Sweden's Political Gender Divide Widens Ahead of September Election

Survey finds men twice as likely as women to back the far-right Sweden Democrats

As Sweden heads toward a general election in September, a widening gender gap is emerging in the country's politics, with a new survey finding men are twice as likely as women to back the far-right Sweden Democrats, the Guardian reported.

The Social Democrats, led by Magdalena Andersson, Sweden's first female prime minister, and the Sweden Democrats, led by Jimmie Åkesson, are running first and second in national polls, and together are expected to capture more than half the vote, according to the Guardian.

Andersson's party has campaigned on smaller school class sizes, more housing and free dental care for young people. Åkesson's party, which has neo-Nazi roots, has pledged to lower taxes, improve public safety and treat "anti-Swedishness" as a hate crime.

The survey underscores a growing divide in how Swedish men and women view the political landscape ahead of the vote, in a country that has long prided itself on gender equality.

— Compiled from reporting by the Guardian.