Sweden Votes in Election That Could Put Far Right in Government

Swedes will cast their ballots on Sunday in a closely contested general election that has become, in effect, a referendum on whether the far-right Sweden Democrats should enter government. The party, which has roots in the neo-Nazi fringe, sits at around 19 percent in the latest polling, and the ruling centre-right minority coalition has said it intends to bring it into its bloc to secure Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson a second term.

"We have agreed to campaign on a platform of building a common, majority government and that I will lead that government," Kristersson said while campaigning in late August.

The vote will test whether Swedish voters want to deepen a political shift that has already overturned decades of consensus on immigration and national identity, turning one of Europe's most open societies into a laboratory for stricter policies on integration, citizenship and border controls.

Kristersson has credited his parliamentary cooperation with Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson since 2022 for growth, lower energy and food prices, reduced gang crime and shootings, and asylum numbers at record lows. He has promised to deepen those ties after the Sept. 13 vote and to give the party cabinet positions.

Over the past four years, the government has scrapped permanent residency for refugees, tightened welfare rules and increased expulsions of those without the right to stay. Asylum numbers have fallen to a 40-year low. Kristersson says the focus will now shift to integration, but the Sweden Democrats want to go further.

"In Sweden it is Swedish culture, the Swedish language, Swedish laws, Swedish norms, Swedish morals and Swedish traditions that apply," said Mattias Karlsson, a Sweden Democrat lawmaker and close ally of Akesson. "If you can't accept that, you have to find somewhere else to live."

Despite broad agreement on tight immigration policies, many Swedes remain uneasy about the far right. Polls point to a knife-edge contest, with the centre-left opposition, which backs Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson for prime minister, holding a small but narrowing lead.

"If the Sweden Democrats enter government, that would have an enormously negative impact on the liberal ideals of our country," said Birgitta Ohlsson, a European affairs minister from 2010 to 2014 and now a Center Party lawmaker. "We've already seen the effects while they've been outside government, and it would be ten times worse."

The far right's rise has reshaped Europe's political landscape, with such parties already sharing power in Finland, Italy, Croatia and the Czech Republic, while posing growing challenges in France and Germany. Akesson's party has spent the last four years as Kristersson's main parliamentary backer, and some analysts argue the election may be less a watershed than a recognition of his success in shedding the party's extremist baggage. The party apologised in 2025 for past neo-Nazi and antisemitic views.

"The election is a referendum on the Sweden Democrats; whether we continue to go down a far-right path," said author and political commentator Jan Guillou.

Policies that a decade ago many Swedes would have seen as a rejection of the country's liberal values have gained acceptance across much of the political spectrum. Both blocs have converged on several voter concerns, promising stronger welfare, continued support for Ukraine, rearmament and measures to ease a cost-of-living crisis.

"I think you'll see a continued normalization of the Sweden Democrats," said historian and author Lars Tragardh. "It's time to tone down the hysteria."

Critics fear the Sweden Democrats' pledges to end multiculturalism, restore traditional Swedish values and ban some forms of Muslim dress could deepen social divisions and pull the political centre of gravity further right.

"I'm afraid more people will be expelled. I'm worried about the press, free speech and the freedom to demonstrate," said Kurdo Baksi, an author and anti-racism campaigner, speaking on the sidelines of a pro-immigration demonstration in Stockholm.

In a Facebook campaign message, Andersson said the choice was not between her and Kristersson as prime minister but whether the Sweden Democrats would shape policy on defence, schools, culture and finance. "That would be a very different Sweden," she said.

Even if she wins, Andersson faces a daunting task in building a stable coalition. The four opposition parties — the Social Democrats, Greens, Left Party and Centre Party — broadly agree on increasing welfare and public spending, but differ on key policies from a tax on billionaires to whether Sweden should build new nuclear reactors. The Centre Party refuses to sit in the same government as the Left Party.