Three seats. That is the gap that put Sweden’s opposition in power. After the count was completed on 17 September, the red-green bloc held 176 of the Riksdag’s 349 seats, against 173 for the governing Tidö parties, with 49.6 percent of the vote to their 48.8.
Election night looked tighter. The preliminary count had the opposition ahead by three seats, and with 80 percent of votes counted it was 175 to 174. As counting went on, the lead settled back at three, though about 30,000 votes separated the blocs and many advance votes were still to come. The last ballots from abroad and late-arriving early votes confirmed the result, subject to formal certification by the Election Authority.
Who won, who lost
The Social Democrats under Magdalena Andersson stayed the largest party with 28.0 percent and 99 seats, their lowest vote and seat share since 1911. The Moderates overtook the Sweden Democrats for second place, with 19.9 percent and 70 seats. The Sweden Democrats fell to 17.5 percent and 62 seats, their first decline at a general election since 1988.
The opposition bloc is the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Greens. Opposite them stood the Moderates, Christian Democrats, Liberals and Sweden Democrats, who had backed Ulf Kristersson’s minority government from outside the cabinet under the Tidö Agreement. Following the result Kristersson announced his resignation as prime minister, and Andersson began negotiations with the opposition parties on a new government.
A divided map
The opposition won unprecedented landslides in the four largest cities and cut its deficits across much of the south and around Stockholm. The Tidö parties made big gains in central and northern Sweden and took Gävleborg and Värmland, historically socialist counties. Many municipalities in former strongholds of the left voted for the right in a national election for the first time. The result was a very polarised map.
Exit polls had suggested a wider opposition win. Polls through the campaign gave the red-green side an edge, which narrowed as polling day approached. The campaign focused on immigration, crime, the economy, healthcare and energy, and it was the first general election since Sweden joined NATO in March 2024, ending more than 200 years of military non-alignment.
Getting from a majority to a government is not simple. The Centre Party said it would oppose any government that included the Left Party, while the Left Party said it would refuse to act as a support party for a Social Democrat-led government. Polling had shown all four opposition parties would very likely be needed to command a majority.
