Ulf Kristersson

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Ulf Kristersson
M
EPP Summit, 22 March 2018 (40954072911) (cropped).jpg
Kristersson in March 2018
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
1 October 2017
MonarchCarl XVI Gustaf
Prime MinisterStefan Löfven
Magdalena Andersson
Preceded byAnna Kinberg Batra
Leader of the Moderate Party
Assumed office
1 October 2017
DeputyPeter Danielsson
Elisabeth Svantesson
Party SecretaryGunnar Strömmer
Preceded byAnna Kinberg Batra
Minister for Social Security
In office
5 October 2010 – 3 October 2014
Prime MinisterFredrik Reinfeldt
Preceded byCristina Husmark Pehrsson
Succeeded byAnnika Strandhäll
Chairman of the Moderate Youth League
In office
26 November 1988 – 24 October 1992
Preceded byBeatrice Ask
Succeeded byFredrik Reinfeldt
Member of the Riksdag
Assumed office
4 October 2014
ConstituencySödermanland County
In office
5 October 1991 – 30 April 2000
ConstituencyStockholm Municipality
Personal details
Born
Ulf Hjalmar Kristersson

(1963-12-29) 29 December 1963 (age 57)
Lund, Sweden
Political partyModerate Party
Spouse(s)
Birgitta Ed
​
(m. 1991)​
Children3 (adopted)
Alma materUppsala University
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
AllegianceSweden Sweden
Branch/serviceArmén vapen bra.svg Swedish Army
Years of service1983-1984

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[]

Main article: 2021 Swedish 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[]

  1. ^ "Ulf Kristersson (M) - Riksdagen".
  2. ^ "Kristersson blir M:s nya Borg". 11 December 2014.
  3. ^ Kristersson kandiderar till M-ledare Published 1 September 2017
  4. ^ a b Ahlander, Johan (29 August 2018). "Sweden needs 'humble government' after election: frontrunner". Reuters. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d "Kristersson vill bli Moderatledare". 1 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  6. ^ [1] Published 1 September 2017
  7. ^ "CV | Ulf Kristersson" (PDF). Moderate Party. 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Ulf Kristersson fjärde raka civilekonomen som styr Moderaterna". www.civilekonomen.se. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  9. ^ [TT: Nyvald ordförande kritiserar borgerlig trepartisamverkan ] Published 26 November 1988
  10. ^ Nyheter, SVT (3 September 2017). "Så stred Kristersson och Reinfeldt om makten i Muf". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  11. ^ Nyheter, SVT (20 September 2017). "Ulf Kristersson (M): Det måste du ha läst i en kommunistblaska". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  12. ^ [2] Published 18 September 1992
  13. ^ "Who is Sweden's Moderate opposition leader Ulf Kristersson?". 3 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Terms of Service Violation". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Så ska Löfven och Kristersson agera – efter valet". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  16. ^ [3] Published 30 September 2017
  17. ^ Söderström, Jan (12 October 2018). "Kristerssons jättekrasch". Aktuellt i Politiken (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Kristersson svek de stulna barnen".
  19. ^ "Ulf Kristersson blir ny minister i Reinfeldts regering - Val 2010 - Expressen". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  20. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Ulf Kristersson (M) - Riksdagen". www.riksdagen.se. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  21. ^ "Han blir Moderaternas skuggfinansminister". Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  22. ^ a b "Ex-gymnast opposition leader must be nimble to win in Sweden". 9 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  23. ^ a b c "Swedish parliament votes out PM". BBC News. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ "Novus: Moderaterna ökar". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Swedish opposition wants thougher stance". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  27. ^ Editorial, Reuters (9 September 2018). "Swedish center-right leader calls on PM Lofven to step down". Reuters. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  28. ^ SVT: Ulf Kristersson (M) får uppdraget att försöka bilda regering, 2018-10-02 (in Swedish)
  29. ^ fPlus: "Kristersson: Löfven avvisar Alliansregering - jag går vidare med sonderingar, 2018-10-10, (in Swedish)
  30. ^ Aftonbladet: "Ulf Kristersson ger upp försöken att bilda regering", 2018-10-14, läst 2018-10-14 (in Swedish)
  31. ^ Ulf Kristersson proposed as new Prime Minister by the Speaker, 2018-11-05] (in Swedish)
  32. ^ "Swedish parliament rejects center-right prime minister, deadlock continues". POLITICO. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  33. ^ "Sweden Braces for Week of Political Turmoil as Nationalists Gain". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  34. ^ Milne, Richard (5 December 2019). "Mainstream Swedish party open to working with once-spurned nationalists". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  35. ^ Milne, Richard (30 August 2020). "Sweden's right seizes on crime to warn of 'second pandemic'". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  36. ^ "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.
  37. ^ "Moderaterna ger upp försöken att bilda regering". DN.SE (in Swedish). 1 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  38. ^ "Ulf Kristersson: "Det dödliga våldet är som Sveriges andra pandemi"". 24 August 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  39. ^ "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

Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the Moderate Youth League
1988–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Moderate Party
2017–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Social Security
2010–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
2017–present 		Incumbent
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