Sweden’s Liberals improved their result in the parliamentary election but lost support in every regional election and in most municipalities, exposing a wide gap between the party’s national recovery and its position in local politics. Preliminary results give Liberalerna 5.4 percent in the Riksdag election, compared with 4.0 percent in municipal elections and just 3.3 percent across the regional contests.
The figures remain preliminary while counting continues after Sweden’s 13 September election. The Swedish Election Authority has said the final parliamentary result is expected during the weekend following election day.
Sweden’s Liberals lost support in every region
According to figures reported by Sweden Herald, based on preliminary counts, the Liberals recorded a decline compared with 2022 in all 20 regions for which results were reported.
The national regional vote is expected to settle at around 3.3 percent, and the result would be the party’s weakest regional performance across Sweden since 1973.
The Liberals are currently below the 3 percent regional threshold in 12 regions. Uppsala, Jönköping, Kronoberg and Värmland would join the regions where the party fails to cross the threshold.
Some of the largest declines came in Stockholm, where the Liberals received around 4.1 percent, down 1.9 percentage points, and Uppsala, where they fell to 2.7 percent, down 1.8 points. In Västra Götaland the party reached 3.3 percent, 1.5 points below its previous result.
Even where the Liberals remain comfortably represented, losses were common. In Skåne the party received 3.9 percent, down 1.3 percentage points, while Halland recorded 4.2 percent, down 0.8.
Regional councillor Amelie Tarschys Ingre said the Stockholm result was difficult to celebrate despite the party remaining above the threshold.
“It’s hard to be happy with a result when you’re going backwards. But I’m very happy that we’re still in parliament,” she told TT, according to Sweden Herald.
Most municipalities also moved away from the party
The same pattern is visible at municipal level. Preliminary figures indicate that the Liberals lost support in 215 municipalities, remained unchanged in 14 and increased in only 61.
One of the sharpest declines came in Vellinge, where the party lost around 5.6 percentage points but remained relatively strong with 11.4 percent of the vote.
The geographical weakness is particularly notable because it often occurred alongside gains for the Liberals in the national election. In 204 municipalities where the party lost votes locally, it simultaneously increased its support in the Riksdag election, according to Sweden Herald.
There were exceptions. The party recorded stronger local results in places including Ljusdal and Landskrona, traditionally one of its stronger municipalities.
Liberal Party Secretary Fredrik Brange said the results showed that the organisation needed to learn from municipalities where it had performed better.
“There are many examples where we have grown very strongly locally. There is certainly a lot to learn from those examples,” he said.
Brange added that the party still faced substantial organisational work, arguing that “a liberal party in Sweden should be at least 10 percent”.
The national election tells a different story
The contrast with the parliamentary result is substantial. Current figures compiled by SVT from Election Authority data put the Liberals at about 5.4 percent of the national vote, clearly above Sweden’s 4 percent parliamentary threshold.
In the 2022 election, the Liberals won 4.61 percent and 16 seats, according to the Swedish Election Authority. The preliminary 2026 result would therefore represent an increase of roughly 0.8 percentage points.
The recovery is particularly significant because the party spent much of the campaign close to or below the parliamentary threshold. Polling during the final weeks showed support beginning to rise, with evidence that some voters from other parties on the centre-right were moving towards the Liberals.
SVT reported during election night that part of the Liberal increase appeared to come from voters who had previously supported the Moderates, suggesting that tactical voting may have helped the party remain in the Riksdag.
For the Liberals, the election therefore produced two very different results. Nationally, the party appears to have secured another four years in parliament after months of uncertainty. Across Sweden’s regions and municipalities, however, its organisational and electoral base has continued to weaken.
The challenge for the party after the 2026 election will be whether the national recovery can be converted into stronger local support before the next electoral cycle.
