Sweden's Ruling Bloc Narrows Gap Ahead of Sunday Vote
A Novus poll shows Sweden's ruling right-wing bloc closing in on the centre-left opposition before Sunday's election, with the Liberals clearing the 4% threshold.
A new opinion poll suggests Sweden's general election on Sunday is far closer than earlier surveys indicated. The Novus poll, published Monday by broadcaster TV4, put support for the four centre-left opposition parties at 50.3%, while the ruling three-party right-wing bloc and its supporting Sweden Democrats stood at 47.9%. The gap between the blocs narrowed by 0.2 percentage points from Novus' previous survey.
The poll also brought relief to the junior coalition party, the Liberals, which rose to 4.3% from 3.3% — clearing the 4% threshold needed to win seats in parliament. This eases fears that the party could lose its 16 seats and the coalition its majority.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's government, in office since 2022, had been widely expected to lose to the opposition led by Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson. Three weeks ago, a different poll gave the centre-left a 10-point lead, which political analysts then described as nearly insurmountable.
Novus surveyed 2,888 voters between September 1 and September 5.