This week host James Savage and regular panelist Richard Orange record the podcast from Almedalen, the annual politics fest in Visby on the Baltic island of Gotland.

They are joined for a lively politics conversation by Henrik Torehammar, a political commentator for the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.

Almedalen is sometime criticised as an event for Sweden's elites, but how elitist can any event really be in what Torehammar calls a "bicycle monarchy" famed for its flat hierarchies?

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's Moderate Party is edging towards a disastrous election if polls are to be believed. Can he pull a result out of the fire at the eleventh hour?

The opposition parties look poised to snatch power. But will some pretty major ideological differences act as a stumbling block for the Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson?

And what issues are likely to dominate in the run-up to the September election. Immigration? Climate? Or could the rise of AI make its presence felt on the campaign trail?

Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:

• Why are Swedish politicians so silent on AI?
• Sweden Democrat leader takes aim at Social Democrats in key speech
• Sweden Democrats launch retro election campaign to make 'Sweden like Sweden again'
• More than half of voters think Sweden's government will lose election
• Stay on top of the Swedish election: How to follow The Local's coverage

Become a member at https://www.thelocal.se/podcasts/podcast-offer?tpcc=padlock.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.