The first out of the party leaders was the Left Party’s leader, Nooshi Dadgostar, who was up at 7am to go and vote with her partner at the Blommenbergskolan school in Gröndal, south of Stockholm.
Nooshi Dadgostar votes at 8am in Gröndal, south Stockholm. Photo: Ali Lorestani/TT
Sweden’s Social Democratic Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, came next, voting at her local polling station at Skuruhallen in Nacka, a southeastern Stockholm suburb.
“Where does the queue start?” she asked as she arrived to meet a crowd of reporters and photographers.
After voting, she made a short statement reiterating her party’s openness to cooperating with all parties apart from the far-right Sweden Democrats.
“Right now, this is about the Swedish people having their say, then we need to take responsibility for the election result,” she said. “We Social Democrats have shown that we are able to cooperative and collaborate with different parties, even in complicated times.”
Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, votes at her local polling station at Skuruhallen in Nacka. Photo: Ali Lorestani/TT
Per Bolund, the co-leader of Sweden’s Green Party voted in Älvsjö, southern Stockholm, joking about his party’s poor polling performance since it left the ruling Social Democrat coalition.
“It went very well indeed,” he said. “We’ve got at least one vote now, anyway.”
Bolund offers himself in the polling station: “At least now we get a vote”. https://t.co/1ET7WHGuZk
— TV4 News (@News) September 11, 2022
The Moderate Party’s leader, Ulf Kristersson, voted at 1pm in the afternoon in the Stockholm commuter town of Strängnäs.
He described the experience as “ceremonious, exciting, and important”.
“If there are the right parliamentary conditions tonight, I’m going to put together a centre-right government, with centre-right parties who can cooperate well in the parliament,” he said.
Asked if he was tired after the long, intense election campaign, he said he still felt energetic. “If you have the right food, your sleeping habits sorted out, and you get a bit of exercise, you can handle this,” he said. “I think it’s fun. There have been good debates, and I like meeting people and answering questions.”
Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson after voting at the Multeum center in Strängnäs. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer / TT
He arrived to meet the media along with his wife Birgitta Ed, his three daughters and his dog, Winston.
Johan Pehrson, leader of the Liberal Party, voted at the library in Stockholm’s upmarket Östermalm district.
Liberal party leader John Pehrson votes at Östermalm library. Photo: Tim Aro/TT
The Sweden Democrats’ leader Jimmie Åkesson was the last of the party leaders to vote, arriving at Östermalm library when there was a long queue outside.
“That means I’ll have to stand here for an hour, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
Ebba Busch, leader of the Christian Democrats, Annie Lööf, leader of the Centre Party, and Märta Stenevi, co-leader of the Green Party, all voted in advance.
Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson votes at Östermalm library on election day. Photo: Tim Aro/TT