2026 Swedish general election

After the 2022 Swedish 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.^[1] During the following term, the four parties became known as the Tidö parties.^[2]

The 2026 general election was the first parliamentary election in Sweden since the country acceded to NATO on 7 March 2024, which ended Swedish neutrality after more than 200 years of military non-alignment.^[3][4] Sweden applied for NATO membership together with Finland in 2022, following the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[4][5]

The Riksdag is made up of 349 seats elected by open lists and 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 41 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.^[11] Polls opened for Swedish citizens who resided abroad on 30 July 2026.^[12]

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

According to an August 2026 Novus poll, voters considered the ten most important political areas—ranked from most to least important—to be healthcare, education, law and order, immigration/integration, elderly care, the economy, employment, the climate, taxes, and energy policy.^[25] Following the Fagersta school attack on 21 August 2026, several party leaders cancelled planned speeches ahead of the election.^[26] On the morning after the attack, more than 70 people, including party leaders Ulf Kristersson, Magdalena Andersson, Simona Mohamsson, and Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist gathered at a memorial site for the victims of the attack carrying flowers and lighting candles.^[27][28]

S. Swedish Social Democratic Party M. Moderate Party SD. Sweden Democrats V. Left Party C. Centre Party KD. Christian Democrats MP. Green Party L. Liberals

In the preliminary result, only the votes of the eight parties that are represented in the Riksdag are reported separately. The votes cast for all other parties are reported collectively.^[56][57] The preliminary count on election night indicated that the opposition left-leaning parties were leading by three seats against the right-leaning government parties and the Sweden Democrats.^[58]

With 80% of the votes counted, the opposition parties led by the Social Democrats and Andersson held 175 seats against 174 for the governing Tidö parties led by Prime Minister Kristersson.^[59] As counting continued, the opposition's lead increased to three seats, with 176 seats against 173 for the Tidö parties,^[60] although around 30,000 votes separated the blocs and a substantial number of advance votes remained to be counted.^[61] The final result was therefore not yet clear, with the remaining postal and late advance votes potentially affecting the distribution of seats.^[62]

The result remained subject to formal certification by the Swedish Election Authority,^[63] but the last votes cast from abroad and late-arriving early votes confirmed the opposition victory, and the completion of the count also confirmed the three-seat difference between the two blocs.^[64] By 17 September, the vote count had been completed, with the opposition parties (49.6%) securing 176 of the Riksdag's 349 seats and the Tidö parties (48.8%) the remaining 173 seats.^[65]

More information Party, Votes ...

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
By party
	Social Democrats	1,895,989	28.02	99	–8
	Moderate Party	1,343,448	19.85	70	+2
	Sweden Democrats	1,183,248	17.48	62	–11
	Left Party	568,781	8.40	30	+6
	Centre Party	475,780	7.03	25	+1
	Christian Democrats	417,490	6.17	22	+3
	Green Party	414,307	6.12	22	+4
	Liberals	361,187	5.34	19	+3
	Örebro Party	39,644	0.59	0	New
	Alternative for Sweden	26,729	0.39	0	0
	Christian Values Party [sv]	9,017	0.13	0	0
	Ambition Sweden	7,679	0.11	0	New
	Pirate Party	7,464	0.11	0	0
	Citizens' Coalition	4,118	0.06	0	0
	Human Rights and Democracy [sv]	3,556	0.05	0	0
	Communist Party of Sweden	2,167	0.03	0	0
	Enad Röst	1,286	0.02	0	0
	Nuance Party	1,069	0.02	0	0
Other parties (fewer than 1,000 votes)		4,470	0.07	–	–
Total		6,767,429	100.00	349	0
Valid votes		6,767,429	99.02
Invalid votes		7,427	0.11
Blank votes		59,557	0.87
Total votes		6,834,413	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		8,051,355	84.89
Source: Election Authority[66]
By bloc
	Andersson's Bloc (S+MP+V+C)	3,354,857	49.57	176	+3
	Kristersson's Bloc (M+SD+KD+L)	3,305,373	48.84	173	–3
	Others	107,199	1.58	0	0
Total		6,767,429	100.00	349	0
Valid votes		6,767,429	99.02
Invalid votes		7,427	0.11
Blank votes		59,557	0.87
Total votes		6,834,413	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		8,051,355	84.89
Source: Election Authority[66]

Close

After the vote count had been completed, the opposition parties secured 176 seats compared to the Tidö parties 173.^[65] Following the result, Prime Minister Kristersson announced his resignation on 17 September, formally requesting to be relieved of his duties to allow the process of forming a new government to begin.^[69][70] The result marked a change in the balance within the two main blocs.^[71] The Sweden Democrats remained a major parliamentary force, but their decline to 17.5% and 62 seats represented their first fall in support at a general election after reaching 20.5% in 2022.^[72] At the same time, the Moderates consolidated their position as the second-largest party, while the Social Democrats remained the largest party despite a decline in their vote share,^[73][74] in what was its lowest since 1911.^[75] The Social Democrats received 28.0% of the vote, followed by the Moderates on 19.9%, the Sweden Democrats on 17.5%, the Left Party on 8.4%, the Centre Party on 7%, the Christian Democrats on 6.2%, the Green Party on 6.1%, and the Liberals on 5.3%.^[60]

The Social Democrats won every county, performing best in the northern Norrbotten County with 37.5% of the vote.^[76] However, the opposition bloc won just nine counties out of twenty one: Norrbotten, Västerbotten,^[77] Västernorrland,^[78] Jämtland,^[79] Västra Götaland, Örebro,^[80] Uppsala,^[81] and Gotland,^[82] as well as the capital, Stockholm.^[83] The latter saw the strongest result for the Left Party at 10.0% and the weakest for Sweden Democrats and Christian Democrats at 12.2% and 5.0%, respectively. Conversely, the right-wing bloc led by the Moderates prevailed in twelve counties;^[84] the party recorded its strongest result in Halland, where they also performed the best in regional elections.^[85] Overall, the Moderates improved to reach second place, while the Sweden Democrats fell to third, recording the first time the party's support declined.^[86] Nonetheless, the Sweden Democrats outran the Moderates in nine Tidö-won counties, performing well in Dalarna,^[87] Gävleborg,^[88] Västmanland,^[89] Södermanland,^[90] Kronoberg,^[91] Skåne,^[92] Kalmar,^[93] and Blekinge.^[94]

In respect to the constituencies, the Social Democrats won in 27 out of 29 districts, slipping behind the Moderates in Skåne S^[95] and ceding ground to the Sweden Democrats in Skåne NE.^[96] Overall, the left-wing bloc won in ten constituencies, performing strongest in the Malmö Municipality with 61.3% of the vote behind a very strong performance for the Left Party; having earned 17.2% of the vote^[97], it beat out both the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats^[98]. Similarly, the party performed well in the Gothenburg and Stockholm Municipalities.^[99]

The narrow parliamentary majority of the opposition parties contrasted with the stronger position suggested by the final opinion polls as several surveys placed the four opposition parties above 50% of the vote, although their lead had narrowed in the final days of the campaign.^[100][101] The exit polls initially pointed to a wider opposition advantage, with SVT's Valu projecting 51.3% for the opposition against 46.8% for the Tidö parties and the Sweden Democrats, although the subsequent count produced a considerably closer result.^[102] As a result, the narrow parliamentary majority of the opposition left-leaning parties resulted less from a decisive shift toward one bloc than from changes in the relative strength of individual parties within both alliances.^{[103][104][105]}

The outcome left the opposition with a potentially difficult governing task.^[86] Although the four opposition parties together held 176 seats, differences between the Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens, and Centre Party could complicate the formation of a stable government.^[106][105] The result also disrupted the Sweden Democrats' previously expected path towards a formal role in government, which would have marked the first time that a far-right party entered the Swedish government,^[107] although the party remained influential within the broader right-wing bloc.^[108] Coalition negotiations consequently became central to the post-election process, with both blocs seeking to secure a workable parliamentary majority.^[86]

• 1911 Swedish general election
• 2010 Swedish general election
• 2024 European Parliament election in Sweden
• 2026 elections in the European Union
• 2026 Swedish local elections
• Basic Laws of Sweden
• History of Sweden (1991–present)
• Politics of Sweden