Ulf Kristersson has resigned as Sweden’s prime minister after the vote count confirmed that the four red-green parties won a narrow parliamentary majority in Sunday’s election. The Moderate Party (Moderaterna) leader submitted his resignation to Speaker of the Riksdag Andreas Norlén on Thursday, allowing the process of forming a new government to begin immediately.
With all electoral districts now counted, the four parties backing Magdalena Andersson have 176 seats, compared with 173 for the Tidö parties. According to SVT, the two sides are separated by 50,359 votes. The result is still formally preliminary (99% counted) while the county administrative boards complete the final count, but the parliamentary balance is now considered settled.
Kristersson asked to be relieved of his duties
Kristersson announced his decision shortly after the remaining districts had been counted.
In a letter to Speaker Andreas Norlén, he said the election result had created difficult conditions for the next government because the parties’ positions before election day could stand in the way of several possible coalitions.
He argued that parliament would now need “constructive openness” if Sweden is to find a prime minister who can be tolerated by the Riksdag and a government capable of securing support for its budget.
“For that work to begin immediately, I hereby request to be relieved of my duties as prime minister.”
Kristersson added that it is now the Speaker who must lead the next steps towards forming a new government.
The government will remain in office as a caretaker
Kristersson’s resignation does not mean that Sweden is immediately without a government.
Under the Swedish constitutional process, when a prime minister resigns, the entire government resigns with them. The ministers nevertheless remain in their positions as a caretaker government until a new cabinet formally takes office.
This is the same process that followed the 2022 election. Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokraterna) leader Magdalena Andersson resigned as prime minister after the centre-right parties won that election, while her government remained in a caretaker capacity until Kristersson took office in October.
Four years later, the roles have been reversed.
The Speaker can now begin the search for a new prime minister
Kristersson’s decision means Norlén can immediately start consultations on the formation of a new government.
The Riksdag’s rules for the 2026 post-election process provide that when the sitting prime minister resigns, the Speaker begins talks with the parliamentary parties and works towards identifying a candidate who can be tolerated by the Riksdag.
The new Riksdag will meet on 28 September, when it will also elect a Speaker for the new parliamentary term. If a new Speaker is chosen, that person will take over the government-formation process.
Sweden uses negative parliamentarism. A candidate does not need 175 MPs to vote in favour. Instead, the proposal succeeds unless 175 or more of the 349 members vote against.
Andersson has already started bringing the red-green parties together
Kristersson’s resignation came on the same day that Andersson invited the leaders of the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet), Centre Party (Centerpartiet) and Green Party (Miljöpartiet) to talks about forming a government.
The invitation represents the first attempt to bring the four parties behind the 176-seat majority around the same table.
The difficult question remains what that government could look like. The Centre Party has opposed giving the Left Party cabinet positions, while the Left Party has argued that it should be represented in an Andersson-led government rather than merely supporting one from outside.
The Green Party has said that all four parties will be needed and that the disagreements between the Centre and Left parties should be resolved through negotiations.
Kristersson himself referred to those competing pre-election positions in his resignation letter, warning that they could make the coming government formation complicated.
Sweden has changed prime ministerial initiative
Kristersson’s resignation settles one of the immediate questions left open after election night.
He had initially declined to concede while the remaining votes were still being counted, arguing that the Election Authority should be allowed to complete its work. Once the parliamentary balance became clear on Thursday, he chose not to wait for a compulsory confidence vote in the new Riksdag.
The initiative now moves formally to the Speaker and politically to Andersson.
A 176-173 majority gives the four red-green parties enough seats to replace the Tidö government, but it does not automatically give them an agreement on how to govern. The next phase of Sweden’s election will therefore no longer be about counting votes, but about determining whether Andersson can turn those 176 seats into a government that the Riksdag can tolerate.
