Swedish election too close to call as right-wing edge narrows
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Early results show Sweden's parliamentary race virtually tied, with the right-wing bloc projected to win 174 seats against the left's 175, leaving the final outcome uncertain.
Stockholm – Early vote counts suggest Sweden's 2026 general election is too close to call, with the right-wing alliance of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson projected to secure 174 of the 349 parliamentary seats, just one short of the left-wing bloc's 175, according to public broadcaster SVT. A separate forecast from TV4 indicated a similarly tight split, estimating 176 seats for the left and 173 for the right.
The race, which had seen the right-wing coalition lagging in polls for most of the year, narrowed dramatically in the final weeks of a contentious campaign. If Kristersson remains in power, he has pledged to allocate ministerial posts to members of the Sweden Democrats, a nationalist party that has historically been excluded from government.
"Swedish elections are always close," former prime minister Magdalena Andersson said while campaigning in Stockholm's suburbs. "People see things the government has done that they like, but there are also lots of things they don’t like."
Andersson, who was expected to regain the premiership after being ousted four years ago, acknowledged that a narrow defeat would be disappointing but warned that a left-wing victory would not automatically end the Sweden Democrats' influence.
"The hate that they have spread through this election, and if they would become ministers and use their platforms as ministers to spread hate? Well, we’ll see if the Swedish people are very tempted on that," she added.
Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party, said he would retain control over any coalition formation and insisted that any Sweden Democrat ministers would be "skilled, experienced and have good judgment."
The final composition of the government will depend on negotiations with smaller parties that hold the balance of power in Sweden's multi-party system, making the outcome of this tightly contested election a focal point for observers across Europe.