Sweden's Centre-left leader Magdalena Andersson fails to form government

Sweden's Social Democratic Leader Magdalena Andersson announced on Tuesday that she has so far failed to form a government, following a September election. The centre-left alliance won by a razor-thin margin of 176 seats to ‌173 for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing coalition. However, according to reports from The Local Sweden, there are disagreements over the composition of the government.

"My overall assessment is that progress has been made, but at the same time, the conditions are currently not in place to form a government that can be tolerated by the parliament," Andersson told a press conference.

The Left Party wants a place in the Social Democrat-led cabinet as a non-negotiable requirement for their parliamentary support. However, the Centre Party refuses to cooperate with or support any government that includes the Left Party. Tension flared on September 28, when the Left Party voted alongside the right-wing party to reelect Andreas Norlén of the conservative Moderate Party as parliamentary speaker.

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Almost a month after the election, no prime ministerial candidate has been brought to the floor of parliament. Andersson received her first mandate to explore the possibilities for forming a government from the Parliamentary speaker, Andreas Norlén, on September 18, but returned it to the parliamentary speaker on September 28. He then handed her a second exploratory mandate on 2 October 2026, which she reported as having failed today, 13 October 2026.

“The process hasn’t advanced far enough,” Andersson said. “I haven’t secured an agreement with other parties.”

Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen said he will still schedule a vote on Thursday on whether Andersson can form a government. She believes that she will fail a vote; however, there is little indication that Kristersson of the right-wingModerates would be able to secure a majority. Kristersson would need to convince an opposition party to support him or at least not vote against him. In Sweden, there are four attempts to select a prime ministerial candidate for parliament to approve; if they fail, there will be snap elections.