My friend Andrew Adonis has a fascinating piece in today's FT. The ostensible subject is the election of Frederik Reinfeldt on Sunday. But the subtext is about domestic British - Labour - politics:

...A view of “Swedish exceptionalism” has been potent – and misleading. In fact, Sweden has combined high ­levels of state funding with radical change to promote choice, quality and diversity across the public services to respond better to individual aspiration.

Structural reforms to bring this about were introduced by Carl Bildt’s centre-right government in the early 1990s. Göran Persson’s Social Democrats have since improved on them, seeking to reconcile reform with social equity in a manner similar to Mr Blair’s government. But after 12 years in office, the centre-left’s credibility in leading the next phase of modernisation was a big issue in the recent election, as it will be in the next British election, too.

...As a schools minister, I am struck by how far Sweden has progressed with “social market” reform. Since the Bildt education reforms of 1991, which allowed diversity within Sweden’s state schools system, nearly 600 independently managed schools have been established with state funding, educating more than 7 per cent of all pupils. ­Sweden’s independent state schools are similar to the Blair government’s new independently managed academies and trust schools, including requirements for fair, community-based admissions arrangements.

More than a decade after the reforms took root, Sweden continues to have one of the least ability-segregated school systems in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. There is national regulation, but existing providers and local councils are not allowed to stop the establishment of these schools where parents want them. Large chains of schools are now emerging and this independent sector is now likely to grow stronger.

Visiting Finland last week I had an equally vivid impression of choice-based reform in action...
In Helsinki, parents of about half the children entering secondary schools request a school other than the one allocated. At the upper secondary level, beyond the age of 16, there is wider choice still, with schools and vocational colleges competing strongly on the range and quality of their courses.

...Scandinavia is at the cutting-edge of public sector reform. Competition between its centre-left and centre-right parties focuses on more, not less, change. We should all take note.