From BBC News · · 1m 30s
Sweden's election ends in a near dead heat
Two blocs split by 20,000 votes, with the hard right's first slip since 2010 in the balance.
In brief
Two blocs split by 20,000 votes, with the hard right's first slip since 2010 in the balance. Sweden's next government hinges on a margin thin enough to flip overnight, and on whether the Sweden Democrats' decade of growth has finally stalled. Originally reported by BBC News.
Too close to call
With half the ballots counted, Sweden's two main blocs sat about 20,000 votes apart, public broadcaster SVT reported. No winner could be declared on Sunday night.
A one-seat projection
Sweden's election authority projected the left bloc under Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson taking a single-seat majority over Ulf Kristersson's four-party conservative coalition.
Cabinet seats on offer
Kristersson has governed with backing from the hard-right Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, and promised them cabinet posts if he keeps power.
The hard right slips
Partial results pointed to the Sweden Democrats losing support for the first time since they entered parliament in 2010, after years of rising on crime and immigration.
Andersson frames the choice
She told voters the election was about whether the Sweden Democrats would dominate a government for the first time, or whether she would lead one built on co-operation.
“Should we have a government entirely dominated by the Sweden Democrats, something that has never happened in Sweden before?”
What the campaign ran on
National security, gang crime and welfare spending set the terms. Kristersson said there was real enthusiasm for his alliance finishing its work; Andersson urged supporters to wait for the final count.
“I think there is a genuine enthusiasm for us being able to continue our important work”
The headline
Sweden's next government hinges on a margin thin enough to flip overnight, and on whether the Sweden Democrats' decade of growth has finally stalled.
