Sweden’s main parties short of majority, while far-right gains

With 99pc of the votes from Sweden’s election counted, Prime Minister Stefan Loven’s center-left bloc holds a slight lead with 40.6pc against the center-right alliance’s 40pc. Neither has won the 175 seats needed to form a government. However, the far-right Swedish Democrats gained 17.6pc of the vote, up from 12.9pc in the 2014 election. Lofven called for cooperation across the political divide amid concerns that the center-right opposition may attempt to form a government with the help of the Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the neo-Nazi movement.