STOCKHOLM — Partial results from Sweden’s national election on Sunday showed conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s four-party alliance locked in a close race with opposition parties on the left including former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats. Exit polls from public broadcaster SVT had initially shown the left-wing parties ahead by several percentage points but with two-thirds of the actual vote counted, the two blocs were nearly dead even. The exit polls set off jubilation at the Social Democrats’ election gathering but the mood shifted to quiet waiting as the results indicated a closer race. Kristersson has led Sweden since 2022 with a three-party centre-right coalition. It relied on outside support from the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party that has far-right roots but has moved toward the political mainstream, for a parliamentary majority. The Sweden Democrats had been promised Cabinet posts this time if the governing coalition were returned to office. The centre left Social Democrats have led most Swedish governments since the Second World War. Andersson served as prime minister from 2021 until she lost power at the last election, and a win for the four left parties would pave the way for her to return to office. There are two major political blocs: one with four parties on the right and another with four parties on the left. So the big question is less about which party wins and more about which side can form a majority. Individual parties need a minimum of four per cent of the vote to win parliamentary seats. With broad political consensus in Sweden on several major issues such as support for Ukraine and the country’s decision to join NATO, much election discussion focused on the possibility of the hard right entering government. The Sweden Democrats’ role was in focus against a background of gains for the populist right in Europe, including the first-place finish by the far-right Alternative for Germany party in a regional election there Sept. 6. The Sweden Democrats were founded in the 1980s by people who had been active in right-wing extremist groups, including neo-Nazis. They toned down their rhetoric and expelled openly racist members under Jimmie Åkesson, who has led them since 2005 and overseen their growth from what was once a marginal party. “This is a very important election for Sweden, if we for the first time should have a right-wing extremist party founded by Neo-Nazis in our government or if the government should be led by me,” said Andersson after voting. More than eight million people in the nation of about 10.6 million were eligible to vote in the election for the 349-seat parliament, the Riksdag. Kostya Manenkov, The Associated Press
