electionstracker

Sweden 1985 general election

What was the result of the 1985 general election in Sweden?

Swedish Social Democratic Party won 159 of 349 seats with 44.7% of the vote. 89.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Sweden
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Swedish Social Democratic Party won 159 of 349 seats with 44.7% of the vote; 89.9% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 1.6 points on 1982.

  • Swedish Social Democratic Party 159 −7 seats 44.7% −0.9 points
  • Moderate Party 76 −10 seats 21.3% −2.3 points
  • Liberals 51 +30 seats 14.2% +8.3 points
  • Centre Party 43 −13 seats 12.4% −3.1 points
  • Left Party 19 −1 seat 5.4% −0.1 points
  • Green Party 0 0 seats 1.5% −0.2 points
  • Christian Democrats 1 +1 seat 0.0% −1.8 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Sweden 1982 general election, party by party.

175 of 349 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 44.7%

    Share of the vote won by Swedish Social Democratic Party

    Swedish Social Democratic Party won 159 of 349 seats. A majority needs 175.

  2. +30 seats

    Seats gained by Liberals

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1982. Centre Party lost 13 seats.

  3. 89.9%

    Voter turnout

    Down 1.6 points on 1982.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Swedish Social Democratic Party159−744.7−0.92,487,551
Moderate Party76−1021.3−2.31,187,335
Liberals51+3014.2+8.3792,268
Centre Party43−1312.4−3.1691,258
Left Party19−15.4−0.1298,419
Green Party001.5−0.283,645
Christian Democrats1+10.0−1.80

± is the change against the Sweden 1982 general election, party by party. Shares are computed by us from the votes.

Votes by party
  • Swedish Social Democratic Party 2,487,551
  • Moderate Party 1,187,335
  • Liberals 792,268
  • Centre Party 691,258
  • Left Party 298,419
  • Green Party 83,645
  • Christian Democrats 0

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

The source publishes votes only: shares are votes over the valid (expressed) votes, computed by us.

How many people voted?

89.9% of the 6,249,445 registered voters cast a ballot (5,615,242 ballots), down 1.6 points on 1982. 5,567,022 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1970 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Swedish Social Democratic Party44.7% of votes45.6% of seats
  • Moderate Party21.3% of votes21.8% of seats
  • Liberals14.2% of votes14.6% of seats
  • Centre Party12.4% of votes12.3% of seats
  • Left Party5.4% of votes5.4% of seats
  • Christian Democrats0.0% of votes0.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 1.3 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.5 by votes and 3.4 by seats; Swedish Social Democratic Party led Moderate Party by 23.4 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of