Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson Resigns After Right-Wing Bloc Loses Parliament Majority by Three Seats in September 13 Election

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson resigned on Thursday September 17, days after final vote counts confirmed his right-wing bloc lost its parliamentary majority in the September 13 general election, paving the way for Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson to return as prime minister after four years in opposition. The Swedish Election Authority announced that the four left-leaning opposition parties secured 176 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag compared to 173 for the four parties that make up or support the outgoing conservative-led government, a margin of just 50,000 votes in a country of 10.6 million people. Kristersson posted a letter on X shortly after final results were announced requesting to be relieved of office immediately to allow the speaker to begin the process of forming a new government. The Sweden Democrats, Kristersson's far-right coalition partner, dropped into third place and took 62 seats, down 11 from the last parliament, a disappointing result that appears to have backfired on Kristersson's strategy of allying with a party rooted in neo-Nazi and white supremacist origins despite its success in pushing forward one of the continent's strictest migration policies. The narrow defeat represents a significant setback for the European far right, which has gained ground across the continent in recent years. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who leads one of Europe's few progressive governments, said the Swedes are once again backing the welfare state, social justice and the green agenda after four years of a right-wing government with the far right. Andersson now faces the task of overcoming differences within her own opposition bloc, particularly the Centre Party, which aligned with the left to avoid governing with the Sweden Democrats but also does not wish to enter government with the Left Party at the other end of the spectrum. Any combination across the traditional right-left division would be complicated, though the speaker will now lea