Kristersson pledges Sweden Democrats cabinet roles if right bloc wins September 13 election

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has pledged to bring the Sweden Democrats into any future right‑wing government, offering them significant influence if the bloc wins the general election on September 13.

Standing alongside Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson on April 1, Kristersson said the party would have “major policy influence and important ministerial posts in migration and integration.” The announcement resolves the last formal ambiguity within the four‑party right‑wing alliance of Kristersson’s Moderates, the Christian Democrats, the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats.

Since 2022, the three governing parties have depended on the Sweden Democrats for a parliamentary majority under the Tidö Agreement, named after the castle where it was negotiated. The Sweden Democrats—the far‑right party that emerged from the neo‑Nazi milieu of the 1980s—are the largest force on the Swedish right and the country’s second‑largest party overall, drawing their strongest support from smaller towns and rural regions.

If the Tidö parties secure a majority in September, the Sweden Democrats would move from external support to seats at the cabinet table. The shift was enabled by the Liberals abandoning their longstanding veto on the Sweden Democrats joining any cabinet that included the Liberals.

On March 13, the Liberals signed the “Sverigelöftet” (Sweden Pledge), a framework intended to stabilise cooperation with the Sweden Democrats and secure a continued right‑wing government. An emergency party congress on March 22 re‑elected Liberal leader Simona Mohamsson by 95 votes to 80 abstentions, formally affirming the new line but revealing serious internal disagreement.

Voters have not rewarded the move. By mid‑April, Liberal support had fallen to 2.2 percent—below the 4 percent threshold for parliamentary representation—according to an SVT/Verian poll. Across the bloc, support has slipped from roughly 49.5 percent at the 2022 election to 44.7 percent by early April.

Kristersson’s Moderates have dropped from 19.1 percent to 16.8 percent, while the Sweden Democrats have held steady at around 21 to 22 percent. The opposition bloc has opened a lead, polling at 53.4 percent against 44.7 percent, though the outcome in September remains unclear.

The pledge comes amid gains by far‑right parties across Europe and reflects the Sweden Democrats’ entrenched influence on national policy. That direction was underscored on April 16 when the government sent a youth‑offender bill to the Riksdag.

The proposal would temporarily lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 for the most serious crimes, cut sentencing discounts for minors, raise the maximum sentence for under‑18s to 18 years, and tighten youth supervision. If adopted, it would make Sweden an outlier in Europe and relative to most US states.

UNICEF recommends 14 as an absolute minimum for criminal responsibility. Demonstrators rallied in 10 cities on April 13 in opposition to the plan. With five months to go, the Tidö parties face a difficult path to a majority. Kristersson’s pre‑election commitment means that, if they prevail, the Sweden Democrats would enter government for the first time with influence over core portfolios, reshaping how the right governs in Sweden.