Sweden’s September 13 parliamentary election produced a narrow centre-left majority of 176 seats against 173 for the outgoing right-wing bloc, prompting Ulf Kristersson to step down and initiating prolonged government formation talks. Magdalena Andersson, leader of the largest party, received the initial mandate but could not reconcile demands from the Left Party for cabinet inclusion with the Centre Party’s refusal to tolerate such participation, leading to her second exploratory failure and a decisive parliamentary rejection on October 15. Speaker Andreas Norlén is expected to next task Kristersson, whose personal trust ratings have risen sharply in recent Novus polling while Andersson’s have dropped. Traders nonetheless price Andersson highest, reflecting the Social Democrats’ seat advantage and the structural difficulty of assembling an alternative coalition that satisfies all four opposition parties without triggering further votes or a snap election.