After winning parliamentary election: Social Democrat gets mandate for sounding in Sweden

The Swedish parliamentary election has shown a narrow victory for the opposition led by the Social Democrats, according to a preliminary tally of all votes. The four parties supporting Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson as Prime Minister together secure 176 of the 349 seats. This includes the Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens, and the Liberal Centre Party.

The conservative camp, comprising the previous three-party government and right-wing populists, fell short with 173 mandates. The final election results are expected by the weekend. After the Sunday election, the race between the two political camps was initially so close that neither side could declare a winner. Only on Thursday were the last absentee ballots counted.

Voter turnout stood at 84.8 percent (2022: 84.2 percent). The Social Democrats remained the strongest force with 28 percent of the votes, but they suffered a decline (2022: 30.3 percent) – just like the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats (17.5 percent; 2022: 20.5 percent), which saw their first defeat in a parliamentary election.

All three government parties slightly increased their vote share, but still failed to achieve a majority due to the poor performance of the right-wing populists. The question of which parties will form a government remains unclear. Compromises on both sides are needed. The Centre Party had previously stated they would not govern with the Left.

The Left, in turn, demanded ministerial posts if the Social Democrat-led camp secured a victory. However, minority governments are common in Sweden, and it is possible to collaborate with one or more parties outside the coalition. The party that becomes Prime Minister or Minister President must have a non-absolute majority in the Parliament.