Sweden - September 2022

Although the Social Democrats won the largest share of votes (30.3 per cent) in the Swedish parliamentary election of 11 September, the party and its allies did not secure enough votes to form a government, opening the door to a right-wing coalition government. The Sweden Democrats, considered a far-right party, went from a 5.7 per cent vote share in 2010 to 20.5 per cent vote share in 2022, becoming the second largest party in Sweden. This has moved the centre-right Moderates from the second to the third largest party in Sweden, as they received 19.1 per cent of the votes. As a result, the right-wing block will have 176 seats in parliament, as opposed to the 173 seats of the left-wing block. This has been considered a victory of the far-right movement in Sweden, as the Sweden Democrats have been regarded a populist and conservative party that mainly promotes a far-right anti-immigrant rhetoric. The voter turnout was 84.2 per cent.

Sources: London School of Economics, Sveriges Radio, Euronews