Tidö suffers Sweden’s first one-term government defeat in 32 years

Ulf Kristersson’s Tidö alliance has suffered Sweden’s first electoral defeat after a single term in government since 1994, ending a run in which each incoming governing side secured at least a second term.

Kristersson requested his resignation on 17 September, four years after taking office. His ministers now serve as a caretaker government while Sweden awaits a successor.

The last comparable defeat was Carl Bildt’s. His centre-right coalition governed from 1991 to 1994 before the Social Democrats returned to power under Ingvar Carlsson, according to the Riksdag’s records.

The Social Democrats then governed for 12 years, under Carlsson and Göran Persson. Fredrik Reinfeldt’s Alliance followed with eight years in office, from 2006 to 2014. Social Democratic-led governments under Stefan Löfven and Magdalena Andersson then served another eight years, until 2022.

The comparison counts a governing side’s continuous spell in power. Andersson had been prime minister for less than a year when she lost the 2022 election, but had taken over during the Social Democrats’ second consecutive term. Kristersson’s government remains responsible for running the country until a new administration takes office. In its caretaker role, it principally handles routine or urgent business and cannot call an extraordinary election.

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