Women abandoning Sweden’s centre-right coalition as gender voting gap hits record high

A record gender divide has emerged in Swedish voting intentions, with women increasingly turning away from the centre-right Tidö parties while men remain stable in their support, according to a new opinion poll by Verian for public broadcaster SVT.

The April survey shows 64 percent of women would now vote for the left-green bloc (Centre, Green, Social Democrat, and Left parties), the highest figure since the 2022 election. Among young women aged 18–29, more than two in three back the left-green alliance. Meanwhile, only 43 percent of men say they would vote for the same bloc.

Conversely, the Tidö coalition (Christian Democrats, Liberals, Moderates, and Sweden Democrats) holds 54 percent support among men but just 35 percent among women—a gap that has widened significantly in recent years.

Per Söderpalm, head of opinion research at Verian, noted that while the rightward shift among young men has slowed since 2022, the Tidö parties now draw their strongest support from men aged 50–64, where backing has grown markedly since late 2022.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson recently announced that the Sweden Democrats would join a Tidö-led government if the coalition wins the next election. However, Söderpalm cautioned it is too early to assess whether this move has further alienated female voters, stating that additional polling is needed to track shifts.

The divergence first became pronounced in the 2018 election, initially driven by men shifting right. Since then, the trend has solidified, with women increasingly favouring left-green policies while men—particularly in middle age—anchor the Tidö bloc’s base.