Originally published on Bloomberg.com on September 12, 2022 as “Swedish Nationalist Set to Take His Party From Pariah to Power.”

When Jimmie Akesson joined the Sweden Democrats more than two decades ago, it was a pariah political force with a majority of its founders hailing from racist, fascist or neo-Nazi groups.

He now leads the nation’s second-largest political force that’s become a kingmaker for the next government. And his ambitions don’t stop there. 

The 43-year-old politician, the star of Sunday’s general-election night, has been central in ushering the party into parliament, where it got its first seats in 2010. Akesson has since helped increase its popular support in every parliamentary election.

Reported with Niclas Rolander. Read the rest of the article here.