Andersson says voters assumed she would be prime minister

Magdalena Andersson says many voters may have treated her return as prime minister as a foregone conclusion after the Social Democrats plunged 4.3 points in a poll that sharply narrowed the opposition’s lead.

Speaking to SVT on Wednesday afternoon, Andersson said many had “taken the election result for granted” by assuming she would become prime minister. “Here it becomes very clear: the election will be close,” she said.

The Novus survey put S at 25.8%, down from 30.1% in August. Novus says the fall is statistically significant and that S lost voters to every other parliamentary party, most heavily to the Centre Party. DailySweden reported the full result earlier on Wednesday.

The opposition bloc’s lead over the Tidö parties fell from 6.9 points to 2.6, which Novus says is within the statistical margin of error. The Liberals rose to 3.3%, but remain below the 4% parliamentary threshold.

Andersson warned that a right-bloc victory could produce a government with 12 to 14 Sweden Democrat ministers. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson rejected that prospect, telling SVT: “There will not be twelve SD ministers.”

Novus questioned 2,984 eligible voters from 24 to 30 August. The institute describes the poll as a snapshot of opinion, not an election forecast.

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