The red-green government looks set to retain power in Stockholm's municipal elections

The Social Democrats seem to have made their worst choice since the right to vote was introduced in Sweden. Even in the municipal elections in Stockholm, the preliminary figures are a gloomy story for the party. When 591 out of 612 electoral districts were counted in the capital, they have backed down by 3.1 percentage points. But thanks to the fact that the Left Party is at 14.3 percent and a marked lift for the Green Party to 11.2 percent, it looks like the red-green government will be able to retain power for another term.

- For the first time in over four decades, it looks like we Social Democrats have the voters' trust to lead the government in Stockholm for a second term, says city councilor Emilia Bjuggren (S).

How do you see S backing down significantly?

- In Stockholm, we are still well above our historical results. As I see it, the red-green side has been strengthened. Overall, voters reward a government that prioritizes welfare and the climate.

Emilia Bjuggren emphasizes that during the day she will contact her group leader colleagues to investigate the possibilities of forming a new majority board.

The Left Party has backed down by one percentage point. Group leader Alexandra Mattsson, however, wants to emphasize that they record their next best result ever in the city.

- The red-green ones are growing in relation to the others, so we are really very happy. We have knocked on over 100,000 doors in the outermost region and are making strong progress in Skärholmen and Järva. It feels great fun.

The election's big winner is the Green Party, which nearly doubles its support in Stockholm, and city councilor Lars Strömgren is jubilantly happy.

- Now we must form a government where the Green Party has as much influence as possible. Our assessment is that we have the best conditions to do so in a red-green majority, he says.

Even the Moderates have a strong tailwind. They now reverse a downward trend that has been going on for many years and record an increase of 4.1 percentage points. According to the preliminary figures, they are making their best choice since 2014.

- Columns have been written about the Moderates having big city problems and urban headaches. But we have shown that we are on the side of the people of Stockholm, and the people of Stockholm have responded by showing that they are on our side, says opposition councilor Christofer Fjellner (M).

He believes that the party's success can be explained by the fact that their election campaign was local.

- We have talked to Stockholmers in their everyday life about their everyday life. We have also been quite far from the political game in national politics, which can probably be perceived as quite rowdy.

Despite the Moderates' successes, this could end up with you sitting in the opposition. Does it feel bitter?

- You have to be careful about claiming victories in advance, but also losses. In a few hours I will have a first meeting with my friends in the alliance to see what we can do. I have the opinion that the government we have right now is the worst for Stockholm. Therefore, I will do everything in my power to ensure that we get some other form of government, says Christofer Fjellner.

The main topic of conversation during the election campaign has been the Liberals, who through a historic recovery managed to climb over the Riksdag barrier. In Stockholm, however, it has fallen back by 2.9 percentage points. Group leader Gulan Avci still thinks that the party has made a strong election campaign in the city of Stockholm.

- I am extremely proud of all our election workers who have fought all the way to the finish line. Now we will analyze the result. At the same time, we enter into negotiations with the ambition of achieving a blue-green government for Stockholm, she says.

The Sweden Democrats continue to have difficulty gaining a foothold in Stockholm and are now losing 0.7 percentage points, landing according to the preliminary result at 7.3 percent. Group leader Gabriel Kroon is disappointed, but believes that a good election campaign was made.

- We learn from this and work further, he says.