'Not going to happen': Kristersson rejects Åkesson's demand for 12 cabinet seats
The Sweden Democrats will not be handed 12 cabinet posts in a Moderate-led government, Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson told public broadcaster SVT.
Speaking in an interview with Radio Aftonbladet on Wednesday, Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson suggested that having between 12 and 14 ministers from his party would be a reasonable starting point, based on current polling figures.
"That doesn't necessarily mean we'd demand every single one," Åkesson added. "You could imagine trading certain cabinet posts in exchange for getting through specific policy decisions that are particularly important to us."
According to Kristersson, however, 12 cabinet positions for the Sweden Democrats is off the table.
"No, that's not going to happen," Kristersson remarked. "Of course everyone wants to be the biggest, best and prettiest. But naturally, that's not how it works. You negotiate both policy and ministerial posts, and you do that once you've actually won an election. You shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch." (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: count your chickens before they hatch – ta ut segern i förskott (literally celebrate the victory in advance)
Just 6.5 percent of local election candidates in Sweden's major cities live in vulnerable areas
Only 6.5 percent of political candidates standing in the municipal elections in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö live in areas classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged, the Dagens Samhälle magazine reports.
By comparison, 13 percent of all residents across the three major cities live in such areas.
Breaking down the figures by parliamentary party, the Left Party has the highest proportion of candidates from disadvantaged areas, at 12.4 percent. The Social Democrats follow with 9.8 percent, and the Sweden Democrats sit at 7.0 percent. The Liberal Party has the lowest representation, with just 0.7 percent of its candidates living in these neighborhoods.
According to the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, these socioeconomically disadvantaged areas are characterised by high unemployment, dependence on state benefits, overcrowding, poor school results, and low voter turnout.
The proportion of local politicians from these areas is likely to drop even further after the election, as 80 out of 100 are placed in eleventh position or lower on their party ballot papers, according to Dagens Samhälle. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: a socioeconomically disadvantaged area – ett utanförskapsområde
Early voting surge: Nearly a million Swedes cast ballots in first week
Nearly one million people cast their ballots in the week after early voting opened in Sweden on August 26th – a 40 percent increase compared to the same period in the 2022 election, according to the Swedish Election Authority.
According to the authority, 992,863 voters cast an early ballot during the first seven days.
"We are seeing a very large increase in early voting so far compared to the 2022 election. The figures for the first seven days show that the trend of more and more people voting early looks set to continue in this year's election," said Anna Nyqvist, head of office at the Election Authority, in a statement.
The statistics are based on registrations in the digital electoral roll and are preliminary.
Early voting runs up to and including election day on September 13th. In the 2022 election, a total of 3,153,628 people voted early. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: to vote – att rösta
Stockholm Arlanda breaks foreign travel record for second month running
Sweden's largest airport, Stockholm Arlanda, has broken its record for international passenger numbers for the second month in a row, according to figures released by state airport operator Swedavia.
International travel rose by just over three percent to 2.1 million passengers, beating the previous August record set in 2018 by roughly 16,000 travellers.
Overall, Arlanda handled over 2.4 million passengers in August, a two percent increase compared to the same month last year. However, domestic travel at the airport dropped by four percent to just over 324,000 passengers.
In total, over 3.3 million passengers travelled through Swedavia's ten airports across the country in August, which represents a three percent rise compared to August 2025.
"The growth was driven by an influx of visitors to Sweden alongside stronger domestic demand," Swedavia stated. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: growth – tillväxt
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