Sweden election too close to call as left bloc edges one seat ahead

Sweden's national election remained undecided early Monday, with preliminary results handing the left-wing opposition a single-seat advantage over Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing coalition and leaving the country facing days of uncertainty.

With 92% of votes counted, the Swedish Election Authority put the four opposition parties on course for 175 seats in the 349-seat parliament, against 174 for the governing alliance. That razor-thin margin leaves former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's bid to return to office hanging on the final count.

The result may not be settled until Wednesday, when local election boards tally early votes that did not reach polling stations by Election Day, including ballots cast overseas.

Addressing supporters at his party's election night event, Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson said it would not be clear that evening whether he, Kristersson, Christian Democrats leader Ebba Busch and Liberals leader Simona Mohamsson would form the next government, or whether the other side would. He urged the crowd to enjoy the night and celebrate what he called the fantastic successes their team had achieved.

Åkesson's party slipped almost three percentage points from its 2022 result of 20.5%, falling from second to third place. The Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party with far-right roots that has moved toward the mainstream, had been promised Cabinet posts this time if the governing coalition were returned.

Exit polls from public broadcaster SVT had initially shown the left-wing parties ahead by several percentage points, triggering jubilation at the Social Democrats' gathering before the mood turned to quiet waiting as the count tightened.

Kristersson has led Sweden since 2022 at the head of a three-party centre-right coalition that relied on outside support from the Sweden Democrats for a parliamentary majority. The centre-left Social Democrats, who have led most Swedish governments since World War II, would need a coalition agreement with other parties for Andersson to return to office.

Sweden's politics is divided into two four-party blocs, so the central question is less which party finishes first than which side can command a majority. Individual parties need at least 4% of the vote to enter parliament.

With broad consensus across Sweden on issues such as support for Ukraine and the country's NATO membership, much of the campaign debate centred on whether the anti-immigration hard right would enter government. The Sweden Democrats' role drew particular attention amid gains for the populist right in Europe, including the first-place finish of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany in a regional election on September 6.

Founded in the 1980s by figures active in right-wing extremist groups, including neo-Nazis, the Sweden Democrats softened their rhetoric and expelled openly racist members under Åkesson, who has led the party since 2005 and overseen its rise from the political margins.

More than 8 million people in the country of about 10.6 million were eligible to vote.