Sweden’s left-leaning opposition wins election, PM Kristersson to resign

Sweden’s left-leaning opposition won a razor-thin majority in the country’s national election, a complete vote count showed on Thursday, prompting centre-right Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to announce that he would resign. The four opposition parties secured 176 seats in the 349-member Riksdag, while the four parties forming or supporting the outgoing conservative-led government finished with 173 seats. The narrow result was confirmed after late-arriving advance votes, including ballots cast overseas, were counted following Sunday’s election.

Kristersson steps down

Shortly after the final outcome became clear, Kristersson posted a letter on X announcing that he would resign as head of government. He had led Sweden through a three-party centre-right coalition whose parliamentary majority depended on outside support from the Sweden Democrats. Ahead of the election, Kristersson had held out the possibility of giving the Sweden Democrats Cabinet positions if his bloc retained power, but the party suffered a setback at the polls, slipping to third place behind his Moderates. The Sweden Democrats won 62 seats, 11 fewer than in the previous parliament.

Opposition leader and former prime minister Magdalena Andersson welcomed the result, saying Swedish voters had chosen “a new direction” and “cohesion and against division”. Her centre-left Social Democrats remained the largest individual party in Parliament with 99 seats, although that represented a loss of eight seats. Andersson is now hoping to return to the prime minister’s office, which she lost after the 2022 election.

Coalition puzzle remains

Despite securing a parliamentary majority, the opposition faces a complicated process of forming Sweden’s next government because of significant differences among the parties that helped produce the 176-seat bloc. The Centre Party aligned with the opposition because it does not want to support a government dependent on the Sweden Democrats. At the same time, it has resisted the prospect of entering a government alongside the Left Party, creating a difficult political equation for Andersson.

The result therefore determines the parliamentary arithmetic without settling precisely what Sweden’s next government will look like. Negotiations among the parties are expected to determine whether Andersson can assemble an administration capable of commanding sufficient support in Parliament. Any attempt to construct an arrangement crossing Sweden’s traditional left-right divide would bring its own political complications.

Broad consensus remains

The change in political balance is unlikely to produce a fundamental reversal on some of Sweden’s most important foreign and security policies. There is broad political support for continued assistance to Ukraine as well as the country’s membership of NATO. Sweden formally joined the military alliance in 2024, becoming its 32nd member after abandoning a long-standing policy of military non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The immediate challenge will instead be domestic coalition-building. With only three seats separating the rival blocs, Andersson enters negotiations with a majority but little room for defections or disagreement. The election has given Sweden a change in parliamentary control, but the composition of the government that will lead the country for the next four years remains unresolved.