Sweden Democrats defector admits fear of backlash dictates her votes

Former Sweden Democrats MP Elsa Widding has revealed she will vote in line with her old party’s positions in two key parliamentary ballots—despite now sitting as an independent—because she fears the consequences of defiance, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reports.

Widding told SVT’s Politikbyrån programme she would support lowering the age of criminal responsibility and expanding deportation grounds for “poor conduct” if votes were held today, acknowledging her decision was driven by intimidation. “That tail of threats and hate—it’s not worth it,” she said. Together with fellow defector Katja Nyberg, Widding holds enough votes to block proposals from the governing Tidö coalition.

She dismissed the idea of acting on her own convictions, stating: “What I think doesn’t matter. We no longer have democracy in that sense.”

The Sweden Democrats distanced themselves from the threats in a statement to SVT, calling harassment “never acceptable” and claiming the party has “always condemned such behaviour in all its forms.” Speaker of the Riksdag Andreas Norlén described the situation as “terrible,” telling Politikbyrån that no MP should face coercion through threats.

Widding previously confirmed she was forced to relocate due to a wave of retaliation after leaving the party.