Misplaced Pages

2018 Swedish general election

← 2014 9 September 2018 2022 →
← outgoing memberselected members →
All 349 seats in the Riksdag 175 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	87.1% ( 1.3 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Stefan Löfven Ulf Kristersson Jimmie Åkesson Party Social Democrats Moderate Sweden Democrats Alliance Red-Greens The Alliance – Last election 31.0%, 113 seats 23.3%, 84 seats 12.9%, 49 seats Seats won 100 70 62 Seat change 13 14 13 Popular vote 1,830,386 1,284,698 1,135,627 Percentage 28.3% 19.8% 17.5% Swing 2.7 pp 3.5 pp 4.6 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Annie Lööf Jonas Sjöstedt Ebba Busch Thor Party Centre Left Christian Democrats Alliance The Alliance Red-Greens The Alliance Last election 6.1%, 22 seats 5.7%, 21 seats 4.6%, 16 seats Seats won 31 28 22 Seat change 9 7 6 Popular vote 557,500 518,454 409,478 Percentage 8.6% 8.0% 6.3% Swing 2.5 pp 2.3 pp 1.7 pp   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Jan Björklund Isabella Lövin Gustav Fridolin Party Liberals Green Alliance The Alliance Red-Greens Last election 5.4%, 19 seats 6.9%, 25 seats Seats won 20 16 Seat change 1 9 Popular vote 355,546 285,899 Percentage 5.5% 4.4% Swing 0.1 pp 2.5 pp
Distribution of constituency and levelling seats and largest political bloc within each constituency Largest party within each constituency (left) and municipality (right)
Prime Minister before election Stefan Löfven Social Democrats Prime Minister after election Stefan Löfven Social Democrats

General elections were held in Sweden on 9 September 2018 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag. Regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The incumbent minority government, consisting of the Social Democrats and the Greens and supported by the Left Party, won 144 seats, one seat more than the four-party Alliance coalition, with the Sweden Democrats winning the remaining 62 seats. The Social Democrats' vote share fell to 28.3 percent, its lowest level of support since 1911.

The main opposition, the Moderates, lost even more support. The Sweden Democrats made gains, though less than anticipated. Regardless, the party became the largest in two constituencies in southern region Scania and topped the polls in 21 out of 33 Scanian municipalities and in 31 out of 290 municipalities overall. The voter turnout of 87.18% was the highest in 33 years and 1.38 percentage points higher than the 2014 elections. A record 26 out of 29 constituencies returned a hung parliament. 46% of seats were won by women (161 out of 349). The number has since increased to 47.2% (165 out of 349).

Following the elections, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven lost a vote of no-confidence on 25 September, forcing a parliamentary vote on a new government. In the meantime, his government remained in power as a caretaker government. Speaker Andreas Norlén nominated Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson to form a government on 9 November. However, Kristersson lost a vote to confirm him in office by a margin of 154–195. He was supported by his own Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats, despite having ruled out this scenario before the election, but the Liberals and the Centre Party, the other parties in the centre-right Alliance, were not willing to form a government reliant on the Sweden Democrats. On 15 November, Norlén invited Centre Party leader Annie Lööf to try to form a government, but she was unable to do so. Norlén then nominated Löfven, but following unsuccessful negotiations with the Centre Party and the Liberals he lost a confirmation vote 116–200 on 14 December.

Hours after the failed vote to confirm Löfven, Norlén announced that he would be meeting with representatives of the Election Authority regarding a potential extraordinary election. The Speaker also stated that he would be engaging in talks with the parties during the weekend and that he would present the next phase of the government formation process by the following week. Löfven was finally re-elected with a 115–153 result as prime minister on 18 January 2019 after the Social Democrats struck an agreement with the Greens, the Liberals, and the Centre Party; and after the Left Party reluctantly agreed to abstain from voting against Löfven. Due to Sweden's principle of negative parliamentarism this result was enough, as less than the majority of the parliament voted against him, while the supporting parties abstained. The result saw a breakup of the Alliance with the remaining right-wing parties aligning closer with the Sweden Democrats in parliament.

With the government being down to 116 seats (59 short of a majority), this rendered it the government with the lowest electoral support to begin a term during universal suffrage in Sweden and forced to approve several liberal policy platforms the government had campaigned against. With the right-wing opposition having 154 seats, to the coalition and confidence and supply agreements' 167 and the Left Party's 28, it still rendered a hung parliament even after the government formation, which exposed the government to high-profile losses in parliament. With the Liberals leaving the confidence and supply after a no-confidence vote in 2021, the de facto parliamentary blocs ended being 175 to 174 with the de facto majority for the red-greens being 0.1%. The metropolitan versus small town divide got stronger. With the 2021 constellations, the election saw Södermanland and Västmanland retroactively flip to the right for the first time during universal suffrage dating back a century, while also Blekinge went blue for the first time in the unicameral era. Meanwhile, the six largest municipalities had leftist majorities.

Context

2014 budget crisis

Just two months after having formed a minority government, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announced on the afternoon of 3 December 2014 that he intended to make the formal arrangements for calling an extraordinary election on 29 December 2014 – the earliest date permitted by the constitution.

The election seemed to be necessary after Löfven's Social Democrat-led government lost a vote on the budget by 182 to 153, owing to the Sweden Democrats voting with the opposition, leading to a cabinet crisis. It would have been the first early election since 1958.

However, an agreement between the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Moderates, the Centre Party, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats was signed on 26 December 2014, outlining a series of conditions in order to ensure political stability until at least 2022. The agreement included two main provisions:

• The candidate for Prime Minister who gathered the most support would be elected. This would apply to both incumbent and new candidates for PM.
• A government in minority would be allowed to have its budget passed, by the abstention of opposition parties who had signed the agreement.

After negotiations between the Government and the Alliance for Sweden concluded, the snap election was called off on 27 December 2014. On 9 October 2015, following the Christian Democrats' departure from the agreement, the December 2014 agreement was dissolved. However, the Moderates, the Centre Party and the Liberals allowed the Social Democrats minority government to continue to govern.

Campaign issues

In May 2018, the issues that the Swedish voters considered most important were immigration, healthcare and integration. In the days leading up to the election, the most important issue was the environment, followed by immigration and health care. With the polls showing that the Sweden Democrats could be kingmakers there was speculation over possible government coalitions.

Concerns about foreign influence in the election were raised by the Swedish Security Service and others, leading to various countermeasures.

The summer of 2018 saw several violent incidents occur, including the arson of over 100 cars on 15 August, which may have led 10% of Swedes to state that "law and order" was the key issue in September's election. While Sweden had faced sporadic gang violence in recent years at the end of summer break for students, violence in Gothenburg, Falkenberg and Trollhättan was said to be on a larger scale. Prime Minister Löfven referred to the August violence as if it was organized "almost like a military operation". In the following days, Twitter accounts connected to Russia tweeted about the fires, according to the Alliance for Securing Democracy intending to influence English-language readers. According to the Oxford Internet Institute, eight of the top 10 "junk news" sources during the election campaign were Swedish, and "Russian sources comprised less than 1% of the total number of URLs shared in the data sample." It has been claimed by domestic media that Non-Swedish media frequently emphasize the events in order to advance a narrative of a society in decay, along with some negative but restricted reporting around immigration, to describe great gains by the Sweden Democrats. This has been criticized as a "false narrative" and "misreporting" by domestic media.

Contesting parties

Politics of Sweden
Basic Laws Instrument of Government Act of Succession Freedom of the Press Act Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression
Monarchy King (list): Carl XVI Gustaf Crown Princess: Victoria Royal family Royal Court Marshal of the Realm: Fredrik Wersäll
Executive Government: Kristersson cabinet Prime Minister (list): Ulf Kristersson Deputy Prime Minister: Ebba Busch Government offices Ministries Government agencies
Legislature Riksdag Speaker: Andreas Norlén Deputy Speakers 1st — Åsa Lindestam 2nd — Lotta Johnsson Fornarve 3rd — Kerstin Lundgren Membership Current members National apportionment Committees War Delegation
Judiciary Supreme Court Courts of appeal District courts Supreme Administrative Court Administrative courts of appeal Administrative courts Council on Legislation Judicial review
Elections Political parties Recent elections General: 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 European: 2009 2014 2019 2024 Local: 2014 2018 Referendums
Administrative divisions Counties County administrative boards Regional councils Municipalities
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Tobias Billström Diplomatic missions of / in Sweden Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Sweden–NATO relations China–Sweden relations Denmark–Sweden relations Finland–Sweden relations France–Sweden relations Germany–Sweden relations Italy–Sweden relations Norway–Sweden relations Russia–Sweden relations Sweden–Turkey relations Sweden–United Kingdom relations Sweden–United States relations Politics of the European Union
Related topics Sámi Parliament Armed Forces Police Authority
Sweden portal Other countries
v t e

Major parties

The Social Democratic Party (S; Socialdemokraterna) was the largest political party in the Swedish Riksdag, with 113 of the 349 seats. It was the major component of the incumbent Löfven Cabinet, in which it worked with the Green Party. Its leader Stefan Löfven had been Prime Minister of Sweden since 3 October 2014, and sought a mandate to continue his Löfven Cabinet.

The Moderate Party (M; Moderaterna) was the second-largest party in the Riksdag with 84 seats. It was the largest governing party under Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014. The party was involved alongside three other parties in the Alliance; all four sought to return to power together. Reinfeldt resigned as party leader after eight years as prime minister, and was succeeded as leader by Anna Kinberg Batra on 10 January 2015. Kinberg Batra's decision as the de facto leader to enter the budgetary procedure agreement with the left-of-centre cabinet saw sharp disgruntlement from some party districts. The Alliance had more MPs than the government parties, but still found itself in opposition. Owing to her low opinion polling numbers, Kinberg Batra faced internal pressure from multiple party districts and the Moderate Youth League to resign. She announced her resignation in a morning press conference on 25 August 2017. Former prime minister and Moderate Party leader Carl Bildt was suggested as a replacement after Kinberg Batra resigned; however, despite some party districts supporting his candidacy, he declined the offer. Ultimately, Ulf Kristersson was elected to succeed Kinberg Batra as party leader, during an extra Moderate party conference on 1 October 2017.

The Sweden Democrats (SD; Sverigedemokraterna) was the third-largest party in the Riksdag with 49 seats. In the 2014 general election the party increased its number of seats by 29, becoming the third-largest party. Its leader was Jimmie Åkesson, who was the longest-serving party leader. The other Riksdag parties had repeatedly stated that they would not cooperate with the Sweden Democrats in a future government. An extra general election was called after the Sweden Democrats gave its support to the oppositional Alliance budget (see section '2014 budget crisis'). After the proposed extra election was cancelled, the party advertised itself as the 'only opposition party' and in the following months it saw a sharp rise in support (see section 'Opinion polls').

The Green Party (MP; Miljöpartiet) was the fourth-largest party in the Riksdag with 25 seats. The Green Party was the minor component of the Löfven Cabinet, alongside the Social Democrats. It was the only Swedish party to have two spokespersons, Gustav Fridolin (since 2011), who served as Minister for Education, and Isabella Lövin (since 2016), who served as Minister for International Development Cooperation. This was the first time in Swedish history that the Green Party had its governmental record tested at an election.

The Centre Party (C; Centerpartiet) was the fifth-largest party in the Riksdag with 22 seats. It was a part of the Reinfeldt Cabinet from 2006 to 2014, and was involved in the Alliance. The Centre Party had been led by Annie Lööf since 2011. It was subject to public attempts by Löfven to become a cooperation party, but the party traditionally leans towards the Moderate policy positions and stayed within the Alliance after the 2014 election.

The Left Party (V; Vänsterpartiet) was the sixth-largest party in the Riksdag with 21 seats. Its leader was Jonas Sjöstedt. He had said that the party sought to participate in a future Red-Green coalition government. The Left Party did not support the Löfven Cabinet because it was not asked to participate in that cabinet following the 2014 general election, but supported its budget that was voted down on 3 December 2014. Following the budgetary agreement, the Left Party was what tips the left-of-centre minority into a larger minority than the Alliance.

The Liberals (L; Liberalerna) was the seventh-largest party in the Riksdag with 19 seats. It was a part of the Reinfeldt Cabinet from 2006 to 2014, and was involved in the Alliance. The Liberals had been led by Jan Björklund since 2007; his leadership was being increasingly criticized within the party. Opinion polls in the year after the 2014 election suggested that the party was falling significantly behind and struggling to recapture its previous level of support. Having been in charge of the school system and integration of migrants, it came under a lot of criticism owing to falling school results and increased segregation in immigrant-dominated suburbs.

The Christian Democrats (KD; Kristdemokraterna) had been led by Ebba Busch Thor since 2015. It was involved in the Alliance. Despite polling below the 4% electoral threshold for most of the time between the elections, the party saw a boost in support in the time period immediately prior to the election, guaranteeing its presence in the Riksdag (which was seen as essential in order for the Alliance to be able to form a government.). The party held on by a few tens of thousands of votes last time.

Minor parties

Parties with less than 4% of the vote do not get any seats in the Riksdag.

Feminist Initiative (FI; Feministiskt Initiativ), led by former Left Party leader Gudrun Schyman, was the country's ninth-largest party, and was represented in the European Parliament following the 2014 European election. The party received 0.4% of the vote in the election, compared to 3% in the previous election 2014.

The Pirate Party (PP; Piratpartiet) won representation in the 2009–14 European Parliament, but its subsequent runs for office had been less successful. It has been mentioned in some polls as the tenth-largest party, but appeared to be far from having a chance to break the threshold at a domestic level.

The Alternative for Sweden (Alternativ för Sverige) was a party with no representation in the Riksdag. It was formed from members expelled from the Sweden Democrats in 2015, and was led by Gustav Kasselstrand. The party received 0.3% of the vote, and thus failed to enter the Riksdag in this election.

Electoral system

The Swedish Riksdag is made up of 349 MPs, and all are elected through open list proportional representation on multi-member party lists that are either regional (most major parties) or national (Sweden Democrats). Each of the 29 constituencies has a set number of parliamentarians that is divided through constituency results to ensure regional representation. The other MPs are then elected through a proportional balancing, to ensure that the numbers of elected MPs for the various parties accurately represent the votes of the electorate. The Swedish constitution (Regeringsformen) 1 Ch. 4 § says that the Riksdag is responsible for taxation and making laws, and 1 Ch. 6 § says that the government is held responsible to the Riksdag. This means that Sweden has parliamentarism in a constitutional monarchy—ensuring that the government is responsible to the people's representatives. A minimum of 4% of the national vote is required for a party to enter the Riksdag, alternatively 12% or more within a constituency.

Vote secrecy and party-specific ballots

Election officials are responsible for party-specific ballot papers being present in the voting places for parties that have obtained more than one percent of the votes in the previous parliamentary election. If there is no access to the wanted party-specific ballot paper, a voter may cast a vote by writing in the party name of choice on a blank ballot paper. The voter generally chooses a party-specific ballot in the open and only then marks the ballot they chose in the voting booth.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights sent an election expert team of two members to the 2018 general election to examine and assess this system, including in relation to questions of the secrecy of the ballot. The observers are to issue a report eight weeks after the election was held.

The neo-Nazi organisation Nordic Resistance Movement was reported shouting slogans and filming voters in several election rooms.

There were reports of missing party-specific ballots in some voting districts during the early voting phase. On the election day, the Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television reported that the ballots of the Sweden Democrats were missing for 2 hours in one Gothenburg district.

Parties

The table below lists parties' 2014 representation in the Riksdag.

Opinion polls

Results

Social Democratic vote strength by municipality Moderate Party vote strength by municipality Sweden Democrats vote strength by municipality Centre Party vote strength by municipality Left Party vote strength by municipality Christian Democrats vote strength by municipality Liberals vote strength by municipality Green vote strength by municipality Coalition vote strength by municipality       (S+V+MP in red, M+C+KD+L in blue)

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Swedish Social Democratic Party	1,830,386	28.26	100	−13
	Moderate Party	1,284,698	19.84	70	−14
	Sweden Democrats	1,135,627	17.53	62	+13
	Centre Party	557,500	8.61	31	+9
	Left Party	518,454	8.00	28	+7
	Christian Democrats	409,478	6.32	22	+6
	Liberals	355,546	5.49	20	+1
	Green Party	285,899	4.41	16	−9
	Feminist Initiative	29,665	0.46	0	0
	Alternative for Sweden	20,290	0.31	0	New
	Citizens' Coalition	13,056	0.20	0	New
	Pirate Party	7,326	0.11	0	0
	Direct Democrats	5,153	0.08	0	0
	Independent Rural Party	4,962	0.08	0	New
	Enhet	4,647	0.07	0	0
	Animals' Party	3,648	0.06	0	0
	Christian Values Party [sv]	3,202	0.05	0	0
	Nordic Resistance Movement	2,106	0.03	0	New
	Classical Liberal Party	1,504	0.02	0	0
	Communist Party of Sweden	702	0.01	0	0
	Basic Income Party	632	0.01	0	New
	Initiative	615	0.01	0	New
	Security Party [sv]	511	0.01	0	New
	Scania Party	296	0.00	0	0
	Norrlandspartiet	60	0.00	0	New
	Libertarian Freedom Party	53	0.00	0	New
	European Workers Party	52	0.00	0	0
	NY Reform	32	0.00	0	New
	Common Sense in Sweden	21	0.00	0	New
	Our Country – Sweden	9	0.00	0	New
	Reformist Neutral Party	4	0.00	0	0
	People's Home Sweden	2	0.00	0	New
	Yellow Party	1	0.00	0	0
	Parties not on the ballot	588	0.01	0	–
Total		6,476,725	100.00	349	0
Valid votes		6,476,725	99.10
Invalid/blank votes		58,546	0.90
Total votes		6,535,271	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,495,936	87.18
Source: VAL

By alliance

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Red-Greens (S+MP+V)	2,634,739	40.68	144	−15
	The Alliance (M+C+L+KD)	2,607,222	40.26	143	+2
	Sweden Democrats	1,135,627	17.53	62	+13
	Other parties	99,137	1.53	0	–
Total		6,476,725	100.00	349	0
Valid votes		6,476,725	99.10
Invalid/blank votes		58,546	0.90
Total votes		6,535,271	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,495,936	87.18
Source: VAL

By constituency

Seat distribution

The following is the number of constituency seats for each party with each asterix (*) indicating one of the seats won was a levelling seat

Voter demographics

Voter demographics of the Swedish general election 2018, according to the Swedish Television's exit polls.

Gender and age

Employment

Occupation

Union membership

Education

Public/Private sector employment

Foreign born

Analysis

Numerous media sources noted the gains made by the Sweden Democrats, tying those gains to the simultaneous rise of right-wing populist parties across Europe. However, it was noted that the party did not grow as much as some polls had predicted. While the Social Democrats performed better than expected, the party still saw its worst result since 1908. According to The Guardian, the growth of the SD "upended perhaps western Europe's most stable political order", and other commentators made similar statements. According to Emily Schultheis of Foreign Policy, the SD won an ideological victory, as it "effectively set the terms for debate" and forced its rivals to adopt immigration policies similar to its own, and other reporters made similar observations.

The election did not result in a clear victory for any political faction. The Sweden Democrats performed particularly well in Skåne County, having the highest number of voters in 21 out of the county's 33 municipalities. SVT reported that at least 22 seats in 17 city councils would be empty as the Sweden Democrats won more seats than the number of candidates it had. The party received its first mayor, in Hörby Municipality. Despite the Social Democrats' worst result nationwide in decades, they overtook the Moderates in the latter's traditional stronghold of Stockholm city. Additionally, the Social Democrats and the Left Party saw an increase in the number of votes cast in that constituency while the Moderates lost votes; consequently, the Red-Green bloc also overtook the Alliance in the constituency.

Government formation

The election resulted in a hung parliament, with the red-green and centre-right coalitions each holding about 40% of the seats, and the Sweden Democrats holding the remainder.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven lost the motion of no confidence against him and his cabinet on 25 September 2018, with 142 members of parliament voting to retain Löfven's cabinet and 204 voting against. This triggered a constitutional procedure wherein the Riksdag is given four chances to vote on a new Prime Minister. If the Riksdag failed all four attempts to elect a new Prime Minister, a snap election would be mandatory.

Party negotiations for forming a new government commenced on 27 September, but the deadlock remained as neither Löfven nor Kristersson could construct a stable coalition. On 14 November, Kristersson was formally nominated as PM, but lost the confidence vote when the Center and Liberal parties refused to back him, as they were unwilling to work in a government that relied on the Sweden Democrats. The vote was historical, as it was the first time a candidate for Prime Minister was rejected by the Riksdag since the abolition of the bicameral legislature in 1971.

After continued, unfruitful negotiations, Speaker Norlén nominated Löfven to be re-appointed Prime Minister on 12 December. Though the Center and Liberal parties were initially willing to work with him in securing a coalition, talks broke down days before the vote due to disagreements with the budget, and thus Löfven too lost his confidence vote two days later. On the same day that Löfven was nominated, the Riksdag rejected the caretaker government's provisional budget, and instead passed a competing budget designed by the Moderates and Christian Democrats.

Norlén stated after the vote that he would restart negotiations between the parties, while at the same time preparing for the possibility of a snap election. Norlén then created a finalized timeline for forming a government, and urged Kristersson and Löfven to find a compromise. Without nominating a new candidate, he set the next vote for a prime minister initially for 16 January (but later postponed to 18 January owing to differences between the Social Democrats and the Left Party), and a final vote on 23 January if the first vote would fail. If neither vote had succeeded, a snap election would have been called immediately, scheduled to take place on 21 April.

On 11 January 2019, a deal was struck between the Social Democrats, the Greens, the Centre Party, and the Liberals to allow Löfven to continue governing. However, over the next few days, senior officials of the Left Party expressed concern and were leaning towards voting against the proposed government and instead called on Löfven to continue negotiations with them. On 16 January, Sjöstedt agreed to abstain from voting against Löfven. On 18 January, Löfven was formally reelected with 192 yes votes and abstentions.

References

1. "Sweden faces hung parliament as far-right makes big gains". Irish Times.
2. (now), Kate Lyons; (earlier), Patrick Greenfield; Greenfield, Patrick (9 September 2018). "Swedish election: deadlock for main parties as far right makes gains – as it happened". The Guardian.
3. Carl Bildt. "Opinion - Sweden's election represents the new normal of European politics". Washington Post.
4. Chatterjee, Saikat (10 September 2018). "FOREX-Scandinavian currencies lead rebound vs struggling dollar". CNBC. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
5. "Sweden faces government deadlock as far-right gains". The Times of India.
6. ^ Schultheis, Emily (10 September 2018). "Sweden's Far Right Has Won the War of Ideas". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
7. ^ "Röster - Val 2018". data.val.se. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
8. "Ålder och kön - Val 2018". data.val.se. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
9. "Percentage of women in national parliaments as of March 2020". New Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform (beta). Retrieved 6 May 2020.
10. ^ Olsson, Hans (25 September 2018). "Löfven leder övergångsregering". DN.SE (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 September 2018.
11. Alexandra Carlsson Tenitskaja; Mia Holmgren (13 November 2018). "SD röstar ja till Kristersson som statsminister". DN.SE (in Swedish). Retrieved 13 November 2018.
12. ^ Alexandra Carlsson Tenitskaja (14 November 2018). "Nu avgörs Kristerssons statsministeröde". DN.SE (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 November 2018.
13. ^ "Riksdagen röstar nej till Stefan Löfven (S) som statsminister". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
14. "Talmannen Andreas Norlén förbereder ett eventuellt extraval". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
15. ^ "Stefan Löfven voted back in as Swedish prime minister". www.thelocal.se. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
16. Wedin, Helena (21 March 2019). "Uppgörelsen mellan S, MP, L och C - punkt för punkt". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). SVT. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
17. "Oppositionen är överens – vill ge 7,5 miljarder till välfärden" (in Swedish). Expressen. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
18. Sweden election called by Löfven after parliament defeat BBC News, 3 December 2014
19. "Just nu: Regeringskrisen fortsätter". Svenska Dagbladet. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
20. "Agreement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
21. "Ny mätning: De är viktigaste valfrågorna" (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
22. "Klimatet upp i topp som väljarnas viktigaste fråga" (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
23. "Far-right momentum in Sweden bolsters the chances of a grand coalition government". New Europe. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
24. "Ahead of election, Sweden warns its voters against foreign disinformation". ABC News. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
25. "Sweden warns of 'certain foreign powers' meddling in the 2018 election". 22 February 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
26. Anderson, Christina. "More Than 100 Cars Burned in Mass Arson Attack in Sweden". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
27. ^ "Youths in Swedish towns burn and vandalize scores of cars". U.S. Reuters. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
28. "Experten: Kremlkopplade Twitterkonton utnyttjade bilbränder för att påverka opinionen i USA". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 7 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
29. "Fake News Takes Its Toll on Sweden's Elections". Bloomberg. 15 November 2018.
30. "Nya narrativ utmanar omvärldens bild av Sverige" [New narratives challenge the outside world's picture of Sweden] (in Swedish). Swedish Institute. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
31. "Osanningar om Sverige sprids i utländsk media" [Untruths about Sweden are spread in foreign media] (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
32. "Sweden's election is being misreported abroad – and this is a problem". The Local. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
33. "Anna Kinberg Batra avgår som partiledare för Moderaterna". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
34. "Carl Bildts besked om partiledarfrågan: Inte intresserad". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
35. "Ulf Kristersson vill göra upp med S om invandringen — DN.SE". DN.SE (in Swedish). 1 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
36. "Putting out ballot papers". Valmyndigheten. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
37. "Ballot papers". Valmyndigheten. 17 August 2018. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
38. ^ Bolling, Anders (9 September 2018). "Utländska observatörer granskar valsedlar som ligger öppet". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 September 2018.
39. "NMR skrek slagord i vallokal". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 9 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
40. Sjögren, Alf (22 August 2018). "Förtidsröstningen försenad – valsedlar saknas i många lokaler". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 September 2018.
41. Eriksson, Lisa (23 August 2018). "Moderaternas valsedlar försvunna". Norrbottens-Kuriren (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 September 2018.
42. Josefsson, Helena (9 September 2018). "SD:s valsedlar saknades i vallokal" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
43. "Röster - Val 2018" (in Swedish). Valmyndigheten. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
44. "Val till riksdagen - Valda". val.se. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
45. "SVT:s Vallokalsundersökning Riksdagsvalet 2018." Sveriges Television. 2018-10-03.
46. VALU 2018, p. 16.
47. ^ VALU 2018, p. 17.
48. VALU 2018, p. 18.
49. VALU 2018, p. 19.
50. VALU 2018, p. 25
51. Karnitschnig, Matthew (10 September 2018). "Why Sweden's election was all about the rise of the far right". Politico. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
52. Henley, Jon (10 September 2018). "Sweden Election: Far Right Makes Gains as Main Blocs Deadlocked". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
53. Pancevski, Bojan (9 September 2018). "Sweden Moves to the Right in an Election Shaped by Immigration". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
54. Chamberlain, Samuel (9 September 2018). "Sweden election sees gains for far-right, anti-immigrant party". Fox News. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
55. ^ Duxbury, Charlie (9 September 2018). "Sweden braces for political uncertainty as far right makes gains". Politico. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
56. Decristofaro, Pietro; Schaeffer, Jeff (10 September 2018). "Sweden Joins Europe's Move to Right Over Migration Backlash". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
57. ^ Berman, Sheri (12 September 2018). "Five takeaways about the Swedish election – and the far-right wave across Europe". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
58. Crisp, James (10 September 2018). "Analysis: Brussels Dodges Populist Bullet as Sweden Democrats Fall Short". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
59. "The anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats fail to achieve an electoral breakthrough". The Economist. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
60. "The anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats fail to break through". The Economist. 13 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
61. "Analysis: Has support for the Sweden Democrats peaked?". The Local. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
62. Schultheis, Emily (10 September 2018). "The Left Stumbles in Sweden, Social Democracy's Heartland". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
63. Kuoppamäki, Pasi (10 September 2018). "Election verifies the rise of Swedish nationalists". The Hill. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
64. Henley, Jon (9 September 2018). "Sweden: far right gains threaten Europe's most stable political order". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
65. Neudig, Paulina (10 September 2018). "So Long to Swedish Political Stability". Politico. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
66. "Europe's populists are waltzing into the mainstream". The Economist. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
67. Teitelbaum, Benjamin R. (12 September 2018). "In Sweden, Populist Nationalists Won on Policy, but Lost on Politics". The Atlantic. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
68. ^ Sennero, Johan; Ahlander, Johan (10 September 2018). "Sweden faces political impasse after far-right election gains". Reuters. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
69. ^ Barrett, Michael (10 September 2018). "What next for Sweden after election nailbiter?". The Local. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
70. Billner, Amanda; Lindeberg, Rafaela (10 September 2018). "Sweden Wades into Unknown Without Clear Path to Viable Coalition". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
71. Orange, Richard (11 September 2018). "Sweden Democrats biggest in two-thirds of Skåne districts". The Local. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
72. "Sweden Democrats Won More Local Seats than Able to Fill". EUobserver. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
73. Öbrink, Andreas (20 September 2018). "Efter SD:s framgång – tomma stolar i fullmäktige runt om i landet". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
74. "Sweden Democrats take power in municipal council". The Local. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
75. "Val till riksdagen - Röster - riksdagsvalkrets Stockholms kommun". Valmyndigheten. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
76. "Will Sweden be able to form a government?". The local. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
77. "Stefan Löfven faller - röstade bort ur riksdagen". Expressen. 25 September 2018.
78. per.kudo@svd.se, Per Kudo |. ""Jag vill fortsätta tjäna vårt land som statsminister" | SvD". SvD.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 September 2018.
79. "Live: Statsministeromröstning och öppnandet av riksdagen". DN.SE (in Swedish). 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
80. "Swedish parliament rejects centre-right PM candidate Ulf Kristersson". 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
81. Lindholm, Amanda (8 November 2018). "SD: Minskad invandring i budgeten är ett ultimatum". DN.
82. "Statens budget 2019 Rambeslutet Debatt om förslag 12 december 2018 - Riksdagen". riksdagen.se. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
83. "Riksdagen röstar om höstbudgeten". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 12 December 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
84. "Sweden starts laying the groundwork for snap election". www.thelocal.se. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
85. "Santa won't bring Sweden a new government for Christmas". www.thelocal.se. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
86. Juhlin, Johan (18 January 2019). "Stefan Löfven vald till ny statsminister". SVT Nyheter.

v t e Elections and referendums in Sweden
General elections	1866 1869 1872 1875 1878 1881 1884 1887 (Mar–Apr) 1887 (Aug–Sep) 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 1911 1914 (Mar) 1914 (Sep) 1917 1920 1921 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1958 1960 1964 1968 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
Local elections	1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1919 1920 1922–23 1926–27 1930–31 1934–35 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
European elections	1995 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
Referendums	1922 1955 1957 1980 1994 2003

v t e 2018 Swedish general election
Parties elected	Social Democrats (100) Moderates (70) Sweden Democrats (62) Centre Party (31) Left Party (28) Christian Democrats (22) Liberals (20) Green Party (16)
Party leaders	Stefan Löfven (S) Ulf Kristersson (M) Jimmie Åkesson (SD) Annie Lööf (C) Jonas Sjöstedt (V) Ebba Busch Thor (KD) Jan Björklund (L) Isabella Lövin & Gustav Fridolin (MP)
Results	Results
Party results	Social Democrats Moderates Sweden Democrats Centre Party Left Party Christian Democrats Liberals Green Party
County results	Blekinge Dalarna Gotland Gävleborg Halland Jämtland Jönköping Kalmar Kronoberg Norrbotten Skåne Stockholm Södermanland Uppsala Värmland Västerbotten Västernorrland Västmanland Västra Götaland Örebro Östergötland
See also	2018 Swedish government formation

• 2018 Swedish general election
• General elections in Sweden
• 2018 elections in Europe
• 2018 elections in Sweden
• September 2018 events in Sweden