Sweden’s new government collapses

The Swedish government has just collapsed, not even three months after being formed, and new elections are being called for March. The problem is one that Britain may well soon experience: none of the main parties did well in the election. The only winners were minority protest parties –  the feminists and the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (a more vulgar version of Ukip). Like Ukip, the Sweden Democrats had enough clout to disrupt parliament but not much else. So Sweden ended up with what Britain may soon get: government by a coalition of the losers.

Stefan Löfven, leader of Sweden’s social democrats, ended up as Prime Minister after his party was humiliated with the second-worst election result in its history. He had to cobble together a coalition of other unpopular parties and he utterly failed to convey what his government was for – other than caving to the demands of the more bizarre minority parties in attempt to survive. And