Sweden Center-Left Coalition Wins Tight Election as Kristersson Right-Wing Government Falls

Sweden's Election Authority completed its vote count on Thursday, giving the four left-wing opposition parties 176 seats to 173 for the parties backing the outgoing conservative-led government in the 349-seat Riksdag, with roughly 50,000 votes separating the blocs 12. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced his resignation in a letter posted to X, stating he asked to be relieved of office so parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlen could begin the process of forming a new government 2. Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson, who previously served as prime minister from 2021 to 2022, said in a victory speech that voters had chosen "a new direction" and pledged to prioritize healthcare, immigration, education, and climate policy 23. Andersson has invited the Left, Centre, and Green parties to coalition talks. The Centre Party has said it will not join any government including Left Party cabinet ministers, and parliament cannot vote on a new prime minister before September 29 23. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, coalition partners to Kristersson's government, lost support for the first time since entering parliament in 2010, drawing 17.5 percent of the vote 2.