The Örebro Party (, ÖP or ÖrP) is a political party in Sweden. The party was initially active only in Örebro, but has since sought to become a national party by entering the Riksdag. Markus Allard is the party leader. According to Allard, the party cannot be placed anywhere on the traditional left–right political spectrum. The party has variously been characterized as left-wing, right-wing, populist, nationalist, and conservative.
Some key issues for the Örebro Party locally include strong secularism, a 30-hour workweek with retained pay, lowered wages for politicians, expanded social housing, abolishing preschool fees, making public transport free of charge, ending taxpayer funding of what it sees as wasteful sculptures, monuments and art and introducing free dental care. Nationally the party has set out large-scale remigration, closing the Swedish borders to immigration, a stricter assimilation policy and ending taxes on energy and fuel as some of its key issues. The party runs candidates for seats in the municipal assembly of Örebro Municipality and the Örebro County Council. Since the 2022 elections, it has held five seats in the municipal assembly and three in the regional assembly. Its symbol represents Svampen (The Mushroom), a water tower that is a prominent landmark in Örebro.
In October 2025, party leader Markus Allard announced the party's intention to contest the 2026 Swedish general election. Allard said the decision was motivated by the party's financial position, which now allowed it to field candidates in the election to the Riksdag. He set a goal of winning a seat in parliament through the Örebro Riksdag constituency, where the electoral threshold is 12%.
In the 2026 Swedish general election the Örebro Party received just below 40 000 votes, winning 0.59% of the nationwide vote in the Riksdag election. In the Örebro County Constituency the party received 4.67% of the vote, surpassing the Liberals. As the party did not reach 4% nationwide or 12% in any constituency it did not gain any seats in the Riksdag. In the Regional election in Örebro County the party ended up in third place, increasing its vote share by 11 points to 15.5% of the vote. In the municipal election in Örebro Municipality the party increased by more than 9 points to 17.1% of the vote, finishing in second place overall.
History
Split from the left The initiative to found the Örebro Party was taken in early 2014 by Markus Allard, who also became the first party leader. Allard had previously held positions as substitute member of the Örebro municipal council and district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro; in December 2013 he was expelled from the Left Party and its youth wing Young Left for "liking" the Revolutionary Front, a militant revolutionary socialist and anti-fascist organization, on Facebook and refusing to disavow it when questioned. Allard has stated that the real reason for his expulsion was that he was perceived as a threat to the established party bureaucracy.
While Allard has described himself as a Communist, and a Marxist, at its founding in March 2014 he defined the Örebro Party as "broad left". At that time the party considered itself a "local party that wants to carry on the labour movement's ideals", and "not interested in administrating the current society".
As a result of signing the petition required for ÖP to be registered as a party, a large number of Left Party members in Örebro were informed of the party's intention to expel them. This triggered backlash from several other Left Party members in social media, and a number of Left Party and Young Left members who had signed the petition later appeared on the party's list of election candidates while not joining ÖP as members. Throughout early 2014, several members of the Young Left were expelled for expressing support for Allard and his position on the Revolutionary Front, among them the writer Malcom Kyeyune and Axel Frick, Allard's replacement as district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro and an Örebro Party candidate.
In the September 2014 Swedish election, the party received 1,050 votes in the municipal council election in Örebro, and also some write-in votes in Örebro County for the Riksdag.
Entering the municipal assembly In February 2018, Allard stated that having decided to focus on "down-to-earth and local issues", the party membership had broadened since its foundation and he would no longer characterize it as either left or right. The same month , an Örebro police officer, joined the party. He had attracted attention the previous year for a Facebook post about his experience with the overrepresentation of violent crime among immigrants.
In the 2018 election, the party gained two seats on the Örebro municipal council, where it is represented by Allard and Springare. They subsequently gained representation on the Örebro municipal executive committee, with Allard as full-time municipal commissioner. Since achieving municipal representation in 2018 the party has gotten considerable attention for Allard's distinctly polemical debating style in the municipal chamber, with a number of speeches going viral.
Becoming a national party In October 2025 ÖP-leader Markus Allard announced that the Örebro Party had sufficient funds to become a nationwide party and participate in the 2026 Swedish general election. The Örebro Party and Allard set out the goal for the party to enter parliament via the 12% constituency threshold, which gives a political party one seat if that party manages to clear at least 12% in a constituency, even if that party does not reach the 4% parliamentary threshold nationwide. If successful this would be the first time in Swedish political history in which a party enters parliament that way as previous attempts by the Norrbotten Party in 2002 and the Christian Democrats in 1988 were unsuccessful. A secondary goal set out by the party was to garner 1% of the vote nationwide as that would result in the party getting their ballots distributed nationwide in the following election in 2030.
A December 2025 poll conducted by Verian for SVT showed the Örebro Party being the largest political party outside of parliament. Polls from Nordisk Opinion have shown the Örebro Party polling at 0.4 and 0.9% and in hypothetical polls where respondents were asked how they would vote if Sweden did not have a parliamentary threshold at 4% the Örebro Party received between 1.9 and 2.8%. A local poll in May 2026 showed the Örebro Party receiving 18.4% of the vote in the municipal election in Örebro and thus becoming the second largest party in the municipal council, up from 7.9% in the 2022 election. Among men aged 18–39 ÖP would receive 30.3% of the vote and become the largest party.
In June 2026 the newspaper Flamman revealed that the CEO of the Swedish tech-company Mullvad, Daniel Berntsson, had donated 5,000,000 SEK to the Örebro Party in 2025. Berntsson argued that he felt it was necessary to make a donation as the Örebro Party "fights against corruption and dysfunction" and wrote that the donation was made "Because of their spine, their will on focusing on that which is important, their clear-sightedness in the political game as well as to compensate for how they are being worked against in dishonest and illegal ways by the media and other parties."
2026 run up to the elections to the Riksdag and regional & municipal assemblies In May 2026 the Örebro Party got an additional municipal councilor as Glenn Roswall became a full-time politician.
The ruling Social Democrats, the largest party in the Örebro municipal council, named the Örebro Party as their main opponent ahead of the 2026 municipal election in Örebro and challenged ÖP-leader Markus Allard to a one on one debate between S and ÖP before the election. Markus Allard accepted a debate but questioned why the Social Democrats and their local leader had not been open to a debate before. Allard also claimed that the Örebro Party was the only alternative to a Social Democrat-led coalition.
In the election compass made by SVT for the 2026 election the Örebro Party, just as the other parties, were given the chance to give their view of different political topics. The Örebro Party responded to the statement: •"My municipality should encourage remigration for immigrants who are not integrated" with "Completely agree" The Örebro Party responded to the statement: •"The municipality should put more effort into preserving the cultures and traditions of minorities" with "Completely disagree" Regarding municipal taxes, the Örebro Party responded to the statement: •"How much should the inhabitants of my municipality pay in municipal taxes?" with "A lot less".
A poll from Sentio Research in June 2026 showed the Örebro Party being less than a point away from emerging as the largest party in the municipal elections in Örebro. The poll showed nearly all other parties decreasing from the last election whilst showing a massive increase for the Örebro party, which would increase from 7.9% in 2022 to 28.3% in 2026. According to Markus Allard other recent polls had shown the Örebro Party polling at 20-24% for the municipal elections in Örebro municipality and at around 20% for the 2026 regional elections in Region Örebro County, compared to 4.5% in the regional elections in 2022.
In the summer prior to the 2026 election former member of parliament for the Sweden Democrats and later Alternative for Sweden, Jeff Ahl endorsed the Örebro Party. The nationalist influencer The Golden One stated in a post on X in 2026 that he wishes to see Allard and the Örebro Party elected to parliament. Dan Eriksson and Magnus Söderman from the Swedish nationalist organisation Det Fria Sverige have on multiple occasions discussed the Örebro Party and commended party leader Markus Allard.
2026 General Election In August 2026, Swedish Minister for Finance Elisabeth Svantesson referred to Örebro Party leader Markus Allard as "a Trumpist of the worse kind". Allard responded by saying "I call a spade a spade and an idiot an idiot" and called the government "fucking losers".
In a podcast in August 2026 Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, criticized the Örebro Party and Markus Allard. Åkesson stated that he would rather work alongside the Liberals than to work with the Örebro Party.
Ahead of the 2026 Swedish General election, multiple large newspapers such as Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, published articles about the Örebro Party and their leader Markus Allard, highlighting the Örebro Party’s chances of entering the Swedish parliament via the Örebro county constituency which has a threshold at 12%. Svenska Dagbladet referred to Allard and the Örebro Party as the "Tidö parties biggest headache" whilst Dagens Nyheter called the party "more nationalist than SD".
A Novus poll in August 2026 showed the Örebro Party emerging as the second largest party in Region Örebro County, reaching 15.1% of the vote share, up more than 10 points since the 2022 Regional election where the party won 4.5% of the vote.
Following the 2026 Region Örebro County election the Sweden Democrats invited the Örebro Party, the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals to talks of forming a new coalition in the Region in order to oust the Social Democrats from power.
Ideology The Örebro party has been described as populist and nationalist. On the political spectrum the Örebro Party has been described as belonging to the conservative left, but also as "left-populist and right-populist at the same time". The chief editor at Nerikes Allehanda, a local newspaper in Örebro made accusations against the Örebro Party in connection to a public dispute and said that it was his personal opinion that they are "racists, fascists and nazis". The party has also been described as far-right.