2006 Swedish general election

2006 Swedish general election

← 2002 17 September 2006 2010 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 349 seats in the Riksdag 175 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Göran Persson Fredrik Reinfeldt Maud Olofsson Party Social Democrats Moderate Centre Alliance The Alliance (Sweden) The Alliance Last election 144 55 22 Seats won 130 97 29 Seat change 14 42 7 Popular vote 1,942,625 1,456,014 437,389 Percentage 34.99% 26.23% 7.88% Swing 4.86pp 10.97pp 1.69pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Lars Leijonborg Göran Hägglund Lars Ohly Party Liberals Christian Democrats Left Alliance The Alliance The Alliance Last election 48 33 30 Seats won 28 24 22 Seat change 20 9 8 Popular vote 418,395 365,998 324,722 Percentage 7.54% 6.59% 5.85% Swing 5.85pp 2.56pp 2.54pp   Seventh party   Leader Peter Eriksson Maria Wetterstrand Party Green Last election 17 Seats won 19 Seat change 2 Popular vote 291,121 Percentage 5.24% Swing 0.59pp
Largest party within each constituency and municipality Distribution of constituency and levelling seats and largest political bloc within each constituency
Prime Minister before election Göran Persson Social Democrats Elected Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt Moderate

Politics of Sweden
Basic Laws Instrument of Government Act of Succession Freedom of the Press Act Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression
Monarchy King (list): Carl XVI Gustaf Crown Princess: Victoria Royal family Royal Court Marshal of the Realm: Fredrik Wersäll
Executive Government: Kristersson cabinet Prime Minister (list): Ulf Kristersson Deputy Prime Minister: Ebba Busch Government offices Ministries Government agencies
Legislature Riksdag Speaker: Andreas Norlén Deputy Speakers 1st — Åsa Lindestam 2nd — Lotta Johnsson Fornarve 3rd — Kerstin Lundgren Membership Current members National apportionment Committees War Delegation
Judiciary Supreme Court Courts of appeal District courts Supreme Administrative Court Administrative courts of appeal Administrative courts Council on Legislation Judicial review
Elections Political parties Recent elections General: 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 European: 2009 2014 2019 2024 Local: 2014 2018 Referendums
Administrative divisions Counties County administrative boards Regional councils Municipalities
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Tobias Billström Diplomatic missions of / in Sweden Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Sweden–NATO relations China–Sweden relations Denmark–Sweden relations Finland–Sweden relations France–Sweden relations Germany–Sweden relations Italy–Sweden relations Norway–Sweden relations Russia–Sweden relations Sweden–Turkey relations Sweden–United Kingdom relations Sweden–United States relations Politics of the European Union
Related topics Sámi Parliament Armed Forces Police Authority
Sweden portal Other countries
v t e

General elections were held in Sweden on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Riksdag, the Swedish national legislature. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 fixed seats in 29 constituencies and 39 adjustment seats, used to ensure that parties have representation in the Riksdag proportional to their share of the national vote. The electoral system used was semi-open list proportional representation using the Sainte-Laguë method of allocating seats. Elections for County and Municipal councils were also held on the same day.

Fredrik Reinfeldt from the Moderate Party was able to form a majority government together with the Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats following the election. The Social Democrats were ousted after twelve years in power. It was the country's first majority government since the second Fälldin cabinet fell in 1981.

Reinfeldt reached out to working-class votes in the re-branding as the 'New Moderates', which resulted in sizeable gains in historically left-wing locations in densely populated areas. As a result, several municipalities that had never voted blue before in Stockholm County flipped.^[1] This, combined with a landslide overall win in the capital region as a whole and strong showings in Scania tipped the balance in favour of the Alliance. The centre-right bloc also flipped the crucial populous municipalities Gothenburg, Linköping, Uppsala and Västerås.^[1]

The Social Democrats recorded around 35% of the overall support, which was the party's worst showing in the post-war era. Although the red-green parties received a higher proportion of the vote than in the 1991 hung parliament loss, the coalition fell short of a majority by seven seats, or two percentage points of the popular vote.^[1]

The Alliance did not reach 50% of the vote, courtesy of several minor parties gathering up 5.67% of the overall vote.^[1] This was the final election before the Sweden Democrats entered the Riksdag, with the party getting close to three percent of the vote, falling short by just above one percentage point. The election also saw the party get above 10% in Bjuv Municipality in its Scanian heartlands and above the parliamentary threshold in the country's five southernmost constituencies.^[1]