gang crime. The party wants to examine whether penalties for certain crimes in close relationships, especially gross violation of a woman’s integrity, can be doubled. It also wants to review whether it should become easier to secure convictions in such cases.
This allows the Moderates to broaden their security profile beyond gang shootings and organised crime. It also places domestic abuse within a wider debate on victims’ rights, sentencing and the protective role of the state.
Healthcare queues bring welfare into the Moderate election offer
The third promise is about shorter healthcare waits. Svantesson said Sweden has “a fantastic healthcare system in principle”, but that many people have had to wait too long. The Moderates’ healthcare message therefore focuses less on the structure of the system and more on access, waiting times and delivery.
The party says the Moderate-led government has invested almost SEK 25 billion to shorten healthcare queues, about €2.27 billion, and claims that waiting lists fell by 28 percent between October 2022 and January 2026. Its proposed reforms include making it easier for patients to receive care in another region through a national healthcare brokerage (nationell vårdförmedling), sharpening the care guarantee and making regions financially responsible when the guarantee is not met.
Healthcare is politically important because it allows the Moderates to defend the welfare state while maintaining a centre-right economic message. The party’s challenge is to convince voters that tax reductions and welfare improvements can be delivered together, especially in a system where healthcare is largely managed by Sweden’s regions.
The September election will test the Tidö project
Sweden will hold elections to the Riksdag, municipalities and regions on 13 September 2026. For the Moderates, the campaign is also a test of the governing project built after the 2022 election, when Kristersson formed a Moderate-led government supported by the wider Tidö cooperation.
The new three-part platform suggests that the party wants to shift from crisis management to a more direct re-election message: more disposable income, tougher punishment and shorter waits for care. It also shows how Swedish centre-right politics continues to combine welfare language with stricter criminal justice and work-based economic incentives.
The next phase of the campaign will likely depend on two questions. The first is whether voters see the Moderates’ promises as financially credible. The second is whether the party can hold together its message on welfare, security and tax cuts while facing pressure from both the opposition and its own partners on the right.
