Sweden's right-wing government lags in poll, but gap narrows

STOCKHOLM, Aug 13 - Sweden's ruling right-wing coalition government is lagging centre-left opposition parties ahead of an election for parliament next month, but the gap between the two sides has narrowed since June, a new opinion poll showed.

The July 29 to August 10 survey, published by the daily Svenska Dagbladet, showed Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson may again become prime minister after four years in opposition, replacing Ulf Kristersson of the right-wing Moderates.

Swedes go to the polls on September 13 and the election campaign focuses on cost of living, security, immigration, crime and energy supply.

Support for the four opposition parties, of which Andersson's Social Democrats is the biggest by far, stood at 50.6%, up from the 48.9% they won in the 2022 election, according to the survey of 2,016 voters by pollster Demoskop.

The backing for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's governing bloc, including the closely aligned far-right Sweden Democrats, stood at 46.9%, down from the 49.6% they won in the last election four years ago.

In a blow to the government's chances of staying in power, junior coalition member the Liberals polled just 2.4%, well below the 4% threshold to win Riksdag seats.

Andersson's Social Democrats, Sweden's largest party, was set to win 30.2%, the poll showed, against 30.3% four years ago, while the Moderate Party could see a decline to 16.8% from 19.1% over the same period.

It remains unclear with which opposition parties Andersson would form a government, but a shift in power is likely to entail more welfare spending with no big changes on immigration, defence or support for Ukraine.

The Sweden Democrats, who plan to join the cabinet for the first time if the right-wing bloc wins, had 20.2% support, down from 20.5%. Its leader, Jimmie Akesson, has said his party aims to hold several major ministerial posts. REUTERS