Swedish Exit Polls Put Left Bloc Ahead of Right — SkimNews
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- SVT exit polls project Andersson’s four-party left-of-center bloc winning a majority in Sweden’s 349-seat Riksdag, setting up her return as prime minister pending coalition talks.
- PM Ulf Kristersson has governed since 2022 with a three-party centre-right coalition that relies on outside parliamentary backing from the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.
- The Sweden Democrats, founded in the 1980s by activists from right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazis, would receive their first-ever cabinet posts if the right bloc holds its majority.
- Andersson framed the election as a choice over "if we for the first time should have a right-wing extremist party founded by Neo-Nazis in our government" after casting her vote.
- More than 8 million of Sweden's roughly 10.6 million residents were eligible to vote; individual parties must clear a 4% threshold to win Riksdag seats.
- Kristersson announced in April his Moderates would allow the Sweden Democrats into government if the right wins, though he would remain prime minister even if the Sweden Democrats finish as the stronger party.
Why it matters: An Andersson return would reverse Sweden's 2022 pivot to a centre-right government propped up by a far-right-rooted party. A Sweden Democrats cabinet entry — which Kristersson has already conditionally offered — would mark the first time a party founded by neo-Nazi activists joined a Western European government, intensifying Europe's mainstream-versus-populist contest.
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