Swedish far-right party eyes role as 'kingmaker' after poll gains

A left-leaning coalition led by Sweden's opposition Social Democrats defeated the incumbent centre-right government in a general election, while the far right was heading for historic gains.

The anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats more than doubled their votes in Sunday's election, to 12.9 per cent, becoming the country's third-largest party and striving for a role as "absolute kingmaker" in the legislature.

The election set the stage for a bid by the Social Democrats' leader, Stefan Loefven, to form a coalition government with the Greens and the former communist Left Party.

"I am ready to start exploring possibilities to form a new government for Sweden," the 57-year-old former trade unionist told supporters in Stockholm when his win was confirmed.

The red-green coalition garnered a total of 43.7 per cent of the vote. This compared with 39.3 per cent for the four-party conservative-liberal Alliance led by incumbent Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

Reinfeldt, prime minister for the past eight years, conceded defeat late on Sunday with the vote counting almost complete.

"We didn't make it," the 49-year-old leader of the Moderates party told supporters.

Loefven ran on a pledge to narrow a growing income gap, which has worried many in traditionally egalitarian Sweden, and vowed to improve schools and invest more on infrastructure.

"The Swedish people have turned their backs on tax cuts and privatisations as the solutions to all social problems," Loefven said after his victory was confirmed.

The far-right Sweden Democrats were a virtual nonentity less than a decade ago, and only entered parliament in the 2010 election, winning 5.7 per cent of the vote and 20 seats in the 349-seat legislature.

Sunday's result, which will more than double their presence in the parliament to 49 seats, is a major triumph for its leader, 35-year-old Jimmie Aakesson.

"We're the absolute kingmaker now," Aakesson said in front of jubilant supporters in the Swedish capital. He told broadcaster SVT that the other parties, which have refused to negotiate with the Sweden Democrats in parliament since 2010, "can't ignore us the way they have ignored us over the past four years".

Aakesson has carried out a campaign to clean up the party's image, expelling members whose xenophobic remarks contributed to its racist reputation.

However, Loefven immediately threw cold water on the Sweden Democrats' aspirations of becoming a "normal" party.

"Even if the Sweden Democrats have now obtained a higher result, there will be no cooperation with them," Loefven said. "We will make sure they don't get that kingmaker role."

Anti-euro party, Alternative for Germany, celebrates electoral gains

Germany's fledgling anti-euro party celebrated election gains in two eastern states, in a show of strength that spells a growing threat for Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel's conservatives.

"We are the force that's renewing the political landscape," said a jubilant Bernd Lucke, leader of the Alternative for Germany, which wants Europe's biggest economy to scrap the euro and return to the Deutschmark.

"One can't deny it anymore: the citizens are thirsting for political change," he said.

The party, formed early last year, won 10.6 per cent of the vote in Thuringia and 12.2 per cent in Brandenburg on Sunday provisional results showed. This came two weeks after it also entered parliament in Saxony with almost 10 per cent support.

Agence France-Presse