Sweden's PM resigns after losing general election to centre-left opposition

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 12:56 EDT, 17 September 2026 | Updated: 12:56 EDT, 17 September 2026 Sweden's Prime Minister has announced his resignation after the centre-left opposition narrowly won the country's general election.Ulf Kristersson said he would step down after a complete vote count showed the four opposition parties had secured 176 seats in Sweden's 349-seat parliament.The four parties making up or supporting his outgoing conservative-led government won 173 seats.Kristersson confirmed the decision in a letter posted on X shortly after the final results were declared.Opposition leader and former prime minister Magdalena Andersson said the Swedish people had 'voted for a new direction for our country, voted for cohesion and against division', according to Swedish news agency TT.It was not immediately clear exactly what government NATO's newest member will get for the next four years. Sweden, a country of about 10.6 million inhabitants, is also a member of the European Union.Andersson hopes to regain the prime minister's job, which she lost in 2022. Her center-left Social Democrats finished as the biggest single party with 99 seats, despite losing eight seats.But she will still face a complicated task to turn the result into a government because of tensions within the left-leaning bloc. Ulf Kristersson (pictured) said he would step down after a complete vote count showed the four opposition parties had secured 176 seats in Sweden's 349-seat parliament Opposition leader and former prime minister Magdalena Andersson said the Swedish people had 'voted for a new direction for our country, voted for cohesion and against division', according to Swedish news agency TTThe opposition's small lead was initially uncertain but was confirmed after early votes that didn't arrive at polling stations by Election Day, including overseas ballots, were counted.Kristersson has led Sweden with a three-party, center-right coalition. The parliamentary majority relied on outside support from the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party that has far-right roots but has moved toward the political mainstream.Kristersson had held out the prospect of Cabinet seats for the Sweden Democrats this time, if the governing coalition won. However, it was a disappointing election for the Sweden Democrats, who dropped into third place behind the outgoing prime minister's Moderates and took 62 seats, 11 fewer than in the last parliament.The Center Party, which aligned with the left because it does not wish to govern with the Sweden Democrats, also doesn't want to go into government with the Left Party at the other end of the spectrum.Any combination across the traditional right-left division would also be complicated.But there is broad political consensus in Sweden on several major issues, such as support for Ukraine and the decision to join NATO, whose 32nd member it became in 2024.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who heads one of the few left-wing governments in Europe, hailed the win.'After four years of a right-wing government with the far right, the Swedes are once again backing the welfare state, social justice and the green agenda,' Sanchez said in a post to X.Kristersson said on election night that he would respect Andersson's attempts to form a government, but wished her 'good luck' given the divisions on the left.'Talks will need to be held with all parties in order to find ways around these deadlocks and create the conditions for a stable and effective government,' Kristersson said on Thursday.Parliament can vote on a new prime minister on September 29 at the earliest.