Swedish election: centre-left parties lead by just a single seat with most votes counted

 

Swedish election: centre-left parties lead by just a single seat with most votes counted

 

Race too close to call and may take days to become clear despite early exit polls suggesting left bloc win

 

Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent

Sun 13 Sep 2026 23.52 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/13/voting-under-way-in-sweden-with-far-right-eyeing-first-role-in-government

 

With most of the votes counted, Sweden’s national election remained too close to call on Sunday night, with left-wing parties holding a lead of just a single seat according to a partial tally by the election authority.

 

Earlier in the night, exit polls suggested that the country was on course for a brand new left-leaning government. But as the votes were counted, it was apparent it could take days for the outcome to become clear.

 

With 80% of votes counted, there was just one seat between the left and right blocs. The left-leaning opposition parties, led by Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson, had 175 and the rightwing parties, led by the Moderates prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, had 174.

 

At 10:30pm local time, broadcaster SVT predicted there were only 20,000 votes between the blocs.

 

The election authority said a preliminary vote count may not be ready until Thursday.

 

Kristersson, the incumbent prime minister, said the voters had had their say, but “we still don’t have a final result.”

 

“Which government will lead Sweden in the coming years is still an open question, and we will do everything we can to ensure that this government will be the very best for our country,” Kristersson told supporters.

 

The Social Democrats remain Sweden’s biggest party, but look to have had their worst result in decades. Speaking just before midnight local time, Andersson addressed supporters to say that every vote must be counted.

 

“We will have to wait for the final election results. But my message is clear: we Social Democrats will always be ready to take responsibility for the result. It seems like it will be very even,” she said.

 

“But right now we are leading. If it stands, then Sweden will have a new government. But we have to wait for the final result, so let me end where I began, in democracy, the finest thing we have.”

 

It was also a bad night for the far-right Sweden Democrats, who are hoping to enter government for the first time. They slipped from the country’s second biggest party to third.

 

The deputy prime minister, Ebba Busch, of the Christian Democrats, told her supporters that Sweden would be going “to bed with uncertainty” and may have to wait until Wednesday for a result. But she remained adamant that the ruling right-leaning coalition should remain in government.

 

“This is a very clear message for the only unified government alternative in this election campaign,” she said in an upbeat speech. “This will be a real nail-biter, this could be uncertain all the way until Wednesday.”

 

It comes after an unusually heated and polarised campaign punctuated by personal attacks between leaders, accusations of misinformation and Maga-inspired ads. Polls suggested an extremely tight race, with one showing just 0.3 percentage points between the left and right blocs.

 

Polling stations across the country opened at 8am local time (7am UK time). Enthusiasm among voters appeared to be high. A record 3.6 million voters took part in early voting and there were reports of long queues at some polling stations.

 

Whatever the result, coalition talks are expected to take weeks if not months.

 

The right-leaning bloc, made up of what are known as the Tidö parties, has been in power for four years. It is formed of the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, with a supporting role for SD, Sweden’s second biggest party.

 

The opposition left-leaning bloc is formed of Sweden’s biggest party, the Social Democrats, the Centre party, the Green party and the Left party.

 

The rightwing coalition broke a longstanding taboo in 2022 by going into partnership with SD, which has neo-Nazi roots.

 

SD has attempted to make itself more palatable to the mainstream by toning down its overtly racist rhetoric, while arguing that immigration is responsible for Sweden’s crime problems.

 

After four years in a supporting role for the Moderates-run coalition government, however, during which it has shifted much of the Swedish establishment to the right and had a strong influence on policies, SD’s approach to the election has been more brazen. If the right-leaning coalition wins, the party has been promised a prominent role in the government, including key ministerial positions.

 

SD’s campaign slogan of “make Sweden Sweden again” was reminiscent of Donald Trump’s “make America great again”. Its controversial ads on buses – with messages including: “Do you miss Mogadishu? The repatriation grant will help you get home” – were taken down after drivers refused to work in vehicles displaying them.

 

The party leader, Jimmie Åkesson, was accused of sexism after asking the Social Democrats’ leader why she was so angry during a TV debate.

 

Another leading SD figure, Gustav Gellerbrant, came under national scrutiny after an investigation by the publication Expo connected his partner to Russian state actors and the spread of Russian propaganda. His partner, who is Russian, works as a civil servant for SD in parliament. Gellerbrant said in response that it was “isolated information” intended to raise suspicion about her Russian origins and has since gone on leave.

 

Andersson, who voted on Sunday morning in the Stockholm suburb of Nacka, said the campaign had been “a tale of two sides”.

 

“There have been a lot of lies and bickering, but at the same time there are so many sensible people out there across the country,” she told SVT. “The focus is on winning and setting a new direction for Sweden.”

 

Abba’s Benny Andersson showed his support for the Social Democrats’ leader by performing a reworked version of Mamma Mia to supporters at the party’s headquarters, replacing the words “Mamma Mia” with “Magdalena”.

 

Kristersson, had put considerable focus in the final days of campaigning on the penalty discount applied to criminals convicted of various offences. He accused the Social Democrat leader of not standing up for female rape victims. In response, she accused him of weaponising men’s violence against women.

 

After voting in the town of Strängnäs, west of the capital, Kristersson said “momentum is on our side”. Despite dropping in the latest polls, he said the role of his party was to be “team leaders … uniting for the best of the country”.

 

Voters say the most important election issues are healthcare, law and order, immigration and the economy. But much of the election debate has been focused on personal finance, said Radio Sweden’s senior political correspondent, Fredrik Furtenbach. “The parties have tried to outdo each other with promises of more money. It has been a sort of auction.”