Which parties in Scandinavia use the label socialist while governing in 2025?
Executive summary
In 2025 several governing parties across Scandinavia either explicitly use the label "socialist" in their party identity or are routinely described as part of the socialist or social‑democratic family while in office — most visibly Sweden’s Social Democratic Party after it adopted a democratic‑socialist program in June 2025, and coalition leaders across Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland that are variants of social democracy or left‑green movements [1] [2] [3]. Observers disagree on whether governing Nordic parties are truly "socialist" in an ideological, economic sense, with critics arguing the region practices market‑based social democracy rather than classical socialism [4] [5].
1. Sweden: Social Democrats openly calling themselves democratic socialist in 2025
The Swedish Social Democratic Party formally adopted a new party program on 12 June 2025 that stated an anti‑capitalist outlook and declared the party democratic socialist, making the party’s own label explicit while remaining a major governing force or kingmaker in Swedish politics [1]. Sweden also has other parties in the political landscape that retain socialist identities — notably the Left Party and smaller formations listed among Sweden’s many parties that include the “socialist” description in their names or histories [6] [7].
2. Norway: Labour, Socialist Left, Red Party — plural socialist brands within the governing bloc
Norway’s 2025 politics feature the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) as the largest party in the left bloc and negotiating to govern with other leftists; the broader left bloc includes parties that explicitly carry socialist labels such as the Socialist Left (SV) and the Red Party, which are part of the parliamentary composition and left coalition dynamics described in reporting on the 2025 election [2]. While Labour is usually described as social democratic, the coalition’s composition means parties openly identifying as socialist were part of the governing negotiations and parliamentary majority in 2025 [2].
3. Denmark: Socialdemokratiet in government with socialist and green partners
Denmark’s dominant Socialdemokratiet remains historically tied to the labour movement and has been the large governing party in recent years, and Danish governance in 2025 has been supported by parties to its left such as the Socialist People’s Party / Green Left and other red‑green allies; the SF’s history and English translation choices reflect an ongoing socialist pedigree even as some of these parties present themselves as green or ecosocialist today [8] [9]. The Danish government’s makeup in 2025 therefore includes parties that trace their identity to socialist currents even if English translations sometimes emphasize “Green Left” rather than the literal “Socialist People’s Party” [9] [8].
4. Finland and Iceland: social democratic and left‑green leadership in government
In 2025 Finland’s government was led by the Social Democratic Party in a broad coalition including the Left Alliance and Green League, placing the social democratic label at the center of governance while also incorporating parties to the left with socialist roots [3]. Iceland’s government in the referenced reporting was led by the Left‑Green Movement, a party that overtook the Social Democratic Alliance as the principal left force and whose name and politics situate it within the socialist/left‑green family while governing [3].
5. A contested label: social democracy versus socialism in Scandinavian governance
Scholars and commentators push back on calling Nordic governments “socialist,” arguing the region practices a hybrid—market economies combined with generous welfare states—labelled social democracy rather than classical socialism; prominent analyses stress that Nordic parties have moved toward centrist, pragmatic governance and that calling modern Nordic governance “socialist” can be misleading [4] [5]. This alternative framing is visible across sources that caution against equating Nordic welfare states with state ownership or centrally planned economies, even while acknowledging parties self‑identify as socialist or democratic socialist in party programs [5] [4] [1].
6. Bottom line: party labels matter, but meanings vary across Scandinavia
By mid‑2025 several parties in Scandinavia either explicitly describe themselves as socialist (for example Sweden’s Social Democrats’ 2025 program, the Socialist Left and Red Party in Norway, Denmark’s historical Socialist People’s Party/Green Left, and Iceland’s Left‑Green Movement) or belong to the broader social‑democratic family that many observers treat as distinct from classical socialism; whether a governing party is “socialist” therefore depends on whether one emphasizes party self‑labels or broader policy and economic structures — both positions are supported in the available reporting [1] [2] [9] [3] [4].