Swedish opposition edges to narrow win as Andersson pledges new direction

Sweden's left-leaning opposition has narrowly won the country's general election, taking 176 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag against 173 for the four parties that make up or support the outgoing conservative-led government, the Swedish Election Authority said.

Magdalena Andersson, the opposition leader and a former prime minister, said voters had chosen a new path for the country. "The Swedish people have voted for a new direction for our country, voted for cohesion and against division," she said, adding that they had voted "to move Sweden forward."

Andersson's Social Democrats finished as the largest single party with 99 seats, despite losing eight seats. She is seeking to return to the prime minister's office, which she lost in 2022.

In her remarks, Andersson called for a change in the tone of Swedish politics. She said she wanted to lead the country in a new spirit of cooperation, away from "conflict for conflict's sake" and toward unity and community, and urged all political forces to set party tactics aside now that the campaign is over and to put Sweden and the interests of its people first.

Turning the result into a government is expected to be a complicated task, however, because of tensions within the left-leaning bloc.