It was a historic change of power when the Social Democrats were dethroned in Region Norrbotten in 2018 – the first time since 1938. Then the Healthcare Party received 34.69 percent of the vote and together with the Moderates and the Center Party took over power.
The numbers darker than the forecast
Before this year's election, Kantar Sifo, on behalf of SVT, Sveriges Radio and Norrmedia, conducted an opinion poll that showed a nightmare forecast for the Healthcare Party.
The forecast showed that the party would retreat by almost 23 percentage points and at the time of writing the result looks to be even darker.
SVT met regional councilor Kenneth Backgård during an election vigil in Boden and he was shocked.
Backgård about the loss: "Didn't see the whole picture"
Why do you think the voters chose you out?
- I think people have experienced care queues and staff shortages.
But that has been the case in the four northernmost regions and the situation has been worse in, for example, Västernorrland, says Backgård and continues:
- People may have thought that it is our management that cannot cope with this and have not seen the big picture.
By the time this article was published, a third of the votes in the region had been counted.
At that time, the Health Care Party had 7.8 percent of the vote - a decrease of 26.9 percent compared to 2018.