Swedish PM Kristersson resigns after election loss

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has resigned after his ruling right-wing bloc was narrowly defeated by the centre-left opposition in the country's general election.

He made the announcement in a post on X on Thursday afternoon, after preliminary votes from Sunday's election showed about 50,000 votes separated the two blocs in the country of about 10 million people.

Opposition parties led by Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats look set to win 176 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag, Sweden's parliament.

Kristersson, a conservative, had been supported in government by the anti-immigration hard-right Sweden Democrats (SD), and had promised them cabinet jobs if he won the election.

His right-wing bloc looks set to win 173 seats in the Riksdag, according to data from the Swedish Election Authority.

The results will be subject to formal certification in the coming days and are expected to finalised this weekend.

In Sweden, there are two major political blocs - with four parties on the right and four on the left, so Swedes are used to coalition and minority governments.

After a prime minister resigns, the Speaker of the Riksdag holds talks with all parties to proposes a candidate for the next leader, which is then voted on by MPs.