Sweden’s left-wing coalition fails to form government, opening possibility for right wing to stay in charge

The left-wing coalition that squeaked out a victory in Sweden earlier this month has hit an impasse as the feuding member parties are unable to form a government.

Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson announced Monday that after multiple rounds of negotiations with fellow left-wing party leaders, she is convinced there is no immediate path forward. Her party, joined by the Center Party, Green Party, and the Left Party, won a narrow victory with 176 of the Swedish Parliament’s 349 seats.

“Based on the discussions I have had, I can conclude overall that there is currently no possibility for me to form a government,” she said.

Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson speaks during the Social Democrats’ election night watch party on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Stockholm. (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP)

The would-be prime minister is hampered by the Left and Center parties, who signaled their uncomfortable disagreements before the polls even opened.

The Center Party said it would not back a government that included the Left, per its mission statement of keeping both the left and right wings out of power. The Left, however, maintains that it will not back any government that does not give it its due representation among ministerial posts.

The Left seemed to fire a warning shot about its demands when it successfully backed the reelection of Moderate Party member Andreas Norlen as speaker of the Parliament, scorning the Social Democrats’ attempt to replace him with a friendlier candidate.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who has been heading a caretaker government since losing to Andersson’s coalition on Sept. 13, is now likely to be asked for his own attempt to form a government. His bloc lost to Andersson’s coalition by fewer than 50,000 votes.

Kristersson leads the Moderate Party and formed his own “Make Sweden Great Again” coalition with the Christian Democrats, the Liberals, and the hard-right Sweden Democrats.

The latter was once considered an unsavory, outsider party by the mainstream but had ballooned in support to be the largest force of the right wing and the nation’s second-largest party heading into the election. The results let the air out of that movement, however, as the Sweden Democrats sank in support behind the Moderate Party.

Policies against mass migration remain a unifying belief for the Swedish Right, and an area of overlap with the similarly anti-immigration Left Party.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson leaves the Sager House a day after the vote in a general election on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, in Stockholm. (Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via AP)

Kristersson is expected to make an appeal to the Centrists to build the necessary bloc for a functioning government, despite the fact that the party said it had no intention of backing anyone for prime minister besides Andersson.

If the caretaker prime minister cannot succeed, the process may shift back to Andersson, or the speaker of the Parliament could select a different candidate they believe has the potential to wrangle a working coalition.

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After four consecutive candidates fail to form a government, Swedish voters would be called back to the polls for another election in a bid to reshuffle the seats and find a solution.

Recent elections have resulted in negotiations to form a government that last weeks or even months. In 2018, a government was not formed until 134 days after voters cast their ballots.

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