Far-Right Falls Short but Still Causes Political Deadlock in Sweden

Last week’s election in Sweden produced the expected deadlock, though gains by the far-right Sweden Democrats fell short of what many pollsters had been predicting.

With all the votes counted, the governing centre-left bloc of the Social Democrats, Green Party, and Left Party received 144 seats with 40.6% of the vote, down from their previous tally of 159 seats in the 2014 election. The centre-right bloc of the Moderates, Centre Party, Liberals, and Christian Democrats matched their previous total of 144 seats, taking 40.2% of the vote on Sunday.

The far-right Sweden Democrats received 17.6% of the vote, increasing their seats from 49 to 62. The result fell short of the 20-25% range that some pollsters had predicted in the lead-up to the election.