Swedish Social Democratic Party (Prime Minister Ohlin)

The Swedish Social Democratic Party (Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti, SAP; literally, "Social Democratic Workers' Party of Sweden"), contesting elections as the Arbetarepartiet–Socialdemokraterna ('The Workers' Party – The Social Democrats'), usually referred to just as the 'Social Democrats' (Socialdemokraterna); is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The current party leader since 2012 is Stefan Löfven; he has also been Prime Minister of Sweden since 2014.

History
Founded in 1889, a schism occurred in 1917 when the left socialists split from the Social Democrats to form the Swedish Social Democratic Left Party (later the Communist Party of Sweden and now the Left Party). The symbol of the SAP is traditionally a red rose, which is believed to have been Fredrik Ström's idea. The words of honour, as recorded by the 2001 party programme, are "freedom, equality, and solidarity."

In 2007, the Social Democrats elected Mona Sahlin as its first female party leader.

On 7 December 2009, the Social Democrats launched a political and electoral coalition known as the Red-Greens together with the Greens and the Left Party. The parties contested the 2010 election on a joint manifesto, but lost the election to the incumbent centre-right coalition The Alliance. On 26 November 2010 the Red-Green alliance was dissolved.

Current status
Currently, the Social Democratic Party has about 100,000 members, with about 2,540 local party associations and 500 workplace associations. It has been the largest party in the Riksdag since 1914. The member base is diverse, but prominently features organized blue-collar workers and public sector employees. The party has a close, historical relationship with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO); but as a corporatist organ, the Social Democratic Party has formed policy in compromise mediation with the employers' federations (primarily the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and its predecessors) as well as the union federations.

Organisations within the Swedish social democratic movement:
 * The National Federation of Social Democratic Women in Sweden (S-kvinnor) organizes women.
 * The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League (Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Ungdomsförbund or SSU) organizes youth.
 * The Social Democratic Students of Sweden (Socialdemokratiska Studentförbundet) organizes university students.
 * The Religious Social Democrats of Sweden (Socialdemokrater för tro och solidaritet) organizes all members with religious beliefs.
 * The LGBT Social Democrats of Sweden (HBT-Socialdemokraterna) organizes LGBT-people.

Voter base
The Swedish Social Democratic Party had its golden age during the mid-1930s and mid-1980s when in half of all general elections they got between 44.6% and 46.2% (averaging 45.3%) of the votes, making it one of the most successful political parties in the history of the liberal democratic world.

In two of the general elections, in 1940 and 1968, they got more than 50%; however, both cases had special circumstances. In 1940 all established Swedish parties, except for the Communist Party, had a coalition government due to the pressures of the Second World War, and it led to voters most likely wanting one party to be in majority to give a parliament that couldn't be hung. In 1944 the tides of the war had turned and the allied nations looked to win, giving voters more confidence in voting by preference and explaining the more normal electoral result of 46.6%. Also there might very well have among parts of the public regarding how the Communist Party was held out of the government, and in 1944 they got 10.3%. In 1968 the established Communist Party, most likely due to bad press about the Soviets overtaking of Czechoslovakia (Prague spring), got a historically very bad result of 3% of the votes, while the Social Democrats enjoyed 50.1% and their own majority in parliament. Only in a fairly brief period between the elections of 1973 to 1979 did the Social Democrats get below the normal interval of 44.6% to 46.2%, instead scoring an average of 43.2%, and losing in 1976, the first time in 44 years, and again just barely in 1979. However, they won back power in 1982 with a normal result of 45.6%.

The voter base consists of a diverse swathe of people throughout Swedish society, although it is particularly strong amongst organised blue-collar workers.