Hello, welcome to Strängnäs. As I said, never before has the election in Strängnäs attracted as much attention as it has today. There are seven days, seven hours left to vote, so that honesty always pays off and crime always gets punished. If you feel unsure, you can vote now. If you voted wrong, you can vote again. So it's a very nice election campaign, I think. A fun election campaign, an exciting election campaign. Important policy issues at the center. And quite clearly we have gained momentum in these last few weeks. So it's a very, very exciting evening to follow, I think. Fun to be in Strängnäs and vote.
Good. Then we'll move a little bit away so we're not in the way of people who are going to vote. We'll stand here. Now we'll take them one at a time. We'll start with TV4, which has two minutes. Shall we start with Strängnäs Tidning? This one should have hope. We'll start with Strängnäs Tidning. Ready.
Okay. We can just one minute. Okay. Prime Minister. Yes, but now we'll take these first. Prime Minister. The campaign is over. How do you feel?
I feel great. Very hopeful. We had a great campaign, an enthusiastic campaign, extremely important topics on the table, and I think we are in a good position to be able to win this election.
How do you feel about the comeback you made? Just a few weeks ago you were far away, now the race is very tight?
Well, it's not that complicated. I have told colleagues of yours all the time that polls are polls, you know, and it's actually the election result that really counts. And all those who think, you know, if you think you are winning because of good polls, you are not winning. If you think you are losing because of bad polls, you are losing. So I was quite convinced that eventually the two real alternatives would be kind of compared and contested, and I think we have won on that comparison.
Thank you. Thank you. Now we have to do a live interview with TV4 over here, and I'll ask you to move back just a little bit. Thank you.
Now I have with me Ulf Kristersson, who has just cast his vote. I can guess who he voted for. Yes, we have ballot secrecy here in Sweden. We do have that. Kristersson, now your fate is in the hands of 8 million Swedish voters. Do you feel that you have done everything you can to win this election?
Yes, I feel that. I feel that, both on my own behalf and above all on the party's behalf, we have had a fantastic, fine election campaign. Both fun, as an election should be, intensive, many miles, many door knocks. Yes, but very fine, I think. I think we got the policy issues into the center and the government alternatives into the center in the end. So I really feel we have done everything we can to win it.
And what is your gut feeling about what will happen?
Well, the gut feeling is good. It has been for several weeks now. I think you have felt that too. We have momentum on our side. But now we just have to wait for the result. After all, there are still seven hours of campaigning left in some places around the country, so nothing is decided yet.
This could be your last day as Prime Minister. You may have to lead a transitional government if you lose. But is there anything you feel you haven't ticked off that you must do now in these last seven hours as Prime Minister of Sweden?
Well, you shouldn't think that way. You don't count your victories in advance, nor your defeats in advance. My work is that I am Prime Minister around the clock, all the time. That also includes my election campaign.
It may be hard after the election to see who the winner is today, given how the exit polls have looked. But if you get to continue as Prime Minister, how easy will it be for you to form a government, so to speak?
Well, if the blue-and-yellow team wins, it will be easy in that sense. We know what we want. We agree on the direction. Then it's always hard to negotiate. You have to negotiate an entire government program. You have to negotiate an entirely new government. That's not uncomplicated. It's probably harder than you think. You don't usually see much of that. I usually do it in peace and quiet, and then we come out with a joint result, and that's how it will be this time too. It's a bit different if the other side had some kind of mathematical majority to push through the Center and the Left's tax policy. I wouldn't recommend that.
Thank you, Prime Minister Kristersson. Thanks. Then we'll take Strängnäs Tidning. Of course. Are you ready? You actually had a chance to be first. Strängnäs Tidning. Anna. Yes. And everyone else will get an interview. So just stay calm. Hello.
Yes. How does it feel to cast your vote here in Strängnäs today?
Well, it's always a solemn occasion, I think, to vote. I always vote on Sunday. And it's extra fun to do it at home in Strängnäs, of course.
And which issue do you think will be pointed out as the most important in this election campaign in hindsight?
You can't know that. But I would say there are reasons why I have said that this is a choice we make between two completely different views on fundamental justice issues. If I had to pick two, I would still say the mortgage tax and the gang crime penalty are, I think, clear examples of the very large differences between the blue-and-yellow side and the red-green side.
And which election promise do you feel most confident about being able to deliver on if you get the chance to govern for four more years?
I think all the election promises we have put forward are very realistic. We don't promise things that we don't feel very sure we can deliver. 93 percent of our election promises from the last election have been delivered or started. So we take such things seriously. We can compromise, we can change, we can prioritize. Those are usually the things that make it possible to deliver.
And if the election result is weaker than you hope, what responsibility do you take personally? Will you step down as party leader?
I don't plan for defeat, I plan for victory. Thanks. Thanks.
Yes. Kristersson has become a one-election wonder, and you want to bring the Sweden Democrats into government. Do you have 12 ministers ready?
I have said throughout the election that government negotiations about exact priorities, exact government declarations, and exact ministerial posts and departments — those come afterwards. We have a saying in Sweden that you shouldn't sell the fur before you've shot the bear, and I intend to apply that.
They had that in Norway too. That year in Norway, a year ago during the election campaign, there was a discussion between Frp and Høyre about who would get the prime minister post. How important has it been to have that settled?
