Morning opening: When the dust settles (a bit)
Jakub Krupa
Hej from Stockholm as the dust settles (a bit) after a hectic election night.
With 95% of votes counted overnight, the left-leaning opposition bloc – led by Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats – has widened its lead to three seats, leading 176 to 173 against the reigning centre-right coalition and their far-right partners in Sweden Democrats.
Formally, the result is not settled yet: there is only some 28,600 votes separating the two blocs, with 6% of the votes yet to be counted – and that includes some 200,000 votes expected to come and be counted only on Wednesday.
Still, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT said last night it was 90% confident that the opposition would clinch the victory, even accounting for all the votes yet to be counted.
There is plenty of time for early exploratory talks: the parliament won’t meet until 28 September, when its due to elect a new speaker, and any votes on who could be the next prime minister can only come after that.
But the process of forming the new government could take weeks if not months leaving Sweden in a state of political limbo at a time of unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty in Europe.
No doubt first text messages, frantic WhatsApp or Signals, and phone calls are already exchanged today.
I will be here to cover all this drama for you.
It’s Monday, 14 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Key events
PM Kristersson wants to ‘take it easy’ and wait until final results
Perhaps we should all just channel the Swedish PM, Ulf Kristersson, who essentially said this morning he was “going to take it pretty easy” until the final results are in.
He says there are some conversations scheduled in the meantime – including with fellow coalition leaders this evening – but he essentially wants to see the final results show first.
He also repeats his last night’s suggestion of exploring alternative majorities in the parliament.
One possible option could involve the Centre party switching sides, but it’s not immediately obvious how Kristersson would get them to accept a government with the far-right Sweden Democrats with it.
Social Democrat leadership meets for talks after election win
Senior figures in the Social Democratic party are meeting this morning with party leader Magdalena Andersson to discuss next steps.
The party topped the polls – that is certain – and is most likely to have a first go at forming the next government, but it will have to navigate the complex and often openly contradictory demands of the left-leaning bloc.
It remains to be seen whether they can get the Left Party to work with the Centre Party in particular, given rumbles on both sides about the feasibility of such an alliance.
But today’s doorstep comments suggest there is no rush just yet: all parties will want to wait for the final results on Wednesday or Thursday before committing to exploratory talks.
Party secretary Tobias Baudin confirmed, however, that he has exchanged texts with colleagues in other parties, SVT reported.
Asked about potential differences, he told P1 that he was “completely convinced” the parties would give it out with some “give and take” for all involved.
Morning opening: When the dust settles (a bit)
Jakub Krupa
Hej from Stockholm as the dust settles (a bit) after a hectic election night.
With 95% of votes counted overnight, the left-leaning opposition bloc – led by Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats – has widened its lead to three seats, leading 176 to 173 against the reigning centre-right coalition and their far-right partners in Sweden Democrats.
Formally, the result is not settled yet: there is only some 28,600 votes separating the two blocs, with 6% of the votes yet to be counted – and that includes some 200,000 votes expected to come and be counted only on Wednesday.
Still, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT said last night it was 90% confident that the opposition would clinch the victory, even accounting for all the votes yet to be counted.
There is plenty of time for early exploratory talks: the parliament won’t meet until 28 September, when its due to elect a new speaker, and any votes on who could be the next prime minister can only come after that.
But the process of forming the new government could take weeks if not months leaving Sweden in a state of political limbo at a time of unprecedented geopolitical uncertainty in Europe.
No doubt first text messages, frantic WhatsApp or Signals, and phone calls are already exchanged today.
I will be here to cover all this drama for you.
It’s Monday, 14 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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