Sweden’s Centre Party (C) is reportedly preparing to back caretaker Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s centre-right government, potentially ending a two-month political deadlock and denying the Left bloc the chance to form a government despite its narrow September election victory.
The breakthrough follows hard-right Sweden Democrats (SD) leader Jimmie Åkesson’s decision to sacrifice his party’s historic cabinet ambitions to prevent the far-left Left Party (V) from entering government after an election decided by the immigrant vote.
According to Swedish daily Aftonbladet, Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist has privately decided to pursue a revival of the old centre-right Alliance with Kristersson’s Moderates (M), Christian Democrats (KD) and Liberals (L). Party secretary-general Hannes Hervieu reportedly supports the move, although significant opposition remains within C.
On Sunday, 15 November, the leadership convened emergency consultations with regional organizations, the parliamentary group and the party executive. One party source described Ringqvist’s manoeuvre as an attempted ‘coup’.
The shift would represent a significant reversal for C, which had repeatedly ruled out supporting a government dependent on SD. However, Åkesson dramatically changed the political equation on 6 November by abandoning his demand for ministerial positions, despite previously insisting that SD would either enter government or move into opposition.
Instead, Åkesson offered to tolerate a centre-right minority government while remaining in opposition, arguing that Kristersson could better preserve the immigration, domestic security, criminal justice and other reforms introduced under the outgoing anti-immigration Tidö coalition. The concession effectively removed a major obstacle to C joining the centre-right alliance.
September’s election gave the Social Democrats (S), Left Party (V), Greens (MP) and Centre Party 176 seats against 173 for the outgoing Tidö bloc. A prospective M–KD–L–C government would control only 136 seats, but SD’s 62 MPs could abstain during the prime-ministerial vote, preventing the remaining opposition parties from reaching the 175 votes required to reject Kristersson.
The reversal is particularly striking given the decisive role immigrant-heavy districts played in the razor-thin victory of the Left bloc. As Hungarian Conservative previously reported, preliminary exit polling showed voters of non-European background favouring the left by a staggering 70–27 per cent. In several immigrant-heavy districts, left-wing support exceeded 90 per cent, while Reuters identified some 73,000 additional opposition votes across 786 such districts compared with 2022. The results echoed Åkesson’s warning before the election that S and V had accumulated political power through Muslim immigration and had campaigned heavily on Muslim mobilization.
Yet the left’s parliamentary advantage has proved insufficient to secure governmental power. Andersson’s coalition negotiations collapsed over V’s insistence on securing ministerial positions, which C categorically opposes. Unlike Åkesson, V has refused to sacrifice its ambitions to facilitate a government led by the Social Democrats.
The prospect of Kristersson remaining in office has triggered fierce criticism from S. Senior politician Annika Strandhäll accused C of abandoning its commitments, while there are already threats of a coordinated S–V–MP opposition to the budget designed to expose the new government’s dependence on the hard right.
The Centre Party is expected to announce its decision on Monday, while Kristersson is due to report to the parliamentary Speaker on Tuesday.