1976 Swedish general election

General elections were held in Sweden on 19 September 1976.[1] Although the Swedish Social Democratic Party remained the largest party, winning 152 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag,[2] a coalition government was formed with the Centre Party, the People's Party and the conservative Moderate Party (who won a combined 180 seats), which formed Sweden's first non-socialist government since 1936. Centre Party leader Thorbjörn Fälldin, who had widely been expected to take over the government in the previous election of 1973 (which turned out to bring a 175-175 draw between the left and right blocs), was appointed Prime Minister, the first not from the Swedish Social Democratic Party since Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp's brief interregnum 40 years earlier.

1976 Swedish general election

← 197319 September 19761979 →

All 349 seats in the Riksdag
175 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
LeaderOlof PalmeThorbjörn FälldinGösta Bohman
PartySocial DemocratsCentreModerate
Last election1569051
Seats won1528655
Seat changeDecrease4Decrease4Increase4
Popular vote2,324,6031,309,669847,672
Percentage42.75%24.08%15.59%
SwingDecrease0.81ppDecrease1.02ppIncrease1.30pp

 Fourth partyFifth party
 
LeaderPer AhlmarkLars Werner
PartyPeople's PartyLeft Communists
Last election3419
Seats won3917
Seat changeIncrease5Decrease2
Popular vote601,556258,432
Percentage11.06%4.75%
SwingIncrease1.64ppDecrease0.58pp

Map of the election, showing the distribution of constituency and levelling seats, as well as the largest political bloc within each constituency.

PM before election

Olof Palme
Social Democrats

Elected PM

Thorbjörn Fälldin
Centre

Debates edit

1976 Swedish general election debates
DateTimeOrganisersModerators P  Present    I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee 
SCMLVRefs
1 September 1976P
Olof Palme
P
Thorbjörn Fälldin
N
Gösta Bohman
N
Per Ahlmark
N
Lars Werner
[3]
Sveriges TelevisionLars Orup [sv]P
Olof Palme,Gunnar Sträng
P
Thorbjörn Fälldin
P
Gösta Bohman
P
Per Ahlmark
P
Lars Werner
[4]

Results edit

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Swedish Social Democratic Party2,324,60342.75152–4
Centre Party1,309,66924.0886–4
Moderate Party847,67215.5955+4
People's Party601,55611.0639+5
Left Party Communists258,4324.7517–2
Christian Democratic Unity73,8441.3600
Communist Party17,3090.3200
Other parties4,6630.0900
Total5,437,748100.00349–1
Valid votes5,437,74899.65
Invalid/blank votes19,2950.35
Total votes5,457,043100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,947,07791.76
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Seat distribution edit

ConstituencyTotal
seats
Seats won
By partyBy coalition
SCMFVRightLeft
Älvsborg North9431154
Älvsborg South8322153
Blekinge7321143
Bohus11432274
Fyrstadskretsen1993421910
Gävleborg136311258
Gothenburg1973342109
Gotland21111
Halland9332163
Jämtland53223
Jönköping13542285
Kalmar11532165
Kopparberg136411167
Kristianstad12542175
Kronoberg733143
Malmöhus11532165
Norrbotten126211248
Örebro11631156
Östergötland188432199
Skaraborg11442174
Södermanland9521145
Stockholm County331267531815
Stockholm Municipality321248441616
Uppsala104311155
Värmland12632166
Västerbotten10531155
Västernorrland13741167
Västmanland9521145
Total34915286553917180169
Source: Statistics Sweden

By municipality edit

References edit

  1. ^ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1858 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p1873
  3. ^ Valet 1976 - Duellen - Olof Palme (S) och Thorbjörn Fälldin (C), retrieved 2024-02-01
  4. ^ Sweden, Sveriges Television AB, Stockholm, Slutdebatter – Partiledardebatt (in Swedish), retrieved 2024-01-29{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)