Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden democrats) is a Swedish political party. Considered xenophobic by some, it is occasionally compared to Front National in France and British National Party in the United Kingdom.
Since its founding in the mid 1980s by Leif Zeilon, the party has tried to become represented in Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag, but has so far failed by a wide margin. Since the mid 1990s the current party leader Mikael Jansson has worked to give the party a more respectable image. This has included ousting more openly extremist members, who instead founded the breakout Nationaldemokraterna. Though still small, Sverigedemokraterna has recently seen its support increase and it received 1.4% in the September 2002 general elections. They are currently represented in some 10% of Sweden's municipalities.
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