Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will resign after the left-wing opposition won a narrow majority in the general election, securing 176 seats in the 349-member Riksdag.
The four parties that make up or support the outgoing centre-right government won 173 seats, leaving only three seats between the two blocs. About 50,000 votes separated them across the country of 10.6 million people.
Kristersson said he would ask to be relieved of his office, allowing the process of forming a new government to begin.
“Now, it is the speaker who will lead the next stage of the way to a new government. I am henceforth requesting that I be relieved of the office of prime minister to allow that work to start immediately,” he said in a letter posted on X.
The centre-left Social Democrats, led by former prime minister Magdalena Andersson, finished as the largest single party despite losing some support. The result has strengthened Andersson’s hopes of returning to the post she held from 2021 to 2022.
However, forming a government will require difficult negotiations between the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Greens and the Centre Party.
The Centre Party has said it will oppose a government that gives cabinet posts to the Left Party, which has insisted on having a minister. Andersson has ruled out a government that includes the Left Party but wants its support in parliament.
Kristersson said on election night that he would respect Andersson’s efforts to form an administration, while wishing her “good luck” in dealing with the divisions within the left-wing bloc.
Parliament can vote on a new prime minister on September 29 at the earliest.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who leads one of Europe’s few left-wing governments, welcomed the result, saying: “Social democracy has won the elections in Sweden.”
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats also lost support for the first time since entering parliament in 2010. They won 17.5 per cent of the vote, three percentage points lower than in the 2022 election.
