The exit poll for state broadcaster SVT gave 49.8 percent to the left bloc and 49.2 percent to the right shortly after polls closed on Sunday afternoon. The nationalist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats are predicted for the first time to be the second largest party, ahead of the main centre-right Moderates, in what would be a historic result for them after a decade of ostracism due to their neo-Nazi roots. “A stable, strong, decisive government is probably not expected [from the election] but not chaos either,” said Nicholas Aylott, senior lecturer at Södertörn University. He called the exit polls “historic” for the Sweden Democrats and said it would be an “absolute body blow” for moderates. An unusually tough campaign focused on gang crime and immigration after a record number of fatal shootings in troubled suburbs pushed Sweden to the top of such statistics in Europe. The winner of Sunday’s election is set to face an uphill task in forming a cohesive government as both main blocs suffer from infighting. Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats would have to reconcile the party’s former Communist Left with the liberal center-right, while on the right there is a wide ideological gap between the mainstream Liberals and the nationalist Sweden Democrats. The country’s politics have been chaotic since the Sweden Democrats came to parliament in 2010. The ruling Social Democrats have twice been forced to govern with right-wing opposition budgets while Andersson herself had to resign as prime minister after just seven hours in office, before re-elected a week later. Magdalena Andersson, prime minister and leader of the Social Democrats © Kay Nietfeld/dpa The nationalist party was long shunned by all other parties in parliament, but gained popularity with voters when immigration became more of an issue with the country receiving the most migrants per capita in the EU by 2015. Over the past four years the Sweden Democrats have been brought in from the cold by three centre-right parties. A new conservative bloc has formed with tough rhetoric on immigration and law and order. The Social Democrats campaigned less on issues and more on the image of Anderson, who became prime minister only in November and is by far the most popular politician in the country. Two of the biggest recent controversies – whether Sweden should join NATO and the country’s handling of Covid-19 – have just emerged in a campaign that has instead been colored by tough pledges on immigration and crime, as well as a sharp focus in the end in the sky- high electricity prices.
