Magdalena Andersson was on course to return as Sweden’s prime minister on Sunday as exit polling in the Sweden election put her left-wing bloc ahead of Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing alliance. Sweden’s SVT public broadcaster projected a left bloc share of 51.3%, with the right bloc on 46.8%.
Andersson spent much of the campaign warning against giving ministerial posts to the Sweden Democrats, whom she called an “extremist” party with “neo-Nazi” roots. She also told POLITICO that “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,” and later added, “Swedish elections are always close,” and “When I’ve been around Sweden, a lot of people I’ve spoken to said they see things that the government has done that they like but there are also lots of things that they don’t like. And many people say to me that it’s enough now.”
SVT count in Sweden
SVT said the left bloc’s lead came after months in which the bloc had held a comfortable polling advantage, before that margin narrowed in the last two weeks of the campaign. On the eve of the vote, one poll put the two rival blocs in a dead heat, making Sunday’s projection a sharp shift from the closest reading before polling day.
Andersson toured the suburbs of Stockholm on Sunday in a dark red campaign bus, pressing the final argument for a left-wing coalition that included the Left Party and the Greens. Four years after she was thrown out of office, the projection put her back in position to lead Sweden again.
Ulf Kristersson and Sweden Democrats
Kristersson had decided to work closely with the Sweden Democrats and promised to give the Sweden Democrats seats in cabinet if he won. That prospect made this vote more than a routine transfer of power: the Sweden Democrats had supported the government in parliament without holding cabinet posts for four years, and a win for Kristersson would have opened the door to a formal role in government for the first time.
The left bloc was projected to win, but Andersson said the Sweden Democrats would not necessarily disappear from Swedish politics even if her bloc prevailed. That leaves the governing math unsettled even with the exit poll pointing one way, because party leaders were expected to take weeks to finalize a new coalition agreement.
Sunday night forecasts
Broadcasters were expected to issue updated forecasts later on Sunday night after a critical mass of districts declared results. For readers in Sweden, the immediate change is not a finished government but a live contest over who gets the first chance to build one, and whether the Sweden Democrats end up inside cabinet or still outside it.
