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The statistics, gathered by Swedish national TV, have been disputed but there is no doubt that immigration and crime have come to dominate the Swedish election. The right-wing Sweden Democrats – whose roots stem from a yobbish neo-Nazo white power group in the 1980s – were barely a blip on the political radar a decade ago. In the last election they won 13 percent of the vote but many pundits – and most bookies – say they are on target to be the biggest single party taking 25 per cent or more in Sunday’s vote. Because of the coalition nature of Swedish government the Swedish Democrats will not hold power because no other political party will work with them.

But the party re-branded, re-imagined and re-launched since 2005 by charismatic leader Jimmie Åkesson, will be impossible to ignore. Political pundits say EU migrant quotas which have seen Sweden assimilate more immigrants per head than any other European nation (250,000 since 2015) has been the trigger for the rise of the right. Mass migration fears were fuelled by a now infamous TV show. The Mission Investigation programme, broadcast by SVT, said the total number of men convicted of rape or attempted rape in the last five years was 843. Of those 58 percent were born abroad - 197 were from the Middle East and North Africa, with 45 coming from Afghanistan, and the rest from South Africa and other non-European countries.

Swedish election: People demonstrate against the Sweden Democrats and Jimmie Akesson

Chief editor Ulf Johansson told the BBC: "We are very clear in the programme that it is a small percentage of the people coming from abroad who are convicted of rape.” But the figures were out there. Today the Daily Mail’s veteran reporter Robert Hardman filed a pre-election report from Swedish capital Stockholm and wrote: “Crime and immigration are dominating an election which has become so un-Swedish that many people talk openly about a national identity crisis. “Gangland shootings are so commonplace they barely make the news. A new fad for synchronised car-burnings has been making the headlines instead.

The Sweden Democrats have been re-branded and re-launched by Jimmie Åkesson

“All of it is blamed — however unfairly — on immigrants in a country where 20 per cent of the population were born elsewhere.” And Swedish political journalist Michelle Russell, added: “The reason for the far right movement is pretty classic and similar to the UK, people are fed up with the current Labour/ Radical Left/Environment Left allied government that are considered a weak, irresponsible "hippie talk" government. “The Swedes are sick of all the cuts, the political scandals and corruption . The same applies to the former Conservative government. A lot of people are angry that there was never any option to vote on mass immigration. “People are tribal by nature and are not comfortable with the sudden cultural changes in society due to mass immigration. Cultural differences, failed integration, segregation, the increase in violence and crime are all major factors. Not to mention the fear of radical Islam.

The Sweden Democrats will not hold power because no other political party will work with them