ABSTRACT
‘The Liberals are the Swedish Liberal party’ is the first line of the party programme of Liberalerna (Liberals – L) (Folkpartiet 2013: 1). Although it comes as no surprise that the self-image of the Liberals is liberal, the statement could also be interpreted as a territorial marker in light of increasing competition over the ownership of partisan liberalism. During most of the 20th century, few would have argued that there were more than one Swedish liberal party. However, during the past decades the originally agrarian Centerpartiet (Centre Party – C) increasingly came to be regarded as a second liberal force in Swedish politics.
