2026 Swedish general election
13 September 2026
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General elections will be held in Sweden on 13 September 2026 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag. They in turn will elect the prime minister. In case of a snap election, the parliamentary term would not be reset and general elections would still be held in September 2026 together with regional and municipal elections.[1][2] It will be the first parliamentary election in Sweden since the country acceeded to NATO on 7 March 2024, which ended 212 years of military non-alignment for the country. [3]
Electoral system
The Riksdag is made up of 349 seats elected by open list proportional representation,[4] with an electoral threshold of 4% of the national vote or alternatively 12% within a single constituency. Of the 349 seats, 310 are elected from 29 constituencies ranging in size from 2 to 40 seats, while the other 39 seats are apportioned nationally as levelling seats to ensure parties that passed the 4% national threshold hold a proportional number of seats; these levelling seats are allocated to particular districts. If a party wins more constituency seats than it is entitled to overall, a redistribution of constituency seats may occur to reduce the number of constituency seats won by that party.[5]
General elections are held on a fixed date, the second Sunday of September, at the same time as the municipal and regional elections.[6][7][8] If early elections are called, the newly elected legislature only serves out the remainder of the four-year term begun by the previous legislature.
Political parties
The table below lists political parties represented in the Riksdag after the 2022 general election.
| Abbr. | Name | Ideology | Political position | Leader | 2022 result | Pre-election | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | |||||||
| S | Swedish Social Democratic Party | Social democracy | Centre-left | Magdalena Andersson | 30.3% | 107 / 349
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106 / 349
| |
| SD | Sweden Democrats | Right-wing populism | Right-wing to far-right | Jimmie Åkesson | 20.5% | 73 / 349
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71 / 349
| |
| M | Moderate Party | Liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Ulf Kristersson | 19.1% | 68 / 349
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68 / 349
| |
| V | Left Party | Socialism | Left-wing | Nooshi Dadgostar | 6.8% | 24 / 349
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22 / 349
| |
| C | Centre Party | Liberalism | Centre to centre-right | Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist | 6.7% | 24 / 349
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24 / 349
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| KD | Christian Democrats | Christian democracy | Centre-right to right-wing | Ebba Busch | 5.3% | 19 / 349
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19 / 349
| |
| MP | Green Party | Green politics | Centre-left | Amanda Lind Daniel Helldén |
5.1% | 18 / 349
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18 / 349
| |
| L | Liberals | Conservative liberalism | Centre-right | Simona Mohamsson | 4.6% | 16 / 349
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16 / 349
| |
| N/a | Independents[a][9][10] | N/a | 5 / 349
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Campaign
On 13 March 2026, the leaders of the Liberals, Simona Mohamsson and the Sweden Democrats Jimmie Åkesson, announced at a press conference that their two parties had come to an agreement which would see the Liberals eliminate any red lines against the Sweden Democrats in a future right-of-centre coalition, thus making the Liberals the first Swedish party to open up for the Sweden Democrats to participate in government. Mohamsaon mentioned that a "blue-yellow cooperation" could potentially pave way for the establishment of an organized bloc formation of the Swedish right ahead of the September election, something which had not been seen since the fall of the Alliance in 2019.
The agreement between the Sweden Democrats and the Liberals, dubbed the "Sweden Agreement" included multiple proposals that Åkesson had negotiated and agreed to in exchange for future ministerial positions in the government. Some of these proposals included:
- A national referendum, coinciding with the 2030 Swedish general election on whether Sweden should adopt the Euro as currency or not.
- Increased government spending on psychiatric care.
- Re-nationalization of Swedish schools, making the state the primary authority of education rather than the municipalities.
- Strengthened right to assistance and LSS for disabled people.
- An extensive expansion of nuclear reactors in Sweden
- Lowered taxes on work and entrepreneurship.
- Continued support for Ukraine and increased military and security cooperation within the European Union and in the Nordic region.
The decision to scrap red lines were celebrated by politicians from the Moderate Party and the Christian Democrats, including Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch. From within the Liberals the decision was met with both approval and opposition. Many fronting politicians from the Liberals announced their decision to resign and leave the party if the cooperation agreement between SD and L was approved by the Liberal party congress on 22 March. Mohamsson threatened to step down as party leader just six months before the general election if the party congress were to have rejected her agreement. The agreement was also met with strong criticism from the opposition parties.
On 18 March, former minister, member of parliament and contender for the leadership of the Liberals Birgitta Ohlsson announced at a press conference together with Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, that she would stand as a candidate for the Centre Party in the 2026 election, hoping to win a seat in parliament. [1]
On the 20th of March former Liberal leader (1997-2007) Lars Leijonborg was announced as a parliamentary candidate for the Liberals.
Opinion polls
Graphical summary
See also
Notes
- ^
- Jamal El-Haj (formerly Social Democrats)
- Elsa Widding (formerly Sweden Democrats)
- Katja Nyberg (formerly Sweden Democrats)
References
- ^ "The fundamentals of the electoral system". val.se. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Elections to the Riksdag". riksdagen.se. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ https://www.nato.int/en/news-and-events/articles/news/2024/03/07/sweden-officially-joins-nato
- ^ "Sweden Riksdagen (Parliament)". Parline. 1 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "Vallag (2005:837) Svensk författningssamling 2005:2005:837 t.o.m. SFS 2021:1328". Riksdagen (in Swedish). 15 May 2016. Avdelning IV. Fördelning av mandat, 14 kap. Fördelning av mandat, 4 a §. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
- ^ "Elections in Sweden: The way it's done" (PDF). Election Authority. Solna. 7 October 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "The Swedish electoral system". Valmyndigheten (in Swedish). 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ "The 2022 election". Riksdag. 31 August 2022. Archived from the original on 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
Parliamentary elections will take place on 11 September. On this day voters will have the opportunity to decide which candidates will represent them in the Riksdag over the next four years. On the same day, there are elections to municipalities and regional councils.
- ^ Wide, Julia; Hermansson, Alice (20 August 2025). "Lorena Delgado Varas och Daniel Riazat utesluts ur Vänsterpartiet" [Lorena Delgado Varas and Daniel Riazat are expelled from the Left Party]. SVT (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ Steiner, Hamilton; Jones, Evelyn; Martorell, Jenny (29 January 2026). "Nyberg: Sitter kvar i riksdagen – lämnar SD" [Nyberg: Stays in the Riksdag – leaves SD] (in Swedish). DN. Archived from the original on 29 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.