Kristersson stepped up to the podium after an election vigil where nothing is really clear yet.
"This election result could lead to a complicated government formation. It may take time, but we are in no hurry. Right is more important than fast," he says.
Hope is alive for him and the Moderates - as well as the Tidö parties. At least according to Kristersson himself.
His party looks set to get 19.9 percent of the vote, a slight improvement over the last election. However, the opposition has the upper hand by one mandate.
The election results are not clear, but the voters have already sent a message: The three parties on the left have once again failed to gather a majority in the Swedish parliament, he says.
Will have a conversation
Ulf Kristersson tells the assembled press corps after his speech at the party's election vigil that he will contact other party leaders this week.
He wants to hold talks about "the non-socialist basis that exists in Sweden for a common economic policy."
And see if it can form the basis for some kind of government constellation and gather a majority for a budget, he says.
He does not want to go into exactly who he will contact.
However, Kristersson highlights what he sees as major challenges for the Social Democrats to find a solution together with the Left Party and the Center Party.
“A nail biter”
His party members, at the same time, share the picture of the greatest possible uncertainty.
"Incredibly exciting. A nail-biter. It shows that nothing is finished until everything is finished," party secretary Karin Enström told TT earlier in the evening.
Could it be that nothing is clear until the postal votes are counted?
It's possible. That's not something I can answer. It's going to be tight, but we've had a good election campaign.
We have had incredible strength in our election campaign and have felt a tailwind in recent weeks, then we will see how far it goes, says Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer to TT.
Strömmer also notes the Social Democrats' results:
It looks like the Social Democrats have made a historically bad choice. There doesn't seem to be a strong demand for, what should we say, a socialist left turn in the electorate.
