Stefan Löfven
Stefan Löfven | |
---|---|
Carl XVI Gustaf | |
Prime Minister | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
Deputy | Carina Moberg Mikael Damberg |
Preceded by | Håkan Juholt |
Succeeded by | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
Member of the Riksdag for Västernorrland County | |
In office 14 September 2014 – 16 November 2021 | |
Preceded by | Agneta Lundberg |
Succeeded by | Anna-Belle Strömberg |
Personal details | |
Born | Kjell Stefan Löfvén 21 July 1957 Stockholm, Sweden |
Political party | Social Democrats |
Spouse | |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Sweden |
Branch/service | Swedish Air Force |
Years of service | 1976–1977 |
Rank | Private |
Kjell Stefan Löfven (Swedish pronunciation:
After leaving school and completing military service in the Swedish Air Force, Löfven trained as a welder and began employment as a metalworker, becoming active within the Swedish Metalworkers' Union (SMU) and later elected as ombudsman; following its merger with the Swedish Industrial Union (SIU) to form IF Metall, he was elected as its first president in January 2006. In January 2012, he was unanimously elected leader of the Social Democratic Party by its executive board following the resignation of Håkan Juholt, becoming the Leader of the Opposition despite not holding a seat in the Riksdag at the time.[2][3]
Löfven led the Social Democrats into the
On 22 August 2021, Löfven announced that he would retire as leader of the Social Democrats at the November party congress, and would then resign as prime minister upon the election of his successor.[8] In September 2021, it was confirmed that Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson would be the only candidate at the congress to replace Löfven.[9] Andersson was elected party leader on 4 November.[10] Löfven officially resigned as prime minister on 10 November 2021, though he continued to lead a caretaker government until his successor took office on 30 November 2021.
Early life and education
Löfven was born 21 July 1957 in Aspudden, Stockholm, and his father died before he was born. He was placed in an orphanage before being looked after by a foster family from Sunnersta, Sollefteå, where he grew up. According to the agreement with this family, his birth mother would regain custody of him when she was able to; however, this did not happen.[11]
His foster father Ture Melander (1927–2002) was a lumberjack and later a factory worker, while his foster mother, Iris Melander (née Söderlund, 1929–2020),[12] worked as an in-home caregiver.[13] He studied at Sollefteå High School before starting a 48-week welding course at Arbetsmarknadsutbildningen (AMU, Unemployment Career Training) in Kramfors, and it is unclear whether he completed the course. Löfven later studied social work at Umeå University, but dropped out after a year and a half.[11]
Trade unionist
After completing his compulsory military service (as a private Munitions Systems specialist conscript) in the Swedish Air Force at the Jämtland Wing (F 4) airbase 1976–77, Löfven began his career in 1978 as a welder at Hägglund & Söner in Örnsköldsvik. Two years later, he was chosen as the group's union representative, and went on to hold a succession of union posts. In 1995, he started as an employed ombudsman in the Swedish Metalworkers' Union, working in the areas of contract negotiations and international affairs. In 2001, he was elected vice-chairman of the Metalworkers' Union; in November 2005 was elected as the first chairman of the newly formed trade union IF Metall.[2]
Political career
Löfven has been a member of the Social Democrats since the age of 13 and was active in SSU, the youth league, in his teens. Löfven was elected to the executive board of the Social Democrats in 2006, shortly after becoming chairman of trade union IF Metall.
Leader of the Social Democrats
In January 2012, following the resignation of
Löfven led his party through the 2014 European Parliament election where the Social Democrats retained their position as the largest party from Sweden in the European Parliament. However, the election results at 24.19% was a slightly inferior result than the result in the 2009 European Parliament election; the party's seats in the European Parliament was reduced from six to five[20] and the party's results was the lowest in an election at the national level since universal suffrage was introduced in 1921.
On 12 July 2014 Löfven wrote a controversial
Prime Minister of Sweden (2014–2021)
Löfven led his party through the 2014 general election, which resulted in a hung parliament.[22] Their election result of 31.0%, up from 30.7%, was slightly better than the result in the 2010 general election, but the result was also the party's second worst result in a general election to the Riksdag since universal suffrage was introduced in 1921.
He announced that he would form a
Löfven expressed a desire for bipartisan agreement between the Government and the opposition Alliance parties, and together they marked three areas where enhanced cooperation would be initiated. These three areas were the
Domestic policy
2014 budget crisis
The Government's first budget was introduced to the Riksdag on 23 October 2014. The Left Party, which had been given influence over the budget, supported it; however, the non-socialist coalition, the Alliance, introduced a competing budget to the Riksdag on 10 November, as they had promised prior to the 2014 election, and the Sweden Democrats also introduced their own budget on the same day.
According to Riksdag practice, the parties support their own budget and if their budget falls they abstain from voting in the second round. However, on 2 December, the far-right Sweden Democrats announced that, after their own budget fell in the first voting round, they would support the Alliance parties' budget in the second voting round, thus giving that budget a majority in the Riksdag. This caused a crisis for the newly elected Government, which was exacerbated after their own budget was voted down by the Alliance parties and the Sweden Democrats on 3 December. Löfven immediately announced that he would call an early election, to be held on 22 March 2015.[24]
On 22 December, sources within the Riksdag leaked information that the Government was negotiating with the Alliance parties (the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats) to find a solution and to avoid a fresh election.[25] On 27 December, the Government and the Alliance parties held a joint press conference where they announced that the six parties had reached an agreement designed to ensure that the Government's budgets would be voted through in the second round of voting. The agreement was dubbed "Decemberöverenskommelsen" (December Agreement), was called historical by Löfven and was agreed to remain in force until the 2022 election, regardless of the results of the 2018 election.[26][failed verification] Subsequently, Löfven announced that he no longer intended to call a snap election.[27] The centre-right Alliance withdrew from the agreements in 2015, but allowed the minority government to continue governing.
2015 European migrant crisis
In 2015, when a rising number of
, Europe was hit by a migrant crisis and Sweden received over 150,000 refugees in 2015.During the autumn of 2015, the reception of refugees increased significantly to over 80,000 in two months and with
On 12 November 2015, the cabinet introduced
2017 national security crisis
This section needs to be updated.(October 2019) |
In July 2017, it became known to the public that Maria Ågren, a former Director-General of the Swedish Transport Agency, had been investigated after having cleared confidential information threatening the security of the country. The act was made in connection with a procurement of IT services with a non-governmental company in 2015. Among the cleared data were wanted vehicles, armored vehicles, the entire Swedish vehicles register, Swedish company secrets, the Swedish police criminal record- and suspicion registers, the Swedish state's internal security system and information about agents within the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service.[34]
Several days after it first became public, Löfven held a press conference on 24 July 2017 where he said that "there's been an accident at the Transport Agency".
All parties within the Swedish opposition have opened up for a
Foreign policy
In his Policy Statement, introduced to the
Löfven has said that the ongoing negotiations of the
Löfven visited Iran in February 2017 and held talks with Ali Khamenei to improve economic relations.[citation needed]
Löfven has supported closer security cooperation with Saudi Arabia.[43][44][45]
On 7 January 2021, the day after the attack on the United States Capitol, Löfven called the attack an "assault on democracy" and hoped for a peaceful restoration of order, noting that President Trump and members of congress have "a great responsibility" for the ongoing events.[46]
2018 general election
Stefan Löfven vowed to make the
However, on 25 September 2018, the Riksdag approved a motion of no confidence against Löfven with a 204–142 vote. Löfven remained in office as head of a caretaker government.[49] While it initially looked as though the Alliance would be able to form a government, the Alliance's leaders subsequently failed to secure enough votes or abstentions to replace him.
After a record-long period of government formation, Löfven was eventually re-elected as prime minister on 18 January 2019, after an agreement was struck between the Social Democrats, Greens, Liberals, and Centre Party; the Left Party, which was not party to the agreement, decided to also abstain from voting against Löfven.
2021 government crisis
In June 2021, the
The Riksdag voted in favour of the vote of no confidence, with 181 votes in favour, 109 against, and 51 abstaining.
Resignation
In his summer speech on 22 August 2021 in Runö in
Life after politics
In 2022, Löfven was appointed by
On 14 October 2022, Löfven was elected President of the Party of European Socialists.[73]
Personal life
Löfven enjoys sports and supports the ice hockey club Modo from Örnsköldsvik[74] and the football clubs Tottenham Hotspur[75] and GIF Sundsvall.[76] He is married to politician and trade unionist Ulla Löfven and has 2 stepchildren.[77] Löfven himself has no biological children.[78]
Honours and awards
- Legion of Honour, Commander, by the President of France (8 September 2023)[79]
- H. M. The King's Medal, 12th size in gold on chain. (6 June 2022).[80]
- Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Second Class, by the President of Ukraine (2021)[81]
- Aaron Isaac Award, by the Jewish Congregation in Stockholm (2021)[82]
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External links
- Media related to Stefan Löfven at Wikimedia Commons