Swedish PM Concedes Election Defeat to Right-Wing Bloc

Sweden’s prime minister has resigned after conceding defeat in the country’s closely-fought election, accepting the victory of a loose bloc of rightwing parties that includes the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD).

Magdalena Andersson, leader of the incumbent Social Democrats, called a press conference at which she accepted defeat, pointing out both that her party remained the largest in Sweden with over 30% of the vote and that the majority in parliament for the right bloc was very slim.

When postal votes and those of citizens living abroad were counted on Wednesday, the loose coalition of the SD and three center-right parties edged ahead to win a majority of three in the parliament of 349 seats.

There is no formal agreement between the SD and the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals as to how they will govern together, although the center-right parties have already ruled out the possibility of ministerial positions for the far right representatives.

The strong showing from the SD does put it in a strong position to extract concessions in return for its support in parliament though. The far-right party received over 20% of the total vote.

Andersson called the result “a narrow majority, but a majority nonetheless”.

“So tomorrow I will hand in my resignation as prime minister, and the responsibility for the continued process will go to the speaker,” she added.