Örebro Party

The initiative to found the Örebro Party was taken in early 2014 by Markus Allard, who is also the first party leader. Allard had previously held positions as substitute member of the Örebro municipal council and district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro; in December 2013 he was expelled from the Left Party and its youth wing Young Left for "liking" the Revolutionary Front (sv), a militant revolutionary socialist and anti-fascist organization, on Facebook and refusing to disavow it when questioned.[1] Allard has stated that the real reason for his expulsion was that he was perceived as a threat to the established party bureaucracy.[2][3]

As a result of signing the petition required for ÖP to be registered as a party, a large number of Left Party members in Örebro were informed of the party's intention to expel them.[4] This triggered backlash from several other Left Party members in social media,[5] and a number of Left Party and Young Left members who had signed the petition later appeared on the party's list of election candidates while not joining ÖP as members. Throughout early 2014, several members of the Young Left were expelled for expressing support for Allard and his position on the Revolutionary Front, among them Axel Frick, Allard's replacement as district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro and an Örebro Party candidate.[6]

In the September 2014 Swedish election, the party received more than 1,000 votes in the municipal council election in Örebro,[7][8] and also some write-in votes in Örebro County for the Riksdag.[9]

In February 2018 Peter Springare, an Örebro police officer, joined the party. He had attracted attention the previous year for a Facebook post about his experience with overrepresentation of violent crime among immigrants.[10][11]

In the 2018 election, the party gained two seats on the Örebro municipal council, where it is represented by Allard and Springare.[12] They subsequently gained representation on the Örebro municipal executive committee, with Allard as full-time municipal commissioner. In keeping with the party's policy against high political wages, he has been donating half of his monthly allowance to fund a planned series of social programmes. In august 2019 the party announced the first such project to be social pole-walking (sauvakävely) for pensioners.[13]

While party leader Allard has described himself as a Communist,[14] and a Marxist,[3][11] at its founding in March 2014 he defined the Örebro Party as "broad left".[14] Upon formation he noted that ÖP should not be considered a Communist party because the idea of introducing a classless society in a single municipality would be utopian.[15] At that time the party considered itself a "local party that wants to carry on the labour movement's ideals", and "not interested in administrating the current society".[16]

The party is heavily opposed to political corruption and high politician incomes – among some of the measures it supports are reducing the wages of politicians and senior officials,[10] making plebiscites easier to enact and more potent,[17] increased social housing and subsidies for recreation.[10] The party opposes continued privatization of health care, elderly care, public housing and municipal education, among other things. Other concrete reforms proposed by ÖP include making dental care and contraceptives free and stopping the establishment of further charter schools.[18][19][20][21]

In February 2018, Allard stated that having decided to focus on "down-to-earth and local issues", the party membership had broadened since its foundation and he would no longer characterize it as either left or right.[11]

• Official website