Left Party (Sweden)

The Left Party (Swedish: Vänsterpartiet [ˈvɛ̂nːstɛrpaˌʈiːɛt] ^ⓘ; V) is a socialist political party in Sweden. On economic issues, the party opposes privatizations and capitalism and advocates increased public expenditure. In foreign policy, the party is Eurosceptic, being critical of the European Union, opposing Atlanticism, NATO and Swedish entry into the eurozone. It attempted to get Sweden to join the Non-Aligned Movement in 1980, but did not succeed. The party is eco-socialist, and also supports anti-racism, feminism, and republicanism. It stands on the left wing of the political spectrum.

The party has never been part of a government at the national level; however, it has lent parliamentary support to governments led in the Riksdag by the Swedish Social Democratic Party. From 1998 to 2006, the Left Party was in a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the ruling Social Democrats and the Green Party. Between 2014 and 2018, it supported the minority government of Social Democrats and Greens in the Riksdag, extending this cooperation to many of Sweden's counties and municipalities; and from 2018 to 2021, until the outset of the 2021 Swedish government crisis, it offered passive support to the Löfven II Cabinet formed under the January Agreement, though disagreeing with some of the policies mandated by the Agreement.

The party originated as a split from the Social Democrats in 1917, as the Swedish Social Democratic Left Party (Sveriges socialdemokratiska vänsterparti [ˈsvæ̌rjɛs sʊsɪˈɑ̂ːldɛmʊˌkrɑːtɪska ˈvɛ̂nːstɛrpaˌʈiː] ^ⓘ; SSV), and became the Communist Party of Sweden in 1921. In 1967, the party was renamed Left Party – the Communists (Vänsterpartiet Kommunisterna [ˈvɛ̂nːstɛrpaˌʈiːɛt kɔmɵˈnɪ̌sːtɛɳa] ^ⓘ; VPK); it adopted its current name in 1990. The Left Party is a member of the Nordic Green Left Alliance, and its sole MEP sits in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group. In 2018, the party joined Maintenant le Peuple.