In the mining town of Bjuv in northern Skåne, there will be a change of power after an SD drop of 9.5 percentage points. SD and M have had a stormy period in municipal government - culminating in the then SD municipal councillor locking M politicians out of the municipal building.
There have been a lot of internal conflicts and I think it has hurt us, says Pia Trollehjelm, local SD chairwoman.
In the autumn sun in Bjuv's neighbouring village of Billesholm, Helen Eklund and Kenneth Nielsen sit and chat – everyone here knows each other, they say. She is a loyal SD voter and is surprised by the election results.
All the good that has happened, all the changes – is it over now? There are fewer shootings in Sweden, less crime and less vandalism.
“I had a feeling”
Kenneth Nielsen is not surprised. He has never voted for SD.
I had a feeling after this mess. SD has a lot of good things, but here there was a lot of turbulence.
He is also upset about the severance pay that defections and infighting in the municipality have led to.
A lot of money has been wasted, agrees Helen Eklund.
Ahmed Safi, who runs a store in Billesholm, is on a different track.
It's because they speak against people who live in Sweden. Many Swedes don't like SD, because their policies are not good for hospitals, healthcare and the economy.
New image of SD
Political scientist Anders Sannerstedt sees a pattern: The party loses the most where it has been strongest.
The election wind for the Sweden Democrats has blown fairly evenly across the country, and it has blown to their disadvantage.
Previously, SD has benefited from appearing as a brazen opposition party. After four years as the government's cooperation party and an election campaign in a "blue-yellow team", the image of the party is different, notes Sannerstedt.
SD is still the largest party in eight municipalities in Skåne, but a thorough analysis of the decline is now needed, says Skåne Chairwoman Hanna Nilsson. One factor, she believes, is that the Tidö parties succeeded on one of SD's core issues – combating crime – which made it a less important election issue.
People quickly forget what Sweden looked like four years ago, she says.
Pensioner and Social Democrat Rune Reimers, who is sitting outside his house and breathing hard after a long bike ride, is satisfied with the outcome in Bjuv.
There has been too much bickering and fighting.
Municipal elections:
In Skåne, SD lost an average of 2.6 percentage points in the municipal elections. Overall in Sweden, the loss in the municipal elections was 1.2 percentage points.
The party declined in 27 municipalities in Skåne, increased in five and had unchanged voter support in one.
SD remains the largest party in eight Skåne municipal councils
Regional election:
SD is losing 2.3 percentage points in the Skåne region. Nationwide, the party is losing 1.1 percentage points.
Parliamentary elections:
In the parliamentary election, the outcome for SD was -3.3 in the Malmö municipality constituency, -4.9 in the Skåne county north and east constituency, -3.6 in Skåne county south and -4.7 in Skåne county west. Overall in Sweden, there was a decline of -3.1 percentage points for SD in the parliamentary election.
Source: Election Authority, preliminary results
