What happened
The Social Democrats, the Green Party, the Centre Party, the Liberals, and the Christian Democrats have agreed to govern Region Stockholm together. The coalition holds 80 of 149 seats in the assembly. The parties have agreed on a political platform that includes a tax cut of five öre per 100 kronor earned in 2027, as well as a frozen price for the SL card during 2026. The Christian Democrats take the chair of the health and medical care board, while the Social Democrats retain responsibility for primary care and the regional executive board. The Moderate Party, the Left Party, and the Sweden Democrats all end up in opposition.
Our analysis
Who carries Region Stockholm every day? The bus drivers, the cleaners, and the assistant nurses do. A very large proportion of them are new Swedes. When five parties celebrate a new administration, their main common promise is still a tax cut. Anyone working on the floor knows what tax cuts usually mean in practice: even fewer colleagues on shifts and even tougher austerity demands.
A frozen SL card during a single year is welcome for the wallets of outer-suburb commuters. But it does not change the fundamental problem. The Christian Democrats gain power over the health and medical care board, while privatizations and healthcare choice systems are to be preserved and developed. This benefits established healthcare companies in the inner city far more than the run-down health centres where the needs are greatest.
Politicians constantly talk about how everyone must work and contribute. But when power is negotiated behind closed doors, it is once again the staff's working environment and the suburbs' access to healthcare that must take a back seat to political compromises.
Explained
Region Stockholm is responsible for healthcare and public transport across all of Stockholm County and is governed by politicians elected every four years in the regional elections.