Both Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Magdalena Andersson, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, launched their election bus tours on Monday, with Andersson unveiling a new…

Magdalena Andersson, leader of the opposition Social Democrats, launched her election bus tour on Monday with a new slogan, "Time to take Sweden seriously", a press conference outside the party's Stockholm headquarters, and an article in the Expressen newspaper. "There are now only 41 days left until the election and it is happening at a time when the world around us is more dangerous and unpredictable than it has been in a long time," she said at the press conference. "That is going to put heavy demands on the leadership of Sweden, and at a time when powerful forces are trying to split us, we need to choose another way." She was scathing about the current government's management of the country, which she dismissed as marked by "divisive politics, failure, short-termism and misplaced priorities". "People who work hard and do everything right have become poorer," she said. "We have had sky-high unemployment, growth far below our potential, a record number of bankruptcies, a dismantled climate policy, chaos in the classrooms, long waiting times in healthcare, elderly care that is not up to par and now at the last second, yes, then they borrow, putting the entire Swedish people in debt for temporary investments that only apply over the election." If she is elected prime minister in September, she said, her government would focus its energy on "making Sweden stronger and improving everyday life for hardworking Swedes", following three core principles: "safer, richer, and more cohesive". To make Sweden safer, she said her government would: strengthen military and civil defence; increase the number of police officers on the streets; bring in tougher penalties for crimes; use new powerful anti-recruitment tools to stop children and young people being drawn into gun crime; and pass a Swedish mafia law, making it easier to jail gang leaders. To make Sweden richer, she said she would: focus on promoting technological advances in Sweden that would boost the economy while reducing emissions; increase child benefits; get rid of the first unpaid day of sick leave; improve pensions; and lower the cost of medication by bringing back high-cost protection. She said she would stop the owners of free schools from withdrawing profits, hire 3,000 more teachers for the lower grades, and increase state control of healthcare.