Swedish left coalition wins general election

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The Swedish Election Authority said the four opposition parties won 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament in Stockholm, the Riksdag, in Sunday’s election.

The four parties that make up or support the outgoing right-wing government took 173 seats.

Shortly after the final results were announced, right-wing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he would resign as the head of government in a letter to the parliament’s speaker posted on social media.

Former prime minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats finished as the biggest single party with 99 seats, despite losing eight seats compared with the last election in 2022.

Mr Kristersson has led Sweden with a three-party, right-wing coalition.

The parliamentary majority relied on outside support from the far-right Sweden Democrats.

Mr Kristersson had held out the prospect of cabinet seats for the Sweden Democrats this time, if the governing coalition won.

But the election was a major setback for the Sweden Democrats, who dropped into third place behind the outgoing prime minister’s Moderates and took 62 seats, 11 fewer than four years ago.

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