Final vote count complete
The final vote count for the recent Swedish election is complete. Just over a third of the elected Members of Parliament are new.
There will be many new faces during the upcoming parliamentary term, including eight individuals who succeeded in winning a seat in parliament by garnering enough preferential votes to overtake candidates ranked higher on their party lists.
Two Christian Democrat ministers and several other prominent figures failed to secure enough votes.
The proportion of women in parliament has risen slightly, though men remain in the majority, according to figures compiled by Swedish newswire TT.
After the election, men hold the majority in the Swedish parliament with 187 members, representing 53.6 percent of the total. There are 162 female members, accounting for 46.4 percent—an increase of one woman.
Since the unicameral parliament was introduced in 1971, the proportion of women has risen from 14 percent to nearly half.
The chamber's oldest member, Social Democrat Ewa Pihl Krabbe, is 78 years old. The second oldest is Lars Leijonborg of the Liberals, at 76. The youngest member is Hanna Lindqvist of the Green Party, aged 22.
The median age stood at 47 on election day, remaining unchanged from the 2022 election.
Swedish vocabulary: oldest – äldsta
New CEO for Volvo Cars
Klaus Zellmer has been appointed President and CEO of Volvo Cars, the company has announced in a press release. He will assume the role by October 1st, 2027.
Zellmer joins from his current position as CEO of Skoda.
"Klaus Zellmer combines deep expertise in the automotive industry with extensive international leadership experience," Eric Li, Chairman of Volvo Cars, wrote in a statement.
Zellmer, 59, previously served on the management board of Volkswagen Passenger Cars and held several senior positions at Porsche.
Current CEO Håkan Samuelsson recently announced that he would step down when his contract expires this spring.
"I expect to remain until my contract expires in April," Samuelsson told TT.
Håkan Samuelsson has led Volvo during two periods: first from 2012 to 2022, and a second time starting in April 2025.
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This past summer, Volvo Cars reported unexpectedly low results for the second quarter. Revenue fell to SEK 77.7 billion from SEK 93.5 billion a year earlier, and the stock has dropped more than 45 percent so far in 2026.
Samuelsson has attributed the negative performance to external factors in the Chinese market.
Swedish vocabulary: automotive industry – fordonsbranschen
Threatened Arctic fox population on the rise
The Arctic fox population in the Nordic region is slowly recovering.
In less than 30 years, the number of individuals across Sweden, Norway, and Finland has risen from between 40 and 60 to between 400 and 500 today, SVT Jämtland has reported.
The Arctic fox has been a protected species in Sweden since 1928. At the turn of the millennium, the Fennoscandian Arctic fox population was on the brink of extinction.
Several conservation measures were implemented to save the species: the "Felles Fjellrev" project has involved supplementary feeding of the foxes, vaccinating pups in Norway, and culling the competing red fox.
Climate change is considered the most serious threat to the Arctic fox. One consequence of climate change is that the red fox has moved northward into areas where it is not normally found, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The red fox is nearly twice the size of the Arctic fox and is known to kill them.
Swedish vocabulary: the Artctic fox – fjällräven
Estrogen patches stuck in warehouses as shortage continues
Thousands of foreign estrogen patches—available only via special license—are stuck in Swedish warehouses, despite an acute shortage at pharmacies that has persisted for years.
The reason has to do with complex marketing regulations, a fact first reported by the publication Läkemedelsvärlden.
The pharmaceutical company AtrimusRx, for example, holds several thousand hormone patches in Sweden that could be prescribed under a special permit known as "license prescribing."
However, the company is prohibited from informing doctors and pharmacies about the products' availability. Under the rules, any information provided by the company must not aim to increase the use or prescription of the drug.
"This is a dilemma, and we are currently reviewing how we can clarify the rules," said Tina Crafoord, a director at the Swedish Medical Products Agency.
Crafoord believes that, fundamentally, a law prohibiting the marketing of non-approved drugs in Sweden is a good thing. In this instance, however, it is creating obstacles for everyone involved.
"We are in discussions with the industry regarding what is permitted and what is not, and we are informing prescribers on how to check stock levels. Increasing the availability of patches is a top priority," she said, although she cannot say when the work to clarify the regulations will be completed.
"We are due to report to the government by the end of October, though not every detail will be fully resolved by then. However, we are working at full speed," she said.
The shortage of oestrogen patches specifically is likely to persist for some time.
"We have moved past the worst of the slump regarding patches. Availability is good for oestrogen gels and tablets. Sprays have also become easier to obtain," said Crafoord.
Swedish vocabulary: the shortage – bristen
Swedish state’s responsibility for the climate to be tested in court
The Swedish state is exacerbating the climate crisis to such an extent that it threatens the lives and health of young people, according to the youth-led organisation Aurora.
The organisation filed a lawsuit against the state in February, and the issue is set to soon be addressed in a Swedish district court.
Aurora had previously sued the state via a class-action-style suit in 2022, but the Supreme Court ruled that the case could not be heard in a Swedish court—partly because the action had been initiated by individuals.
However, the Supreme Court left the door open for a case brought by an association or organisation. Aurora subsequently took over the legal action from the young people who had originally sued the state, in order to pursue the case further.
In July, the Chancellor of Justice announced that the matter could be heard by the Stockholm District Court.
Swedish vocabulary: climate responsibility – klimatansvar