Left Party targets Social Democrats to halt voter losses

The Left Party lost voter support in 277 of Sweden’s 290 municipalities in the last election and must win back voters from the Social Democrats to reverse the trend, SVT election reporter Fouad Youcefi says.

The party suffered particularly heavy losses in northern Sweden in the 2022 parliamentary election. In Umeå, it fell from being the second-largest party in the area to the fourth-largest, while in Robertsfors its level of voter support was almost cut in half.

With the September 2026 election approaching, the Left Party needs to stop the decline if it is to become the second-largest party in the opposition. In the latest SVT/Verian poll, the Centre Party was 0.3 percentage points ahead of the Left Party.

“They need to take voters from the Social Democrats,” Youcefi says.

He says the Left Party is most likely to achieve that in million-programme areas. Youcefi has identified the most important places for the party ahead of the election.