Sweden’s ruling centre-left in narrow electoral lead: Exit opinions | Election news
The Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, expected to win the most seats in parliament with 349 seats amid the rise of the far-right.
The ruling left-wing Social Democrats led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have taken a narrow lead in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, according to two exit polls, while a right-wing populist party had its best success so far.
The four left-wing parties were credited with 50.6 percent of voter support in an exit poll published on TV4, compared to 48 percent for the four parties on the right. A second exit poll on SVT gave the left 49.8 percent and the right 49.2 percent.
Both polls, published after voting closed on Sunday, also suggested the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats could become the country’s second-largest party in parliament for the first time with 349 seats. They credited the party with 21.3 and 20.5 percent of the vote, respectively.
The exit polls have margins of error and the final result will only be known when all the votes have been counted.
The vote count is in progress.
Should the final results confirm the left bloc’s leadership, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, a 55-year-old former finance minister, would try to build a government with the support of the small left, center and green parties.
The Social Democrats have governed Sweden since 2014.
Swedes voted last Sunday in national elections where immigration was one of the ballot papers.
Opinion polls had predicted a razor-thin lead for Prime Minister Andersson’s Social Democrats and an allied left-wing bloc after a campaign dominated by discussions of rising gang shootings and soaring electricity prices.
The right-wing Sweden Democrats entered the Riksdag in 2010 and have steadily gained more votes with each election. The party’s fortunes have risen following massive migration in recent years, particularly during Europe’s year of crisis in 2015.
The party has its roots in the white nationalist movement, but many years ago began expelling extremists. Despite the rebranding, voters found it unacceptable for a long time and other parties avoided it. That is changing.
Polls predicted that the Sweden Democrats, who won 13 percent in 2018, would take about 20 percent on Sunday to become the second largest party in parliament. That would put it just behind the centre-left Social Democrats.
Turnout was expected to be high, with more than 80 percent of the country’s 7.8 million eligible voters expected to cast ballots.