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All 349 seats in theRiksdag 175 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 87.1% ( 1.3pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Distribution of constituency and levelling seats and largest political bloc within each constituency Largest party within each constituency (left) and municipality (right) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General elections were held inSweden on 9 September 2018 to elect the 349 members of theRiksdag. Regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The incumbentminority government, consisting of theSocial Democrats and theGreens and supported by theLeft Party, won 144 seats, one seat more than the four-partyAlliance coalition, with theSweden Democrats winning the remaining 62 seats. The Social Democrats' vote share fell to 28.3 percent, its lowest level of supportsince 1911.
The main opposition, theModerates, lost even more support. The Sweden Democrats made gains, though less than anticipated.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Regardless, the party became the largest in two constituencies in southern regionScania and topped the polls in 21 out of 33 Scanian municipalities and in 31 out of 290 municipalities overall.[7] The voter turnout of 87.18%[7] was the highest in 33 years and 1.38 percentage points higher than the2014 elections. A record 26 out of 29 constituencies returned ahung parliament.[7] 46% of seats were won by women (161 out of 349).[8] The number has since increased to 47.2% (165 out of 349).[9]
Following the elections, Prime MinisterStefan Löfven lost a vote of no-confidence on 25 September, forcing a parliamentary vote on a new government. In the meantime,his government remained in power as acaretaker government.[10] SpeakerAndreas Norlén nominated Moderate leaderUlf Kristersson to form a government on 9 November. However, Kristersson lost a vote to confirm him in office by a margin of 154–195. He was supported by his own Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats, despite having ruled out this scenario before the election, but the Liberals and the Centre Party, the other parties in the centre-right Alliance, were not willing to form a government reliant on the Sweden Democrats.[11][12] On 15 November, Norlén invited Centre Party leaderAnnie Lööf to try to form a government, but she was unable to do so. Norlén then nominated Löfven, but following unsuccessful negotiations with the Centre Party and the Liberals he lost a confirmation vote 116–200 on 14 December.[13]
Hours after the failed vote to confirm Löfven, Norlén announced that he would be meeting with representatives of theElection Authority regarding a potential extraordinary election. The Speaker also stated that he would be engaging in talks with the parties during the weekend and that he would present the next phase of the government formation process by the following week.[14] Löfven was finally re-elected with a 115–153 result as prime minister on 18 January 2019 after the Social Democrats struck anagreement with the Greens, the Liberals, and the Centre Party;[15] and after the Left Party reluctantly agreed to abstain from voting against Löfven.[15] Due to Sweden's principle of negative parliamentarism this result was enough, as less than the majority of the parliament voted against him, while the supporting parties abstained. The result saw a breakup of the Alliance with the remaining right-wing parties aligning closer with the Sweden Democrats in parliament.
With thegovernment being down to 116 seats (59 short of a majority), this rendered it the government with the lowest electoral support to begin a term during universal suffrage in Sweden and forced to approve several liberal policy platforms the government had campaigned against.[16] With the right-wing opposition having 154 seats, to the coalition and confidence and supply agreements' 167 and the Left Party's 28, it still rendered a hung parliament even after the government formation, which exposed the government to high-profile losses in parliament.[17] With the Liberals leaving the confidence and supply after a no-confidence vote in 2021, thede facto parliamentary blocs ended being 175 to 174 with thede facto majority for the red-greens being 0.1%. The metropolitan versus small town divide got stronger. With the 2021 constellations, the election sawSödermanland andVästmanland retroactively flip to the right for the first time during universal suffrage dating back a century, while alsoBlekinge went blue for the first time in the unicameral era.[7] Meanwhile, the six largest municipalities had leftist majorities.[7]
Just two months after having formed a minority government, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announced on the afternoon of 3 December 2014 that he intended to make the formal arrangements for calling an extraordinary election on 29 December 2014 – the earliest date permitted by the constitution.
The election seemed to be necessary after Löfven's Social Democrat-led government lost a vote on the budget by 182 to 153, owing to the Sweden Democrats voting with the opposition, leading to acabinet crisis.[18] It would have been the first early election since1958.[19]
However, an agreement between the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Moderates, the Centre Party, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats was signed on 26 December 2014, outlining a series of conditions in order to ensure political stability until at least 2022.[20] The agreement included two main provisions:
After negotiations between the Government and the Alliance for Sweden concluded, the snap election was called off on 27 December 2014. On 9 October 2015, following the Christian Democrats' departure from the agreement, the December 2014 agreement was dissolved. However, the Moderates, the Centre Party and the Liberals allowed the Social Democrats minority government to continue to govern.
In May 2018, the issues that the Swedish voters considered most important wereimmigration,healthcare andintegration.[21] In the days leading up to the election, the most important issue was the environment, followed by immigration and health care.[22] With the polls showing that the Sweden Democrats could bekingmakers there was speculation over possible government coalitions.[23]
Concerns about foreign influence in the election were raised by theSwedish Security Service and others, leading to various countermeasures.[24][25]
The summer of 2018 saw several violent incidents occur, including the arson of over 100 cars on 15 August, which may have led 10% of Swedes to state that "law and order" was the key issue in September's election.[26][additional citation(s) needed] While Sweden had faced sporadic gang violence in recent years at the end of summer break for students, violence inGothenburg,Falkenberg andTrollhättan was said to be on a larger scale.[27] Prime Minister Löfven referred to the August violence as if it was organized "almost like a military operation".[27] In the following days, Twitter accounts connected to Russia tweeted about the fires, according to theAlliance for Securing Democracy intending to influence English-language readers.[28] According to theOxford Internet Institute, eight of the top 10 "junk news" sources during the election campaign were Swedish, and "Russian sources comprised less than 1% of the total number of URLs shared in the data sample."[29] It has been claimed by domestic media that Non-Swedish media frequently emphasize the events in order to advance a narrative of a society in decay, along with some negative but restricted reporting around immigration, to describe great gains by the Sweden Democrats. This has been criticized as a "false narrative" and "misreporting" by domestic media.[30][31][32]
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TheSocial Democratic Party (S;Socialdemokraterna) was the largest political party in the SwedishRiksdag, with 113 of the 349 seats. It was the major component of the incumbentLöfven Cabinet, in which it worked with theGreen Party. ItsleaderStefan Löfven had beenPrime Minister of Sweden since 3 October 2014, and sought a mandate to continue his Löfven Cabinet.
TheModerate Party (M;Moderaterna) was the second-largest party in the Riksdag with 84 seats. It was the largest governing party underPrime MinisterFredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014. The party was involved alongside three other parties in theAlliance; all four sought to return to power together. Reinfeldt resigned as party leader after eight years as prime minister, and was succeeded as leader byAnna Kinberg Batra on 10 January 2015. Kinberg Batra's decision as thede facto leader to enter the budgetary procedure agreement with the left-of-centre cabinet saw sharp disgruntlement from some party districts. The Alliance had more MPs than the government parties, but still found itself in opposition. Owing to her lowopinion polling numbers, Kinberg Batra faced internal pressure from multiple party districts and theModerate Youth League to resign. She announced her resignation in a morning press conference on 25 August 2017.[33] Former prime minister and Moderate Party leaderCarl Bildt was suggested as a replacement after Kinberg Batra resigned; however, despite some party districts supporting his candidacy, he declined the offer.[34] Ultimately, Ulf Kristersson was elected to succeed Kinberg Batra as party leader, during an extra Moderateparty conference on 1 October 2017.[35]
TheSweden Democrats (SD;Sverigedemokraterna) was the third-largest party in the Riksdag with 49 seats. In the2014 general election the party increased its number of seats by 29, becoming the third-largest party. Its leader wasJimmie Åkesson, who was the longest-serving party leader. The other Riksdag parties had repeatedly stated that they would not cooperate with the Sweden Democrats in a future government. An extra general election was called after the Sweden Democrats gave its support to the oppositional Alliance budget (see section '2014 budget crisis'). After the proposed extra election was cancelled, the party advertised itself as the 'only opposition party' and in the following months it saw a sharp rise in support (see section 'Opinion polls').
TheGreen Party (MP;Miljöpartiet) was the fourth-largest party in the Riksdag with 25 seats. The Green Party was the minor component of the Löfven Cabinet, alongside the Social Democrats. It was the only Swedish party to have twospokespersons,Gustav Fridolin (since 2011), who served asMinister for Education, andIsabella Lövin (since 2016), who served asMinister for International Development Cooperation. This was the first time in Swedish history that the Green Party had its governmental record tested at an election.
TheCentre Party (C;Centerpartiet) was the fifth-largest party in the Riksdag with 22 seats. It was a part of theReinfeldt Cabinet from 2006 to 2014, and was involved in the Alliance. The Centre Party had been led byAnnie Lööf since 2011. It was subject to public attempts by Löfven to become a cooperation party, but the party traditionally leans towards the Moderate policy positions and stayed within the Alliance after the 2014 election.
TheLeft Party (V;Vänsterpartiet) was the sixth-largest party in the Riksdag with 21 seats. Its leader wasJonas Sjöstedt. He had said that the party sought to participate in a futureRed-Green coalition government. The Left Party did not support the Löfven Cabinet because it was not asked to participate in that cabinet following the 2014 general election, but supported its budget that was voted down on 3 December 2014. Following the budgetary agreement, the Left Party was what tips the left-of-centre minority into a larger minority than the Alliance.
TheLiberals (L;Liberalerna) was the seventh-largest party in the Riksdag with 19 seats. It was a part of the Reinfeldt Cabinet from 2006 to 2014, and was involved in the Alliance. The Liberals had been led byJan Björklund since 2007; his leadership was being increasingly criticized within the party. Opinion polls in the year after the 2014 election suggested that the party was falling significantly behind and struggling to recapture its previous level of support. Having been in charge of the school system andintegration of migrants, it came under a lot of criticism owing to falling school results and increased segregation in immigrant-dominated suburbs.
TheChristian Democrats (KD;Kristdemokraterna) had been led byEbba Busch Thor since 2015. It was involved in the Alliance. Despite polling below the 4% electoral threshold for most of the time between the elections, the party saw a boost in support in the time period immediately prior to the election, guaranteeing its presence in the Riksdag (which was seen as essential in order for the Alliance to be able to form a government.). The party held on by a few tens of thousands of votes last time.
Parties with less than 4% of the vote do not get any seats in the Riksdag.
Feminist Initiative (FI;Feministiskt Initiativ), led by former Left Party leaderGudrun Schyman, was the country's ninth-largest party, and was represented in theEuropean Parliament followingthe 2014 European election. The party received 0.4% of the vote in the election, compared to 3% in the previous election 2014.
ThePirate Party (PP;Piratpartiet)won representation in the 2009–14 European Parliament, but its subsequent runs for office had been less successful. It has been mentioned in some polls as the tenth-largest party, but appeared to be far from having a chance to break the threshold at a domestic level.
TheAlternative for Sweden (Alternativ för Sverige) was a party with no representation in the Riksdag. It was formed from members expelled from the Sweden Democrats in 2015, and was led byGustav Kasselstrand. The party received 0.3% of the vote, and thus failed to enter theRiksdag in this election.
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The Swedish Riksdag is made up of 349 MPs, and all are elected throughopen listproportional representation on multi-member party lists that are either regional (most major parties) or national (Sweden Democrats). Each of the 29 constituencies has a set number of parliamentarians that is divided through constituency results to ensure regional representation. The other MPs are then elected through a proportional balancing, to ensure that the numbers of elected MPs for the various parties accurately represent the votes of the electorate. The Swedish constitution (Regeringsformen) 1 Ch. 4 § says that the Riksdag is responsible for taxation and making laws, and 1 Ch. 6 § says that the government is held responsible to the Riksdag. This means that Sweden hasparliamentarism in aconstitutional monarchy—ensuring that the government is responsible to the people's representatives. A minimum of 4% of the national vote is required for a party to enter the Riksdag, alternatively 12% or more within a constituency.
Election officials are responsible for party-specific ballot papers being present in the voting places for parties that have obtained more than one percent of the votes in the previous parliamentary election.[36] If there is no access to the wanted party-specific ballot paper, a voter may cast a vote by writing in the party name of choice on a blank ballot paper.[37] The voter generally chooses a party-specific ballot in the open and only then marks the ballot they chose in thevoting booth.[38]
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights sent an election expert team of two members to the 2018 general election to examine and assess this system, including in relation to questions of the secrecy of the ballot. The observers are to issue a report eight weeks after the election was held.[38]
The neo-Nazi organisationNordic Resistance Movement was reported shouting slogans and filming voters in several election rooms.[39]
There were reports of missing party-specific ballots in some voting districts during the early voting phase.[40][41] On the election day, the Swedish public broadcasterSveriges Television reported that the ballots of the Sweden Democrats were missing for 2 hours in oneGothenburg district.[42]
The table below lists parties' representation in theRiksdag.
| Name | Ideologies | Leader | 2014 result | Pre-election | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | ||||||
| S | Swedish Social Democratic Party Socialdemokraterna | Social democracy | Stefan Löfven | 31.0% | 113 / 349 | 113 / 349 | |
| M | Moderate Party Moderaterna | Liberal conservatism | Ulf Kristersson | 23.3% | 84 / 349 | 83 / 349 | |
| SD | Sweden Democrats Sverigedemokraterna | Right-wing populism National conservatism | Jimmie Åkesson | 12.9% | 49 / 349 | 43 / 349 | |
| MP | Green Party Miljöpartiet | Green politics | Isabella Lövin Gustav Fridolin | 6.9% | 25 / 349 | 25 / 349 | |
| C | Centre Party Centerpartiet | Liberalism Agrarianism | Annie Lööf | 6.1% | 22 / 349 | 22 / 349 | |
| V | Left Party Vänsterpartiet | Socialism | Jonas Sjöstedt | 5.7% | 21 / 349 | 21 / 349 | |
| L | Liberals Liberalerna | Liberalism | Jan Björklund | 5.4% | 19 / 349 | 19 / 349 | |
| KD | Christian Democrats Kristdemokraterna | Christian democracy | Ebba Busch Thor | 4.6% | 16 / 349 | 16 / 349 | |
| AfS | Alternative for Sweden[a] Alternativ för Sverige | Right-wing populism Ultranationalism | Gustav Kasselstrand | Did not exist | 4 / 349 | ||
| Independents[b] Politiska vildar | — | 3 / 349 | |||||
.svg) Social Democratic vote strength by municipality.svg) Moderate Party vote strength by municipality.svg) Sweden Democrats vote strength by municipality.svg) Centre Party vote strength by municipality.svg) Left Party vote strength by municipality.svg) Christian Democrats vote strength by municipality.svg) Liberals vote strength by municipality.svg) Green vote strength by municipality Coalition vote strength by municipality(S+V+MP in red, M+C+KD+L in blue) |
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Swedish Social Democratic Party | 1,830,386 | 28.26 | 100 | −13 | |
| Moderate Party | 1,284,698 | 19.84 | 70 | −14 | |
| Sweden Democrats | 1,135,627 | 17.53 | 62 | +13 | |
| Centre Party | 557,500 | 8.61 | 31 | +9 | |
| Left Party | 518,454 | 8.00 | 28 | +7 | |
| Christian Democrats | 409,478 | 6.32 | 22 | +6 | |
| Liberals | 355,546 | 5.49 | 20 | +1 | |
| Green Party | 285,899 | 4.41 | 16 | −9 | |
| Feminist Initiative | 29,665 | 0.46 | 0 | 0 | |
| Alternative for Sweden | 20,290 | 0.31 | 0 | New | |
| Citizens' Coalition | 13,056 | 0.20 | 0 | New | |
| Pirate Party | 7,326 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | |
| Direct Democrats | 5,153 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | |
| Independent Rural Party | 4,962 | 0.08 | 0 | New | |
| Enhet | 4,647 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | |
| Animals' Party | 3,648 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | |
| Christian Values Party [sv] | 3,202 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nordic Resistance Movement | 2,106 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
| Classical Liberal Party | 1,504 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
| Communist Party of Sweden | 702 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Basic Income Party | 632 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Initiative | 615 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Security Party [sv] | 511 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Scania Party | 296 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Norrlandspartiet | 60 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Libertarian Freedom Party | 53 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| European Workers Party | 52 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| NY Reform | 32 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Common Sense in Sweden | 21 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Our Country – Sweden | 9 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Reformist Neutral Party | 4 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| People's Home Sweden | 2 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
| Yellow Party | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | |
| Parties not on the ballot | 588 | 0.01 | 0 | – | |
| Total | 6,476,725 | 100.00 | 349 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 6,476,725 | 99.10 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 58,546 | 0.90 | |||
| Total votes | 6,535,271 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,495,936 | 87.18 | |||
| Source:VAL | |||||
 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
| Red-Greens (S+MP+V) | 2,634,739 | 40.68 | 144 | −15 | |
| The Alliance (M+C+L+KD) | 2,607,222 | 40.26 | 143 | +2 | |
| Sweden Democrats | 1,135,627 | 17.53 | 62 | +13 | |
| Other parties | 99,137 | 1.53 | 0 | – | |
| Total | 6,476,725 | 100.00 | 349 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 6,476,725 | 99.10 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 58,546 | 0.90 | |||
| Total votes | 6,535,271 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,495,936 | 87.18 | |||
| Source:VAL | |||||
| Constituency | Region | Turnout | Share | Votes | S | M | SD | C | V | KD | L | MP | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||||
| Blekinge | G | 88.5 | 1.6 | 104,514 | 31.4 | 17.3 | 25.2 | 6.8 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 1.3 |
| Dalarna | S | 87.6 | 2.9 | 188,027 | 30.7 | 16.7 | 20.8 | 10.0 | 7.3 | 6.1 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 1.5 |
| Gothenburg | G | 84.3 | 5.4 | 349,645 | 23.8 | 19.9 | 13.5 | 7.1 | 14.0 | 5.5 | 7.3 | 7.0 | 2.1 |
| Gotland | G | 88.8 | 0.6 | 41,129 | 29.8 | 16.6 | 12.7 | 17.2 | 9.0 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 1.9 |
| Gävleborg | N | 86.3 | 2.9 | 185,413 | 34.1 | 15.3 | 19.6 | 9.1 | 8.4 | 5.3 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 1.3 |
| Halland | G | 89.0 | 3.4 | 216,982 | 25.8 | 22.9 | 18.6 | 10.1 | 4.8 | 7.1 | 5.7 | 3.5 | 1.4 |
| Jämtland | N | 87.1 | 1.3 | 85,223 | 33.6 | 14.3 | 15.6 | 15.4 | 8.4 | 4.8 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 1.5 |
| Jönköping | G | 88.1 | 3.5 | 229,580 | 27.8 | 17.7 | 19.3 | 10.1 | 4.9 | 12.0 | 4.0 | 3.2 | 1.2 |
| Kalmar | G | 88.1 | 2.5 | 160,864 | 31.2 | 17.2 | 20.6 | 9.8 | 6.1 | 7.2 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 1.2 |
| Kronoberg | G | 88.2 | 1.9 | 124,570 | 29.6 | 19.2 | 20.3 | 9.4 | 6.1 | 7.6 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 1.2 |
| Malmö | G | 82.0 | 3.0 | 193,268 | 29.1 | 19.5 | 16.8 | 5.7 | 11.9 | 3.8 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 2.0 |
| Norrbotten | N | 86.7 | 2.6 | 166,678 | 41.7 | 12.8 | 15.8 | 7.1 | 10.7 | 4.6 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 1.4 |
| Skåne NE | G | 86.4 | 3.1 | 202,502 | 25.0 | 20.2 | 28.8 | 6.8 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 4.4 | 2.9 | 1.3 |
| Skåne S | G | 89.4 | 3.9 | 252,804 | 21.8 | 24.0 | 22.1 | 7.9 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 7.0 | 4.9 | 1.6 |
| Skåne W | G | 85.2 | 3.0 | 191,506 | 26.1 | 21.0 | 26.1 | 6.4 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 3.5 | 1.4 |
| Stockholm (city) | S | 87.3 | 9.4 | 611,206 | 23.8 | 21.9 | 9.8 | 9.1 | 13.1 | 4.9 | 7.9 | 7.7 | 1.9 |
| Stockholm County | S | 86.6 | 12.6 | 815,031 | 23.1 | 26.0 | 15.2 | 8.6 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 4.8 | 1.5 |
| Södermanland | S | 86.7 | 2.8 | 183,449 | 31.4 | 20.4 | 19.3 | 7.4 | 6.6 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 1.3 |
| Uppsala | S | 88.9 | 3.7 | 241,489 | 27.0 | 19.0 | 15.4 | 9.2 | 8.7 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 5.6 | 2.0 |
| Värmland | S | 87.3 | 2.8 | 183,966 | 33.9 | 16.4 | 18.0 | 9.3 | 7.0 | 6.3 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 1.3 |
| Västerbotten | N | 87.9 | 2.8 | 178,837 | 38.1 | 13.5 | 10.9 | 10.1 | 12.7 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 1.6 |
| Västernorrland | N | 87.8 | 2.5 | 163,001 | 39.8 | 13.7 | 15.6 | 9.9 | 8.2 | 5.4 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| Västmanland | S | 86.7 | 2.7 | 172,719 | 31.4 | 19.2 | 20.1 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1.3 |
| Västra Götaland E | G | 88.2 | 2.7 | 177,001 | 30.5 | 18.4 | 19.5 | 9.3 | 5.7 | 7.8 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 1.4 |
| Västra Götaland N | G | 86.8 | 2.7 | 174,573 | 30.6 | 17.6 | 21.4 | 7.9 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 3.6 | 1.4 |
| Västra Götaland S | G | 87.4 | 2.2 | 143,505 | 28.0 | 19.0 | 19.7 | 9.6 | 6.4 | 7.3 | 5.3 | 3.4 | 1.3 |
| Västra Götaland W | G | 89.6 | 3.8 | 243,278 | 24.2 | 21.8 | 18.0 | 8.2 | 6.8 | 7.7 | 6.9 | 5.0 | 1.4 |
| Örebro | S | 87.7 | 3.0 | 195,157 | 33.1 | 16.6 | 18.2 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 6.9 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 1.5 |
| Östergötland | G | 88.2 | 4.6 | 300,778 | 29.1 | 20.4 | 17.6 | 8.4 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 1.6 |
| Total | 87.2 | 100.0 | 6,476,725 | 28.3 | 19.8 | 17.5 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 6.3 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 1.5 | |
| Source = val.se[44] | |||||||||||||
The following is the number of constituency seats for each party with each asterix (*) indicating one of the seats won was a levelling seat
| Constituency | Region | S | M | SD | C | V | KD | L | MP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blekinge | G | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |||||
| Dalarna | S | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 10 | ||
| Gotland | G | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Gävleborg | G | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |||
| Gothenburg | N | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2* | 2* | 19 |
| Halland | G | 3 | 3* | 2 | 1 | 1* | 1 | 1 | 1* | 13 |
| Jämtland | N | 2* | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| Jönköping | G | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1* | 1* | 13 |
| Kalmar | G | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
| Kronoberg | G | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| Malmö | G | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 11 | |
| Norrbotten | N | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
| Skåne NE | G | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 11 | ||
| Skåne S | G | 3* | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 14 |
| Skåne W | G | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 11 | ||
| Stockholm (city) | S | 8* | 7 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3* | 3* | 32 |
| Stockholm County | S | 10* | 11* | 7* | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3* | 43 |
| Södermanland | S | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 10 | ||
| Uppsala | S | 4* | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 13 |
| Värmland | S | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 11 | |
| Västerbotten | N | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |||
| Västernorrland | N | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
| Västmanland | S | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1* | 9 | |||
| Västra Götaland N | G | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 10 | ||
| Västra Götaland S | G | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1* | 8 | |||
| Västra Götaland W | G | 3 | 3* | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 13 |
| Västra Götaland E | G | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1* | 1 | 10 | ||
| Örebro | S | 3 | 2* | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 12 |
| Östergötland | G | 5* | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 16 |
| Total | 100 | 70 | 62 | 31 | 28 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 349 | |
| Source = val.se[45] | ||||||||||
Voter demographics of the Swedish general election 2018, according to theSwedish Television's exit polls.[46]
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Females | 31 | 19 | 12 | 38 | 100 |
| Males | 25 | 21 | 23 | 31 | 100 |
| 18–21 years old | 22 | 24 | 12 | 42 | 100 |
| 22–30 years old | 25 | 22 | 13 | 40 | 100 |
| 31–64 years old | 27 | 20 | 19 | 34 | 100 |
| 65 years old and older | 35 | 17 | 17 | 31 | 100 |
| Source: | [47] | ||||
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainfully employed | 25 | 21 | 17 | 47 | 100 |
| Unemployed | 31 | 17 | 24 | 38 | 100 |
| Permanently outside the labor market | 36 | 7 | 30 | 27 | 100 |
| Students | 26 | 21 | 8 | 45 | 100 |
| Source: | [48] | ||||
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue-collar workers | 34 | 14 | 24 | 28 | 100 |
| White-collar workers and managers | 27 | 22 | 12 | 28 | 100 |
| Farmers | 22 | 14 | 16 | 38 | 100 |
| Business owners and self-employed | 13 | 30 | 24 | 33 | 100 |
| Source: | [48] | ||||
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue-collar unions (LO) | 41 | 11 | 24 | 24 | 100 |
| White-collar unions (TCO) | 32 | 18 | 13 | 37 | 100 |
| Professional unions (SACO) | 25 | 17 | 9 | 48 | 100 |
| Source: | [48] | ||||
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than nine years of school | 37 | 11 | 35 | 17 | 100 |
| Compulsory comprehensive school | 37 | 14 | 27 | 22 | 100 |
| Secondary school | 30 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 100 |
| Tertiary non-academic education | 28 | 19 | 24 | 29 | 100 |
| College education | 26 | 22 | 9 | 43 | 100 |
| Post-graduate education | 21 | 15 | 10 | 54 | 100 |
| Source: | [49] | ||||
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public sector | 34 | 15 | 15 | 36 | 100 |
| Private sector | 23 | 24 | 19 | 34 | 100 |
| Source: | [50] | ||||
Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||
| Social Democrats | Moderates | Sweden Democrats | Other parties | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raised in Sweden | 28 | 20 | 17 | 45 | 100 |
| Raised in Nordic countries outside of Sweden | 26 | 11 | 36 | 27 | 100 |
| Raised in Europe outside of Nordic countries | 35 | 17 | 22 | 26 | 100 |
| Raised outside of Europe | 47 | 14 | 9 | 30 | 100 |
| Source: | [51] | ||||
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Numerous media sources noted the gains made by the Sweden Democrats,[52][53][54][55][56] tying those gains to the simultaneous rise ofright-wing populist parties across Europe.[57][58] However, it was noted that the party did not grow as much as some polls had predicted.[59][60][61][62] While the Social Democrats performed better than expected, the party still saw its worst result since 1908.[58][63][64] According toThe Guardian, the growth of the SD "upended perhaps western Europe's most stable political order",[65] and other commentators made similar statements.[66] According to Emily Schultheis ofForeign Policy, the SD won an ideological victory, as it "effectively set the terms for debate" and forced its rivals to adopt immigration policies similar to its own,[6] and other reporters made similar observations.[67][68]
The election did not result in a clear victory for any political faction.[56][69][70][71] The Sweden Democrats performed particularly well inSkåne County, having the highest number of voters in 21 out of the county's 33 municipalities.[72]SVT reported that at least 22 seats in 17 city councils would be empty as the Sweden Democrats won more seats than the number of candidates it had.[73][74] The party received its first mayor, inHörby Municipality.[75] Despite the Social Democrats' worst result nationwide in decades, they overtook the Moderates in the latter's traditional stronghold of Stockholm city. Additionally, the Social Democrats and the Left Party saw an increase in the number of votes cast in that constituency while the Moderates lost votes; consequently, the Red-Green bloc also overtook the Alliance in the constituency.[76]
The election resulted in ahung parliament, with the red-green and centre-right coalitions each holding about 40% of the seats, and the Sweden Democrats holding the remainder.[69][70][77]
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven lost the motion of no confidence against him and his cabinet on 25 September 2018, with 142 members of parliament voting to retain Löfven's cabinet and 204 voting against.[10][78][79] This triggered a constitutional procedure wherein the Riksdag is given four chances to vote on a new Prime Minister. If the Riksdag failed all four attempts to elect a new Prime Minister, a snap election would be mandatory.
Party negotiations for forming a new government commenced on 27 September,[80] but the deadlock remained as neither Löfven nor Kristersson could construct a stable coalition. On 14 November, Kristersson was formally nominated as PM, but lost the confidence vote when the Centre and Liberal parties refused to back him, as they were unwilling to work in a government that relied on the Sweden Democrats.[81][82] The vote was historical, as it was the first time a candidate for Prime Minister was rejected by the Riksdag since the abolition of the bicameral legislature in 1971.[12]
After continued, unfruitful negotiations, Speaker Norlén nominated Löfven to be re-appointed Prime Minister on 12 December. Though the Centre and Liberal parties were initially willing to work with him in securing a coalition, talks broke down days before the vote due to disagreements with the budget, and thus Löfven too lost his confidence vote two days later.[13] On the same day that Löfven was nominated, the Riksdag rejected the caretaker government's provisional budget, and instead passed a competing budget designed by the Moderates and Christian Democrats.[83][84]
Norlén stated after the vote that he would restart negotiations between the parties, while at the same time preparing for the possibility of a snap election.[85] Norlén then created a finalized timeline for forming a government, and urged Kristersson and Löfven to find a compromise. Without nominating a new candidate, he set the next vote for a prime minister initially for 16 January (but later postponed to 18 January owing to differences between the Social Democrats and the Left Party), and a final vote on 23 January if the first vote would fail. If neither vote had succeeded, a snap election would have been called immediately, scheduled to take place on 21 April.[86]
On 11 January 2019, a deal was struck between the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Centre Party, and the Liberals to allow Löfven to continue governing. However, over the next few days, senior officials of the Left Party expressed concern and were leaning towards voting against the proposed government and instead called on Löfven to continue negotiations with them. On 16 January, Sjöstedt agreed to abstain from voting against Löfven. On 18 January, Löfven was formally reelected with 192yes votes and abstentions.[87]
| General elections | |
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| Local elections | |
| European elections | |
| Referendums | |
| Parties elected |
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| Party leaders | |
| Results | |
| Party results | |
| County results | |
| See also | |
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