Partial Sweden election results show close contest between conservative bloc and opposition — SkimNews
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- Partial results from Sweden's Sunday election showed PM Ulf Kristersson's four-party conservative alliance and the left-wing opposition nearly even with two-thirds of votes counted — reversing initial SVT exit polls that had left parties ahead by several points.
- Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party founded in the 1980s by people from right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazis, were promised Cabinet posts if the conservative bloc returned to office — raising the prospect of a far-right-rooted party joining government for the first time.
- Social Democrats leader and former PM Magdalena Andersson, who served 2021 until losing the last election, would return to office if the four-party left bloc wins; the Social Democrats have led most Swedish governments since World War II.
- Kristersson has governed since 2022 through a three-party centre-right coalition that relied on the Sweden Democrats' outside support for a parliamentary majority.
- More than 8 million eligible voters out of a population of roughly 10.6 million chose the 349-seat Riksdag; parties need a minimum 4% of the vote to win parliamentary seats.
- Election debate focused less on NATO membership or Ukraine support, where broad cross-party consensus exists, and more on the hard right's potential role, against a backdrop of Alternative for Germany's first-place finish in a German regional election on Sept. 6.
Why it matters: The Sweden Democrats — founded by neo-Nazi activists in the 1980s — were promised Cabinet posts if the conservative bloc wins, which would bring a far-right-rooted party into Swedish government for the first time. Because Sweden's politics runs on two four-party blocs, the bloc-level tie means whoever forms a government will need to assemble at least four parties in the 349-seat Riksdag, making the Sweden Democrats' kingmaker role the decisive question.
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