Over a hundred readers responded to our voting survey and the results are a mix of the expected and the surprising, especially when compared with how the electorate voted overall.
The party most Local readers voted for was the Social Democrats, putting them right in line with the rest of the electorate – so close, in fact, that the percentage of vote share was almost identical, at just over 28 percent.
For most of the rest of the parties, however, reader respondents to our survey veered off from the overall electorate in Sweden, sometimes quite far off.
The most striking example is probably support for the Green Party, which among survey respondents was inching towards 27 percent, nearly on par with the leading Social Democrats, but which scraped a pretty measly 6.12 percent in the election overall (putting them not far above last-place Liberals, with 5.34 percent of the overall vote).
The Left Party also did quite well among readers compared to the electorate overall, receiving 17 percent from readers and 8.4 overall.
The Moderates had almost an inverse result: just 7.6 percent of our readers said they voted Moderate, as opposed to nearly 20 percent of the total electorate.
Like the other parties which were in opposition during Tidö's time in government, the Centre Party over-performed the general electorate with our readers, but not as dramatically: 10.5 percent of respondents to our survey said the voted Centre compared to 7 percent overall.
With two exceptions, all respondents said they had immigrated to Sweden at some point from another country.
So, why did readers vote the way they did?
There was a diversity of answers, but some clear patterns as well. We'll break them down for you by party, starting from the most popular party among respondents to the least.
Why did readers vote Social Democrat?
The two main reasons respondents voted Social Democrat were: they think it's a well-balanced and reasonable party, and they felt it was the main way to oppose the Tidö government.
"[It is] a party that is relatively balanced on most topics," wrote Seyi, a senior banker originally from Nigeria and now based in Stockholm.
"Although leaning right in immigration they have taken what I think is common sense and not caused division or targeted a particular group," he continued. "Also I think their policies on economics and taxes are usually well balanced. Plus they promised to reform the immigration laws as a whole to make it easier to understand."
An anonymous reader identifying as a centrist had similar comments: "I didn’t want the Tidö parties in government, so as a centrist, I felt I had two options: the Social Democrats or the Centre Party. I chose the Social Democrats because they have more support," they wrote.
A British remote tech worker based in Västernorrland summed up this view, describing the Social Democrats as, "broadly a safe choice, mainly a tactical vote to offset Tidö parties."
Some Social Democrat voter respondents also cited the leadership qualities of Magdalena Andersson as their reason for voting for the party, and others the positive role they felt it played in Sweden in the past.
"I listened to Magda’s debates and while I don’t agree completely with the economic policies of the social democrats I think she has what it takes to take the country out of the situation we are in because of the Sweden Democrats and the poor Moderate leadership," wrote a software engineer in Jönköping who wanted to remain anonymous.
"They were the leading party when I liked Sweden," wrote a reader who also wanted to remain anonymous.
Why did readers vote Green?
Unsurprisingly, many readers chose to vote for the Green Party because of their focus on climate issues.
"Because I care for the world we’ll leave behind," wrote a reader in Malmö who has been in Sweden for 12 years.
"I’m most concerned with environmental issues and how we are destroying our planet with climate breakdown well under way. For me the environmental is THE issue, an existential one," wrote Krystian Bellière, a British classical pianist and conductor working for the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.
On a similar note, a reader from Västra Götaland who asked to be anonymous wrote, "our planet is faced with an existential crisis and the Green Party's main focus is to address this," she continued. "The party also stands for the Swedish value that all people are of equal value and should not be marginalised or discriminated against. This resonates with my values."
"Given the Greens' alacrity to denounce a lot of the crazy things happening in immigration lately, I figured they deserved my support," wrote Clay, a music teacher in central Sweden, while a Stockholm-based scientist said simply:
"Their advocacy on immigration matters."
Another respondent said the Greens' stance on immigration moved his vote away from the Social Democrats:
"I initially wanted to vote for the Social Democrats, but their program on immigration was too vague. Also it was really painful to listen to the podcast episode with their spokesperson talking about concepts and ideas, virtually nothing concrete, almost one week before the elections. They have been around for ages and can't even put together a decent proposal," he wrote.
A few respondents made particular mention of how the party emerged as a leader in the parliamentary fight for transitional rules for Swedish citizenship.
"During the transition rules debacle in May, the Greens were the only party to vocally and unequivocally support transitional rules. So long as the government treats me, an immigrant, as a threat, then 'immigrant' will be my whole political identity," said Joseph, a Stockholm tech worker originally from the US.
This was echoed by Ahmed, a Sudanese software engineer, who said "their stance in the transitional rules issue and how hard they voted and tried to revote it," was what swayed him.
Why did readers vote Left?
Policies friendly to immigrants were also a main reason respondents voted for the Left Party, but voters who chose the Left Party were also swayed by that party's economic policy positions.
Casper, a British childcare worker in Malmö said he liked that the Left Party was "Opposed to profit-making schools [and] friendly to asylum seekers," while a retired citizen who has lived in Sweden for nearly forty years wrote:
"I believe in equal rights for all and we should definitely tax the billionaire class. Also because racism and fascism is on the rise and need to be fought."
Municipal issues also mattered for many respondents, including Kathleen, a university lecturer and first-time voter in Malmö.
"I fundamentally disagree with the changes made by the outgoing government on issues like immigration, crime and environment," she said. "At the city level, I really liked the Left Party's platform regarding housing, schools and transport. For me there was also an element of strategy about it to try and pull the left bloc more to the left than the centre."
Why did readers vote Centre?
Respondents who voted for the Centre Party cited their alignment with how that party combines right-leaning economic policy with more open immigration policy.
"I wanted a political party that still was on the left but had more centrist values," said Rajan Singh a Software Engineer from Gothenburg, while an anonymous respondent from Malmö said:
"Their promises seem more realistic and they don't target on a specific class by taxing heavily or group of people by removing some rights. I am on the side of socialism but also believe the companies should be supported. Heavy taxes cause entrepreneurs to move abroad."
Some readers specifically mentioned that they had shifted from the Moderates to the Centre Party because of the actions of the Tidö government on immigration.
"I align with centre-right parties and am the best match for the Moderates, but I cannot vote for them due to Johan Forssell’s parliamentary comments against transition rules. He claimed that 100,000 rapists are waiting for citizenship. I am one of those 100,000 applicants, and I am neither. I am a proud father, husband, honest taxpayer, and law-abiding resident," wrote Abhishek Mishra, a senior supply chain professional in consumer healthcare
Others expressed concern about the overall divisiveness in the political landscape and said they want to see a return to the centre.
Why did readers vote Moderate?
Respondents who voted Moderate cited law and order issues as most important in swaying their vote, along with lower taxes and reducing social benefits.
"I have experienced 40 years of socialism in France," wrote a French worker living in Sweden, "and we can all agree that it is not working in our open world. So Moderate proposals match my belief that people who are working and making an effort for society should be prioritised and we should stop assisting."
Another anonymous respondent said he didn't "believe in raising taxes to give away more benefits than currently are working," and that he supports "incentivising working."
A cybersecurity worker living Helsingborg wrote that a variety of Moderate policies had swayed his vote:
"Lower taxes, lower fuel prices, religious freedom and at the same time whoever commits a crime or break Swedish law must be punished. They also promised [improving] health care."
Why did readers vote Sweden Democrat?
Five respondents to our survey said they voted Sweden Democrat, all of them saying they were immigrants to Sweden. Given the Sweden Democrats' opposition to immigration, what did these respondents like about them?
"I voted for SD, because of all the parties available I genuinely wanted a party that makes decisions and implements them," wrote a Polish engineer living in Stockholm. "I got tired of the Social Democrats' agenda and fluff talk, their politics in no way reflected reality I was surrounded by."
"I was taught and I believe in hard work as well as order and following the rules....I cannot simply vote for parties that want to push more bidrag [benefits], that want to put higher taxes on everyone who earns more than the minimum wage (all this ISK taxing etc)...I also don't understand outrage that tighter immigration rules make lives worse – when I arrived to Sweden I diligently checked what is required to receive personnummer and then medborgarskap."
Alisha, a Mechanical Engineer from the US, wrote that "uncontrolled illegal immigration and taxes" had drawn her vote to the Sweden Democrats, while a retired Brit living in Dalsland wrote simply, "Make Sweden great again!"
Why did readers vote Christian Democrat or Liberal?
Six of the hundred plus respondents voted for these two parties, three for the Christian Democrats and three for the Liberals.
Christian Democrat voters all mentioned family or "Swedish Christian" values as a priority for them, and two of the three described overall aspects of the party's platform as swaying them.
"I voted for KD because their priorities felt closest to my own: keeping taxes and everyday costs down, affordable public transport, nuclear power, family values, and a stronger focus on safety and tackling crime, gangs and drugs," wrote an Indian electrical system lead engineer based in Stockholm, who voted locally. "I also support a stricter but reasonable migration policy, with more focus on integration and the people already living in Sweden."
He added that he supports the decision not to include transitional arrangements in the new citizenship law, even though he himself is in the queue and will be personally affected.
Liberal voters also mentioned liking many elements of the party platform.
Stuart, for example, who is a dual UK-Swedish citizen working for a financial data company in Stockholm, said his vote was swayed by the party's "liberal economic agenda (lower taxes + incentivized employment), nuclear as part of the green transition, strict regulations governing friskolor ("free schools") using a non-profit corporate model, a possible check on the Sweden Democrats"
Similarly, an Indian AI professional said that "lower crime, lower fuel prices, less inflation, no tax hikes, nuclear energy, low fuel prices, less religious fundamentalism and more integration, improved schooling system" were why he voted Liberal.
That reader added that he felt politics is currently too polarised.
"We need centrally grounded government and policies," he wrote.