The role of youth association chairman used to be associated with something like a student council, a little nerdy, admits Douglas Thor on his way down the Kulturhuset's escalator at Sergels torg.
- In recent years, it has almost gained a kind of rock star status, he says, but is immediately interrupted.
Two guys run up and want to take a selfie, they've seen him from the benches down at ground level.
- Study hard! shouts the Muf chairman to the rest of their gang heading for the exit.
At the general meeting on 22 November, Douglas Thor will resign as chairman of the Moderate Youth Association. He leaves behind an organization that has seen a surge in membership during the election year. Muf has more members than some parliamentary parties and has not been larger since the mid-1980s.
- The presence on Tiktok has made a difference, says Douglas Thor.
In the Riksdag election, the Social Democrats became the largest party for both men and women in almost all age groups, according to SVT's polling station survey. The exception is first-time voters, where the Moderates instead attract the most. Also in the school election, M was the biggest.
Douglas Thor's analysis is that Muf has succeeded in capturing what the young generation wants. According to him, it is often about injustice, when young people are not satisfied with society.
- Bullies who are allowed to remain in a school but the victim needs to change, or sexual crimes that are not punished harshly enough. People who have come to Sweden and behave themselves but still get deported. We have gambled a lot on fairness in the election campaign, he says.
Does the trend among young people now, which is to make money and show it off, also help?
- Sure. But we are also quite strong among people who are rural, "epa youth". And girls with an immigrant background, who have made an effort despite the conditions, and want it to pay off.
A youth union's task is to challenge the parent party from time to time. Douglas Thor has been a critical voice against the teenage deportations and the Tidöpartierna's proposal on the so-called reporting law, a duty for public employees to report people who are staying in Sweden without permission. After massive criticism from authorities, trade unions, municipalities, regions and civil society, the government backed down and did not go ahead with including healthcare, schools and social services.
- I have wanted the Moderates to a much greater extent dare to make their own analysis, and relate to it instead of other parties. We've had big problems with it, but have gotten better. Now it is rather SD who are having a discussion about how they should relate to us.
The outgoing Muf chairman sees the integration policy as crucial for the future.
Is that the biggest difference between SD and M at the moment?
- They believe that it is not Sweden's fault that some people do not read Swedish. That's a point I can agree with. But when SD formulates it as no money should be spent on integration, it's just a mindless argument.
Now there is an uncertain situation in the government negotiations on the red-green side. At the same time, an investigation is underway into the Left Party's candidate, Mohamed Abdukardir Ali, and suspected electoral fraud. The development of events has given rise to hope for re-election in Dalarna, and a different election result.
- My dream scenario is an M-L-KD government supported by both C and SD. In order to achieve that, you have to negotiate the migration policy, says Douglas Thor.
He foresees that the bourgeois parties can give SD an aggressive re-migration policy in exchange for ministerial positions.
- Disqualify those who are here on a permanent residence permit, and have not worked in the last five years, from Swedish welfare and benefits, so that they themselves want to go somewhere else.
And how would you get the Center Party on board?
- That you are just as sharp that those who behave can stay. Stop every single teenage deportation. Home with those who have already been deported on that basis. And maybe even lower salary requirements, he says.
Already halfway into the mandate period, Douglas Thor decided not to run for the Riksdag. Now he wants to approach integration from a different angle.
- It is the exclusion that causes a lot of people to be unemployed. It is bad for society and for them. And how to solve it?
A large integration project is needed, he believes, and is self-critical that more could have been done already.
- I think this is work for decades to come, which I want to get involved in in different ways.
Read more:
"If the Moderates can screw the Social Democrats here, then they can do it everywhere"
After the loss: Therefore, SD can rise again
