Sweden's PM Kristersson to Resign as Left-Wing Bloc Wins Narrow Election Victory

Sweden's political landscape shifted on Thursday after Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced he would step down following a general election defeat that handed a four-party left-wing bloc a razor-thin majority in parliament.

A margin of 50,000 votes

The Swedish Election Authority confirmed that the left-wing opposition, made up of the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Greens and the Centre Party, secured 176 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. The four parties that made up or backed Kristersson's outgoing conservative-led coalition took the remaining 173 seats. The gap between the two blocs came down to roughly 50,000 votes out of a national population of 10.6 million, underscoring how tightly contested the race had become in its final days.

Within hours of the result being declared, Kristersson confirmed his resignation in a letter posted to social media platform X, asking that he be relieved of his duties so that the speaker of parliament could begin the process of forming a new government. He had signalled on election night that he would respect any attempt by the opposition to form a government, wishing his rivals well despite the internal divisions within their bloc.

Andersson's uphill coalition task

Former prime minister Magdalena Andersson, whose centre-left Social Democrats emerged as the single largest party despite losing some seats compared to the last election, is now best placed to try to reclaim the post she held from 2021 to 2022. Andersson, who also served as Sweden's finance minister for seven years before becoming prime minister, will need to navigate sharp disagreements within her own bloc before any government can be formed. The Centre Party has said it will not support an administration that hands cabinet posts to the further-left Left Party, while the Left Party has publicly insisted on ministerial representation as the price of its backing. Andersson has already ruled out including the Left Party in her cabinet, though she is seeking its support on the floor of parliament.

Parliament is not expected to vote on a new prime minister before September 29, leaving several weeks of negotiation ahead. The outcome was welcomed by other European centre-left leaders, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez writing on X that Swedish voters had once again backed the welfare state, social justice and the green agenda after four years of right-wing rule.

Far right loses ground

One of the more notable undercurrents of the election was a setback for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who have been part of parliament since 2010. The party's vote share fell to 17.5 percent, down roughly three percentage points from the 2022 election, marking the first time it has lost support since entering the political mainstream. Analysts had widely expected a closer race between the two blocs, but the scale of the swing away from the far right was seen as one of the more consequential shifts of the night.

The change in government, if it materialises as expected, would mark Sweden's return to left-leaning rule after four years under a coalition that depended on far-right support, a model that had itself been closely watched across Europe as a test case for mainstream conservative parties working with nationalist movements.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.