On 13 September 2026, parliamentary elections were held in Sweden. The Social Democrats (S) remain the largest party but recorded their worst election result in more than a century. The centre-right conservative parties performed better than indicated by the final pre-election polls. At the same time, the Sweden Democrats (SD) lost votes for the first time since entering parliament. The race between the political blocs remains extremely close, and the final result is still pending. According to the preliminary results, the red-green bloc holds a narrow majority of 176 seats, compared with 173 seats for the centre-right conservative bloc. This brings the question of government formation, already a central issue during the campaign, to the forefront. In both blocs, differing coalition preferences complicate the formation of a stable government.
