Sweden's prime minister resigns as conservative bloc wins narrow control of Parliament

Ulf Kristersson
(Image credit: Mikael Sjoberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said she will resign on Thursday after near-complete election results Wednesday showed her center-left bloc narrowly losing to a group of right-wing parties. Andersson's Social Democrats won the largest share of votes — 30.1 percent — in last Sunday's election, but her coalition took 173 seats in the 349-seat Parliament, while the bloc of four conservative parties won 176 seats, according to preliminary results.

The next government will likely be headed by Ulf Kristersson, whose Moderate Party led the last conservative government for eight years until the Social Democrats bloc won back control in 2014. The Moderates placed third overall this round, with 19.1 percent of the vote, but the No. 2 party, the far-right Sweden Democrats, doesn't have the support of the other parties in the right-wing coalition, the Christian Democrats and Liberals.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.