Ulf Kristersson
Ulf Kristersson | |
---|---|
![]() Kristersson in March 2018 | |
Leader of the Opposition | |
Assumed office 1 October 2017 | |
Monarch | Carl XVI Gustaf |
Prime Minister | Stefan Löfven Magdalena Andersson |
Preceded by | Anna Kinberg Batra |
Leader of the Moderate Party | |
Assumed office 1 October 2017 | |
Deputy | Peter Danielsson Elisabeth Svantesson |
Party Secretary | Gunnar Strömmer |
Preceded by | Anna Kinberg Batra |
Minister for Social Security | |
In office 5 October 2010 – 3 October 2014 | |
Prime Minister | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
Preceded by | Cristina Husmark Pehrsson |
Succeeded by | Annika Strandhäll |
Chairman of the Moderate Youth League | |
In office 26 November 1988 – 24 October 1992 | |
Preceded by | Beatrice Ask |
Succeeded by | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
Member of the Riksdag | |
Assumed office 4 October 2014 | |
Constituency | Södermanland County |
In office 5 October 1991 – 30 April 2000 | |
Constituency | Stockholm Municipality |
Personal details | |
Born | Ulf Hjalmar Kristersson 29 December 1963 Lund, Sweden |
Political party | Moderate Party |
Spouse(s) | Birgitta Ed (m. 1991) |
Children | 3 (adopted) |
Alma mater | Uppsala University |
Website | Official website |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch/service | ![]() |
Years of service | 1983-1984 |
Ulf Hjalmar Ed Kristersson (born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Moderate Party since 2017. He has been a Member of the Riksdag (M) for Södermanland County since 2014 and previously from 1991 to 2000 for Stockholm County.[1] He previously served as Minister for Social Security from 2010 to 2014 and Chairman of the Moderate Youth League from 1988 to 1992.[2]
On 11 December 2014, he was appointed Shadow Finance Minister of the Moderate Party and economic policy spokesperson. On 1 September 2017, Kristersson announced he was running for the party leadership of the Moderate Party after Anna Kinberg Batra stepped down.[3]
Biography[]
Early life[]
Ulf Kristersson was born in Lund, Skåne County, to Lars Kristersson (1938–2015) and Karin Kristersson.[4] The family moved to Torshälla outside Eskilstuna five years later.[5] In his youth Ulf Kristersson was a troupe gymnast.[6] Kristersson finished secondary school at S:t Eskils gymnasium in Eskilstuna. After graduating, Kristersson did military service as a platoon commander at Uppland Regiment from 1983 to 1984,[7] and completed a degree in economics at Uppsala University.[8]
Early political career[]
In connection with the general election of 1985, he was employed as a campaigner at MUF in Sörmland.[9] On 26 November 1988, he rose to become new Chairman of MUF succeeding Beatrice Ask.[10] In 1991, the centre-right Bildt Cabinet took power and Kristersson became a Member of the Riksdag (MP).[11] He served in the Social Security Committee. He soon become a vocal critic of the government's crisis agreement with Social Democrats. At the time, Kristersson developed a friendship with the former party leader, Gösta Bohman, who in some respects also supported his criticism of the Bildt Cabinet.[12]
In 1992, Kristresson was challenged as chairman of MUF by Fredrik Reinfeldt.[13] The congress was preceded by considerable ideological divisions between Libertarians and Conservatives. All this erupted at the congress in Lycksele, which came to be known as the Battle of Lycksele.[14] Kristersson, the Libertarian alternative, lost narrowly. It is said that his loss caused his withdrawal from front-line politics and he was subsequently known as part of "Lost Generation" of the Moderate Party.[15] From 1995 to 1998, Kristersson was chief of marketing at Timbro.
Career outside politics[]
Kristersson left his parliamentary seat in April 2000, feeling that the new party leader Bo Lundgren declined his services.[16] Kristersson worked for two years in the private sector, mainly as communications director and VP for the internet consultancy Adcore,[17] a dotcom crash casualty.
Kristersson was chairman for the Swedish Adoption Center (Adoptionscenter). During his time as chairman, information emerged that the center handled adoptions of children trafficked from China. [18]
Municipal politics (2002-2010)[]
He returned to active politics in 2002 as Commissioner (Mayor) for Finance in Strängnäs and served there until 2006.[5] In 2006, he was appointed Vice Mayor (Socialborgarråd) in Stockholm responsible for the social welfare and labour division.[4] Kristersson was also asked by Fredrik Reinfeldt to lead the committee responsible for developing a new family policy for the party.[15] He immediately caused controversy by suggesting that fathers must take a month of paternity leave for the family to receive all benefits.[5] This was clearly in conflict with traditional Moderate Party policy, which has centred on individual choice.[5]
Return to national politics (2010-2017)[]
On 5 October 2010, Fredrik Reinfeldt appointed Kristersson to become Minister of Social Security, a position he held for four years.[19] After the 2014 election the Reinfeldt cabinet resigned, Kristersson was however elected as Member of the Riksdag (MP) again, this time for Södermanland County.[20] Following Reinfeldt's resignation as party leader, Anna Kinberg Batra appointed him as Shadow Finance Minister.[21]
Leader of the Moderate Party (2017– )[]
Anna Kinberg Batra resigned as leader of the Moderate Party on 25 August 2017, after internal criticism.[22] Kristersson publicly decided to run for leadership on 1 September 2017 and was elected on 1 October 2017.[23] [24] The party saw a sharp increase in support in the polls, compared to the record low numbers under his predecessor Batra.[25][22] He has a harsher stance against immigration than his predecessors.[26][24]
2018–2019 Government formation[]
In September 2018, incumbent PM Stefan Löfven was ousted.[23] Kristersson expressed hope of becoming the next PM.[27][23]
On 2 October 2018, he was designated by Speaker Andreas Norlén to form a new government.[28] He initially sought to form a government coalition involving the Alliance parties (Moderate Party, Centre Party, Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party) with support from the Social Democrats; on 9 October 2018 he announced that the Social Democrats had rejected all further talks on agreements and that he would now seek other ways to form a new government.[29] On 14 October 2018 he announced that he was not able to form a new government under current circumstances.[30]
On 5 November 2018, Speaker Andreas Norlén proposed Ulf Kristersson as Prime Minister following breakdowns in all other government negotiations.[31] On 14 November 2018, the Riksdag rejected Kristersson's bid to become Prime Minister by a vote of 195 to 154. It was the first time ever that a speaker's proposal for Prime Minister lost such a vote and the first time in 40 years that centre-right parties (Centre Party and Liberals) vetoed a centre-right candidate for Prime Minister.[32][33]
2019–present[]
Kristersson held a meeting in December 2019 with Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, and said that he would cooperate with them in parliament. The anti-immigration party had previously been subject to a cordon sanitaire by all other parties, with Kristersson himself ruling out dialogue with them ahead of the 2018 elections. According to Ann-Cathrine Jungar of Södertörn University, this put Sweden in line with several other European countries in which centre-right and radical-right parties cooperate.[34] In August 2020, he criticised the government for a perceived failure to deal with rising crime including gun violence, which he called a "second pandemic".[35]
2021 government crisis[]
On 29 June 2021, after Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was ousted, Speaker of the Riksdag Andreas Norlén formally tasked Kristersson with forming a government. Kristersson had until 3 July to report his potential government to Norlén.[36] Kristersson planned to lead a coalition of his Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, the Sweden Democrats, and the Liberals. On 1 July, Kristersson informed the Speaker that he did not have enough support to form a government and returned his mandate.[37]
Personal life[]
Kristersson lives in Strängnäs.[38] He and his wife have three adopted children.[39]
References[]
- ^ "Ulf Kristersson (M) - Riksdagen".
- ^ "Kristersson blir M:s nya Borg". 11 December 2014.
- ^ Kristersson kandiderar till M-ledare Published 1 September 2017
- ^ a b Ahlander, Johan (29 August 2018). "Sweden needs 'humble government' after election: frontrunner". Reuters. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Kristersson vill bli Moderatledare". 1 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ [1] Published 1 September 2017
- ^ "CV | Ulf Kristersson" (PDF). Moderate Party. 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "Ulf Kristersson fjärde raka civilekonomen som styr Moderaterna". www.civilekonomen.se. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ [TT: Nyvald ordförande kritiserar borgerlig trepartisamverkan ] Published 26 November 1988
- ^ Nyheter, SVT (3 September 2017). "Så stred Kristersson och Reinfeldt om makten i Muf". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ Nyheter, SVT (20 September 2017). "Ulf Kristersson (M): Det måste du ha läst i en kommunistblaska". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ [2] Published 18 September 1992
- ^ "Who is Sweden's Moderate opposition leader Ulf Kristersson?". 3 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ "Terms of Service Violation". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Så ska Löfven och Kristersson agera – efter valet". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ [3] Published 30 September 2017
- ^ Söderström, Jan (12 October 2018). "Kristerssons jättekrasch". Aktuellt i Politiken (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ "Kristersson svek de stulna barnen".
- ^ "Ulf Kristersson blir ny minister i Reinfeldts regering - Val 2010 - Expressen". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Ulf Kristersson (M) - Riksdagen". www.riksdagen.se. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ "Han blir Moderaternas skuggfinansminister". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Ex-gymnast opposition leader must be nimble to win in Sweden". 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Swedish parliament votes out PM". BBC News. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ a b Anderson, Christina (20 September 2018). "To End Stalemate, Will Sweden Include Far-Right Party in Government?". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ "Novus: Moderaterna ökar". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 30 January 2018.
- ^ "Swedish opposition wants thougher stance". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
- ^ Editorial, Reuters (9 September 2018). "Swedish center-right leader calls on PM Lofven to step down". Reuters. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ SVT: Ulf Kristersson (M) får uppdraget att försöka bilda regering, 2018-10-02 (in Swedish)
- ^ fPlus: "Kristersson: Löfven avvisar Alliansregering - jag går vidare med sonderingar, 2018-10-10, (in Swedish)
- ^ Aftonbladet: "Ulf Kristersson ger upp försöken att bilda regering", 2018-10-14, läst 2018-10-14 (in Swedish)
- ^ Ulf Kristersson proposed as new Prime Minister by the Speaker, 2018-11-05] (in Swedish)
- ^ "Swedish parliament rejects center-right prime minister, deadlock continues". POLITICO. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ "Sweden Braces for Week of Political Turmoil as Nationalists Gain". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ Milne, Richard (5 December 2019). "Mainstream Swedish party open to working with once-spurned nationalists". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ Milne, Richard (30 August 2020). "Sweden's right seizes on crime to warn of 'second pandemic'". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "Talmannen gav sonderingsuppdrag till Ulf Kristersson". riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Stockholm: Swedish Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
- ^ "Moderaterna ger upp försöken att bilda regering". DN.SE (in Swedish). 1 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
- ^ "Ulf Kristersson: "Det dödliga våldet är som Sveriges andra pandemi"". 24 August 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ "Fem saker du inte visste om Ulf Kristersson – Moderaternas nye partiledare". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 October 2021.
External links[]
Media related to Ulf Kristersson at Wikimedia Commons
- 1963 births
- Living people
- People from Lund
- Uppsala University alumni
- Members of the Riksdag
- Swedish Ministers for Social Security
- Leaders of the Moderate Party