Sweden's Prime Minister has announced his resignation after unofficial general election results showed his political bloc narrowly lost to the opposition group.
On Thursday, 17 Sep 2026 GMT+7, Ulf Kristersson, Sweden's Prime Minister, announced his resignation after his right-wing political bloc narrowly lost the general election to the center-left opposition.
Preliminary results indicate the opposition group, led by Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), is expected to secure 176 out of 349 seats in the Swedish parliament.
Kristersson's right-wing bloc is projected to win 173 seats, with the nationwide vote difference between the two blocs approximately 50,000 votes out of about 10 million people. Official results are expected to be announced this weekend.
Magdalena Andersson, leader of the Social Democrats, is likely to return as prime minister and has begun talks with opposition allies including the Left Party, Centre Party, and Green Party to form a government.
However, coalition talks may take time due to significant policy differences among partners, such as tax policies. Historically, Sweden has taken up to 37 days in 2025 and 134 days in 2018 to form a government.
Before the election, Kristersson promised ministerial positions to the Sweden Democrats (SD), a far-right party with anti-immigration policies, if he won the election.
However, the SD party lost support for the first time since entering parliament in 2010, with their vote share dropping by about 3% compared to the 2022 election.
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Source:bbc