Sweden's Center-Left Bloc Defeats Kristersson's Right-Wing Bloc

Sweden's center-left opposition has narrowly defeated the ruling right-wing bloc in the country's parliamentary election, according to public broadcaster SVT, with 99% of the votes counted.

The opposition parties led by former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democratic Party are projected to win 175 seats in the 349-member Riksdag, compared with 174 for the right-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The margin is just over 26,000 votes.

“The likelihood of the result changing at this stage is so small that we can say with certainty that the opposition will win the most seats in this election,” SVT reported.

The Swedish Election Authority is still counting late-arriving ballots from inside the country and votes cast abroad. The final count could continue until Thursday, meaning the exact distribution of seats has yet to be confirmed.

The preliminary figures give the Social Democrats 99 seats, or 28.0% of the vote, followed by Kristersson's Moderate Party with 71 seats and 19.9%. The Sweden Democrats are projected to have 62 seats and 17.6%, while the Left Party has 29 seats, the Centre Party 25, the Christian Democrats 22, the Green Party 22 and the Liberals 19.

The result marks the first decline in support for the Sweden Democrats since the anti-immigration party entered parliament. It has lost 11 seats compared with the previous election, in contrast with the recent gains made by right-wing parties in several other European countries.

The election comes at an important point in Sweden's security policy. After decades of neutrality following World War II and centuries of military non-alignment with major powers, Sweden joined NATO in 2024 as the alliance's 32nd member.

Andersson is now positioned to return as prime minister, although forming a government could prove complicated. The center-left bloc consists of four parties with differing political agendas, meaning coalition negotiations could last for weeks.

Political analysts at Mid Sweden University said a future center-left government could use a softer tone in its political rhetoric, while Sweden's broader move toward stricter migration and crime policies is likely to continue. They linked that approach to public sentiment that has become firmly established in recent years.

The Riksdag is expected to confirm the final official election results by the end of the week once late and overseas ballots have been processed.