Dagens Nyheter says the red-greens keep Stockholm, Svenska Dagbladet says the Moderates are in talks on a change of power

Two papers, one count. Seven reports describe the same preliminary figures from Sweden's election. Dagens Nyheter wrote six of them, Svenska Dagbladet one. They are not describing the same Stockholm: one reports the city, the other the region.

One number in seven reports. Only the Liberals report gives a figure in percentage points — two points down in Simona Mohamsson's home city of Gothenburg — and it is also the report that says the count is preliminary. A doubling, a success, a large loss and a wave are all described without a number a reader can check.

Not settled. Who holds the City of Stockholm: one paper reports it, on preliminary figures, and the other writes about the region instead. Nor is the size of the Green gain settled. Nor the national vote share — none of the seven gives one. Nor who governs.

What this is about. Sweden has voted, and two Stockholm dailies are describing two different Stockholms.

How it got here. Swedish general elections are held on the second Sunday of September every four years — in 2026, Sunday 13 September. Voters cast three ballots on the same day: one for the Riksdag, one for their region, one for their municipality. That is why "Stockholm" is two answers. The City of Stockholm is a municipality; Region Stockholm is a separate authority, covering a wider area and running health care and public transport. They are elected on the same day, by overlapping electorates, and they can fall to different sides.

The last election was on 11 September 2022. Ulf Kristersson of the Moderates became prime minister at the head of a government of Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals, supported in parliament by the Sweden Democrats under an agreement negotiated at Tidö Castle and signed that October. The four are known in Sweden as the Tidö parties, and our reports use that name. Facing them are the Social Democrats — historically Sweden's largest party — the Left Party, the Greens and the Centre Party.

Who is in it. Kristersson, still prime minister while the count runs, gathering his bloc's leaders the evening after the vote. The Liberals, led by Simona Mohamsson, whose home city is Gothenburg. The Greens, the Left Party, and the Social Democrats, who run city and regional administrations across the country. And the two papers: Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet, both national dailies published in Stockholm.

What is at stake. Whether the Tidö government keeps its majority; who governs the capital's city hall and its region; and, in the Left Party's case, whether it sits inside an administration rather than merely supporting one.

Where it stands. Election-night figures in Sweden are preliminary — a final count follows in the days after, including late and postal votes. Every number in our reports is from that first count.