Centre-left opposition bloc leads in Swedish vote, poll shows
Al Jazeera
β’Sun, 13 Sep 2026 19:25:59 +0000
π° What Happened
Sweden held its general election on Sunday, with voting ending at 18:00 GMT. An exit poll by public broadcaster SVT put the centre-left opposition on 51.3 percent and the right-wing bloc on 46.8 percent. A second poll by TV4 also showed the centre-left ahead. Officials began counting votes straight away, with early results expected within hours.
π The Backstory
Swedish exit polls have been wrong before. In 2022, a poll pointed to a win for Magdalena Andersson's centre-left bloc, but a right-wing coalition led by Ulf Kristersson won instead. His four-party alliance includes the nationalist Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the neo-Nazi movement. Earlier this year the left led by about 10 points. By the last weeks of the campaign that lead had shrunk to two or three points.
π― Why It Matters
A win for the left would cheer left-leaning parties across Europe, where the far right has been gaining ground. But if the exit polls are wrong, the far-right Sweden Democrats could enter government for the first time.
Sweden held its general election on Sunday, with voting ending at 18:00 GMT. An exit poll by public broadcaster SVT put the centre-left opposition on 51.3 percent and the right-wing bloc on 46.8 percent. A second poll by TV4 also showed the centre-left ahead. Officials began counting votes straight away, with early results expected within hours.
Swedish exit polls have been wrong before. In 2022, a poll pointed to a win for Magdalena Andersson's centre-left bloc, but a right-wing coalition led by Ulf Kristersson won instead. His four-party alliance includes the nationalist Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the neo-Nazi movement. Earlier this year the left led by about 10 points. By the last weeks of the campaign that lead had shrunk to two or three points.
A win for the left would cheer left-leaning parties across Europe, where the far right has been gaining ground. But if the exit polls are wrong, the far-right Sweden Democrats could enter government for the first time.