2026 Swedish general election

After the 2022 general election, a right-wing bloc consisting of the Moderates (M), Christian Democrats (KD), Liberals (L) and Sweden Democrats (SD) secured a narrow majority of seats in the Riksdag. One month of negotiations between them followed, leading to the Tidö Agreement that allowed the M party leader Ulf Kristersson to become prime minister and lead the Kristersson cabinet. It was a minority government of M, KD and L with confidence and supply from SD.^[4] During the following term, the four parties became known as the Tidö parties.^[5]

The Riksdag is made up of 349 seats elected by open list proportional representation,^[6] with an electoral threshold of 4% of the national vote or alternatively 12% within a single constituency. Of the 349 seats, 310 are elected from 29 constituencies ranging in size from 2 to 40 seats, while the other 39 seats are apportioned nationally as levelling seats to ensure parties that passed the 4% national threshold hold a proportional number of seats; these levelling seats are allocated to particular districts. If a party wins more constituency seats than it is entitled to overall, a redistribution of constituency seats may occur to reduce the number of constituency seats won by that party.^[7]

General elections are held on a fixed date, the second Sunday of September, at the same time as the municipal and regional elections.^[8][9][10] If early elections are called, the newly elected legislature only serves out the remainder of the four-year term begun by the previous legislature.

The table below lists political parties represented in the Riksdag after the 2022 general election.

Before the election, the Left Party and the Sweden Democrats (SD) both said they would vote against any government where they did not receive cabinet positions.^[13][14] Meanwhile, one of SDs coalition partners, the Liberals (L), said they would continue to block SD from receiving cabinet positions.^[14][15] If they wanted to continue the coalition agreement they had since the previous election, L or SD had to change their position.^[14]

On 13 March 2026, Simona Mohamsson and Jimmie Åkesson, leaders of the Liberals and Sweden Democrats respectively, announced at a press conference that their two parties had come to an agreement which would see the Liberals eliminate any red lines against the Sweden Democrats in a future right-of-centre coalition.^[16] The agreement, dubbed "The Sweden Promise", also included other policy goals they would cooperate on, including a national referendum on adopting the Euro as currency, coinciding with the 2030 general election.^[16][17][5]

The decision to scrap red lines were celebrated by politicians from the Moderate Party and the Christian Democrats, including Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch. From within the Liberals the decision was met with both approval and opposition. Many fronting politicians from the Liberals announced their decision to resign and leave the party if the cooperation agreement between SD and L was approved by the Liberal party congress on 22 March. Mohamsson threatened to step down as party leader just six months before the general election if the party congress were to have rejected her agreement. The agreement was also met with strong criticism from the opposition parties. Mohamsson was subsequently reelected on March 22nd, albeit by a smaller than usual margin. A number of high profile Liberal politicians such as for example Jan Jönsson in Stockholm quit the party board following the party’s decision to accept Mohamsson as party leader and thus her strategy of edging closer to the other parties on the political right. The Citizens' Coalition, a minor right-wing populist, libertarian conservative, extra parliamentary party announced their willingness to unite forces with Mohamsson and the Liberals for the 2026 Swedish general election following her re-election as party leader. A poll published in late march saw the Liberals reach 4.5% in support, their highest level in the polls since 2022.

On 18 March, former minister, member of parliament and contender for the leadership of the Liberals Birgitta Ohlsson announced at a press conference together with Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, that she would stand as a candidate for the Centre Party in the 2026 election, hoping to win a seat in parliament.

On the 20th of March former Liberal leader (1997-2007) Lars Leijonborg was announced as a parliamentary candidate for the Liberals.

• John Widegren^[18]

• Basic Laws of Sweden
• History of Sweden (1991–present)
• Politics of Sweden
• 2026 elections in the European Union