Magdalena Andersson, the Swedish prime minister, resigned today and conceded defeat in last weekend’s election after it became clear that the right-wing bloc had won by a narrow margin of three parliamentary seats with almost all the votes counted.
The outcome was a historic political shift in the traditionally liberal nation amid a surge in support for the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots. It emerged as the second biggest force in parliament, and the biggest in the right-wing bloc, ahead of the Moderate Party, which traditionally leads the conservative camp.
Jimmie Akesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, has the role of kingmaker and has begun talks with the leaders of the other three parties of the right.
He said his party would be “a constructive and driving force in this work” of rebuilding safety in Sweden. He said it was “time to put Sweden first”.
A key question will be whether he will demand cabinet posts or settle for his party staying out of government and giving parliamentary support to a right-wing minority administration.
The latter scenario is seen as more likely, with Ulf Kristersson, the Moderate Party leader, expected to become prime minister. Analysts have said he will struggle to hold together the parties, which are bitterly divided on some issues.
Andersson, whose Social Democrats remained the largest party with just over 30 per cent of the vote, said it stood ready to take over if the right-wing alliance crumbled. “I am concerned how the development in Sweden will be in the coming years,” she told a press conference. “We don’t know how the government will form and they will have a very close margin in parliament. As Social Democrats we will always be ready to take power.”
Sweden is destined to become less open to immigration, impose tougher rules on minorities and embrace nuclear power, analysts said. What is unlikely to change is its path towards Nato membership and higher defence spending, which have broad support in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Sweden Democrats were long shunned by Swedes because of their white power and fascist movements of the late 1980s. But Akesson has moved to tone down the party’s rhetoric including replacing its original torch logo with a blue flower.
The result was delayed because the election authority had to count postal ballots and decide on votes of uncertain validity.
It leaves the right-wing bloc with 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament, the Riksdag, and Andersson’s centre-left bloc with 173 seats.
“It looks like the four right-wing parties have received just 50 per cent of the votes in the election and in parliament, they have a one or two seat advantage. It’s a thin majority, but it is a majority,” Andersson said. “Tomorrow I will therefore request my dismissal as prime minister and the responsibility for the continued process will now pass to the parliament speaker and the Riksdag.”
The Sweden Democrats rode public concern over a rise in fatal shootings and gang violence in which innocent bystanders have been caught in the crossfire, including one case last month in which a young mother and her five-year-old son were injured by stray bullets during a shooting in the central city of Eskilstuna.
Crime and immigration overrode energy and the economy in the election despite rising inflation, eclipsing Andersson’s credentials as a crisis manager, analysts said.
