Sweden general election: close race as far right eyes role in government – Europe live
in Stockholm
Hej, that’s hello in Swedish, from Stockholm, where I spent this morning eating Swedish pastry and meatballs talking to voters about the country’s prospects as they cast their votes in today’s parliamentary elections.
Here is what they told me, straight from Stockholm:
in Stockholm
We kick off our coverage of the 2026 Swedish parliamentary election which could see the far right enter government for the first time if the country’s rightwing parties can form a majority – or a new centre-left government take control instead.
As our Nordic correspondent Miranda Bryant noted in her preview,
“In 2022, the current prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the centre-right Moderates, broke a longstanding taboo to make a deal with the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), so that his minority coalition could form a government.
That agreement gave the SD outsized influence over government policy, especially on crime and immigration, and Kristersson has now gone further, promising ministerial posts for the SD if he is returned to power.”
The opposition “red” bloc is led by former prime minister Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats, but their lead has narrowed considerably in the final days of the campaign to less than one percentage point.
It could be a very, very close race.
The polls opened 8am local time and will close 8pm local time (7pm UK), when we should have two exit polls – conducted by Swedish broadcaster SVT and TV4 – for you.
A further projection will be published by public broadcaster SVT about an hour later, as we start getting actual results.
We could be in for a long night, but hope you will join us for lots of colour from Stockholm, the last hours of the campaign trail, and obviously the results.
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