Photo via The Straits Times

Immigrants express relief after Sweden Democrats suffer election setback

Read the original at The Straits Times ↗
Cite

The Straits Times. (2026, September 14). Immigrants express relief after Sweden Democrats suffer election setback. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/immigrants-express-relief-after-sweden-democrats-suffer-election-setback

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Straits Times · collected 2026-09-14 · by The Straits Times

Quick Summary

On September 14, immigrants in Sweden expressed relief after the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats suffered a loss in parliamentary elections. The party saw their support drop to 17.6% from 20.6%, and lost more seats than any other party, contributing to a likely center-left majority government. In areas with large immigrant populations like Rinkeby, where they won nearly all the votes, residents celebrated the outcome as a step back for far-right policies.
Written by AI on 2026-09-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 13, 2026, Sweden held a closely contested general election with over 8 million registered voters out of a population of about 10.6 million, voting to decide the country's next government. The main battle was between Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s center-right coalition and the opposition led by Magdalena Andersson from the Social Democrats. Initial results showed a narrow lead for the left-wing bloc, but with counting ongoing until Wednesday to include late-arriving votes, the final outcome remained uncertain.

If the center-right wins, it could bring the Sweden Democrats into government for the first time, raising concerns about potential policy shifts and impacts on civil liberties. The opposition, however, holds a slim lead as of Monday morning with approximately 20,000 vote advantage over the incumbent coalition in preliminary counts.

With each side needing to make significant concessions to form a majority, Sweden may face prolonged negotiations similar to or even longer than its previous record of 37 days after the 2022 election. Political analysts suggest this could lead to weeks of talks and potentially a snap election if consensus is not reached quickly on forming a new government.

Written for “Sweden Election Results” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 23 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Sweden Election Results
Politics · 24 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Swedish PM Kristersson seeks new term and backing for partnership with far right Different event
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different events - one is about PM Kristersson seeking support for his partnership with the far-right, while the other reports on the election setback suffered by the Sweden Democrats.”
Sweden, NATO’s newest member, is holding an election. Here’s what is at stake Different event
The Independent
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 3 of 32 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A describes the upcoming election in Sweden before it happened, while Article B reports on the results of the actual election that took place after its occurrence.”
Preliminary results suggest a 3-seat majority for opposition as tight Swedish election ends Same event
CBC News
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 4 of 23 claims Outlet record 60/100
Sweden's center left looks set to win in tight election race Same event
Semafor
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 60/100
Sweden faces political uncertainty as election deals far-right a blow Same event
CBS News
Hedges 4 of 29 claims Outlet record 66/100
Swedish Left projected for narrow victory in national elections, but pathway to governing coalition unclear Same event
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 3 of 33 claims Outlet record 70/100
Sweden election is too close to call as far right loses ground Same event
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 4 of 18 claims Outlet record 60/100
Sweden prime minister to resign as left-wing bloc seals narrow election win Different event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 19 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different phases of the same election, not a single specific incident.”
Sweden swings back left, bucking a far right march in Europe Same event
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left further right than this Hedges 6 of 28 claims Outlet record 68/100
Sweden’s left-wing opposition leader begins efforts to form government Different event
Al Jazeera
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A describes the outcome of the Swedish parliamentary election, while Article B reports on the beginning of efforts by the opposition leader to form a government following the election result.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
68/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
24
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 3966 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)
2026-10-21
X Community Notes ‘failed’ to flag US election falsehoods, study says
2026-10-04
Tennessee prison chief resigns after failed execution
2026-10-03
US prison chief resigns after failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike
2026-09-13
Russia hits Ukrainian-Polish border area, Kyiv says

Who wrote this

The Straits Times
2446 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 New York state police will take over future sexual assault investigations at Cornell University, Governor Kathy Hochul said on Oct 29, in the latest fallout over the university’s handling of an alleged gang-rape on campus.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · New York state police to take over sexual assault complaints at Cornell
🔮 How Trump could interfere in US midterm elections AI generated WASHINGTON –
2026-10-30 · mixed framing · How Trump could interfere in US midterm elections
🔮 Final vote results in Israel set up weeks of uncertainty about who will govern Leo Sands, Johnatan Reiss and Ephrat Livni AI
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Final vote results in Israel set up weeks of uncertainty about who will govern
🔮 Some Republican voters also “might be so demoralised, they won’t show up”, La Raja added.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · US Democrats push anti-corruption message in midterm homestretch
🔮 The demands are part of a nationwide effort by the Trump administration to identify cases of voter fraud, raising concerns among Democrats and other critics that Trump could use the issue to sow doubt about the results of the election, which will determine control of Congress.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Trump Justice Department issues subpoenas in California non-citizen voting probe
🔮 The results from the Central Elections Committee also confirmed a dramatic breakthrough by Arab groupings Raam and the United Arab List, which together won 19 seats and could emerge as kingmakers in coalition talks.
2026-10-30 · mixed framing · Netanyahu bloc finishes in lead but short of majority: Official results
🔮 But when these milestones do not apply, it might be a sign of falling further behind.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Why the US economy looks strong but feels bad to many
🔮 Oct 29 - New York state police will take over future sexual assault investigations at Cornell University, Governor Kathy Hochul said on Thursday, in the latest fallout over the university's handling of an alleged gang-rape on campus.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · New York state police to take over sexual assault complaints at Cornell
🔮 The demands are part of a nationwide effort by the Trump administration to identify cases of voter fraud, raising concerns among Democrats and other critics that Trump could use the issue to sow doubt about the results of the election, which will determine control of Congress. "
2026-10-30 · mixed framing · Trump DOJ issues subpoenas in California noncitizen voting probe, escalating pressure campaign
🔮 President Donald Trump on Oct 29 cancelled planned weekend campaign stops in Kansas and Iowa, and his allies said he would instead phone in to rallies nationwide after four weeks of travel to boost Republicans’ election chances.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Trump cancels weekend rallies, plans to phone in to other midterm campaign events
Also by The Straits Times
Final vote results in Israel set up weeks of uncertainty about who will govern
2026-10-30 · The Straits Times
How Trump could interfere in US midterm elections
2026-10-30 · The Straits Times
US Democrats push anti-corruption message in midterm homestretch
2026-10-30 · The Straits Times
New York state police to take over sexual assault complaints at Cornell
2026-10-30 · The Straits Times
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 2446 articles by The Straits Times →

Topics

STOCKHOLM Sweden Sweden Democrat Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats

Subjects

Sweden GPE · 6× The Sweden Democrats ORG · 4× Sweden Democrats NORP · 3× Reuters ORG · 2× STOCKHOLM GPE · 2× Sweden Democrat GPE · 2× Islamic NORP · 1× Kahin Ahmed PERSON · 1× Rinkeby GPE · 1× Somalia GPE · 1×

Narrative

Immigrants express relief after Sweden Democrats suffer election setback STOCKHOLM, Sept 14 - Immigrants in Sweden expressed relief on Monday after voters dealt the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, whose rise helped drive the country's politics sharply to the right on immigration, their first setback in a parliamentary election. After a nail-biting election night on Sunday, the centre-left looked likely to secure a slim majority in parliament.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-14
🔮 The Sweden Democrats lost more seats than any other party and looked set to win 17.6% of the vote, down three percentage points from four years ago.
2026-09-14 · The Straits Times
Immigrants express relief after Sweden Democrats suffer election setback · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

Immigrants express relief after Sweden Democrats suffer election setback STOCKHOLM, Sept 14 - Immigrants in Sweden expressed relief on Monday after voters dealt the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, whose rise helped drive the country's politics sharply to the right on immigration, their first setback in a parliamentary election. After a nail-biting election night on Sunday, the centre-left looked likely to secure a slim majority in parliament. asserted
left → express → parliament
The Sweden Democrats lost more seats than any other party and looked set to win 17.6% of the vote, down three percentage points from four years ago. asserted
Democrats → lose → vote
In Rinkeby, one of Stockholm's suburbs with a large immigrant population, the centre-left bloc won 94% of the votes. asserted
bloc → win → votes
One resident, 59-year-old sociologist Kahin Ahmed, who is originally from Somalia, welcomed the result. asserted
who → welcome → result
"It's a huge relief," he said. asserted
he → say → ?
"I think people in the suburbs turned out to vote in large numbers because they were afraid the Sweden Democrats would make things worse." asserted
things → think → numbers
The Sweden Democrats, who in parliament have lent support to the right-wing minority government for the past four years while remaining outside the cabinet, in part campaigned on sending home larger numbers of immigrants and ending multiculturalism, with proposals such as a ban on traditional Islamic dress for women in public. asserted
who → lend → public
Sweden Democrat leaders blamed the loss on tactical voting for other right-wing parties and said that they had been punished for propping up the government for four years. asserted
they → blame → years
"That was always a risk," Richard Jomshof, a Sweden Democrat member of parliament, told Reuters. asserted
Jomshof → tell → Reuters
It hurts like hell, but it's just part of reality that we, too, can lose votes," he said. asserted
he → hurt → votes
Silvia Kakembo, founder of the Integration Bureau, a non-partisan organisation that promotes integration, said the Sweden Democrats' efforts to expel immigrants and their proposal to withdraw already granted residence permits had gone too far, helping mobilise some voters against them. asserted
efforts → promote → them
"I interpret this to mean that many people have considered this election important, maybe even existential," she said. asserted
she → mean → ?
The Sweden Democrats had grown steadily over decades, entering parliament for the first time in 2010 as voters balked at soaring levels of immigration. asserted
voters → grow → immigration
About 2.5 million people have immigrated to Sweden in the last 25 years. asserted
people → immigrate → years
Across town, in the suburb of Skarholmen, Celil Tamturk, 59, originally from Turkey, said he was very happy about the tentative result and that he had been put off by Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson's comments on Islam and immigrants. asserted
he → say → Islam
"If there were no immigrants here, after two days not working, what would happen? asserted
what → be → days
In schools, in healthcare, in the subway, there are immigrants everywhere," he said. asserted
he → be → subway
"Sweden would stop immediately." Left-leaning parties that back the Social Democrats' leader Magdalena Andersson were projected to win 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament while Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's bloc was seen winning 173 seats, the election authority said. asserted
authority → stop → seats
Rau Amen, 70, who came from Iraq 44 years ago, said he was afraid that the Sweden Democrats were trying to create an "us versus them" mentality within the country. asserted
Democrats → come → country
"That is absolutely not what I want. asserted
I → want → what
Sweden has been fantastic so far, and I love Sweden. asserted
I → love → Sweden
I want things to be the way they used to be," he said. asserted
he → want → ?
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 30 Oct 2026