Tage Fritjof Erlander was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Sweden and leader of the Social Democratic Party from 1946 to 1969. Previously, he served as minister of education from 1945 to 1946, and was a member of the Riksdag from 1932 to 1973. During his premiership, Sweden developed into one of the world's most advanced welfare states, with the "Swedish Model" at the peak of its acclaim and notoriety. His uninterrupted tenure of 23 years as head of the government is the longest ever in Sweden and in any modern Western democracy.

The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, usually referred to as The Social Democrats, is a centre-left social-democratic and democratic socialist political party in Sweden. Globally, it is a full member of the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists.