Demonising nationalist parties has not stemmed their rise in Europe

, undisputed masters of the kitsch euro-pop musical genre, was sent year after year to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, a kitsch euro-pop extravaganza. Bored pundits would soon start betting on which of the other contestants was best placed to come second. Elections in Sweden have a similar flavour, with the Social Democrats in the role of the spandex-clad crooners. On September 11th the centre-left party came top in its 32nd consecutive parliamentary election, securing just under a third of the vote. The last time it was defeated, by a mere 0.1% margin, the first world war was in its opening throes. Not even the most brazen election-riggers in Moscow or Pyongyang have racked up such a winning streak.If the name of the party with most votes came as no surprise, that of the runner-up did: the Sweden Democrats (), an outfit with roots in the neo-Nazi movement. Having campaigned to “make Sweden great again” (subtext: with fewer immigrants), it snagged second place from the centre-right Moderates. It was the first time in a dozen elections over four decades that a party had gatecrashed the established political order in Sweden. Even more notable was that, as the biggest vote-winner of the right, which eked out a narrow victory over the combined forces of the left, the would normally be poised to lead a government. This would propel its youngish leader, Jimmie Akesson, to the prime ministership—a remarkable outcome for a party that got its first members of parliament elected just over a decade ago.