Fredrik Reinfeldt

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John Fredrik Reinfeldt
Reinfeldt during Stockholm Pride on 03 August 2007.
Prime Minister of Sweden
Incumbent
Assumed office  06 October 2006
Monarch	Carl XVI Gustaf
Deputy	Maud Olofsson
Preceded by	Göran Persson
Born	4 August 1965 (1965-08-04) (age 42) Österhaninge, Stockholm, Sweden
Political party	Moderate Party
Spouse	Filippa Holmberg
Residence	Sager House
Alma mater	Stockholm University
Profession	Economist

John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced [ˈfreːdrɪk ˈrajnˌfɛlt] (help·info)) (born 4 August 1965, in Österhaninge) is the current Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party (Swedish: Moderata samlingspartiet).

A native of Stockholm County, Reinfeldt joined the Moderate Youth League in 1983, and by 1992 had risen to the rank of chairman, a position he held until 1995. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1991, representing his home constituency. Following the 1994 defeat of the Moderate-led coalition government, Reinfeldt adopted a critical stance against the party leadership under Carl Bildt, which resulted in isolation within the party. However, following a change of leadership in 1999 and a disastrous result in the 2002 election, Reinfeldt gradually gained influence within the Moderate Party.

Reinfeldt was elected party leader on 25 October 2003, succeeding Bo Lundgren. Under his leadership, the Moderate Party has transformed its policies and oriented towards the centre, branding itself "the New Moderates" (Swedish: Nya moderaterna). Following the general elections held on 17 September 2006, Reinfeldt was elected Prime Minister by the new parliament on 5 October and presented his cabinet the following day. Together with the three other political parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden, Reinfeldt presides over a coalition government with the support of a narrow majority in the parliament. At the age of 41, he is the third youngest person to become Prime Minister of Sweden.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Early life

Reinfeldt was born at Allmänna BB hospital in Stockholm as the oldest of three brothers to his parents Bruno and Birgitta Reinfeldt. At the time of his birth his parents lived in an apartment in Österhaninge in the south of Stockholm County, but a short time afterwards the family moved to London, England where his father worked as a consultant for Shell. Upon returning to Sweden, the family first lived in an apartment in Handen before moving to a terraced house in Bromsten in northwestern Stockholm. The Reinfeldt family was living in Bromsten when Fredrik's younger brothers, Magnus and Henrik, were born in 1969 and 1973. In 1976, the family moved into a single-family home in Täby in northeastern Stockholm County. His mother Birgitta was a leadership and management consultant, and some of her professional skills might have inspired and impressed the young Fredrik.^[1][2]

At the age of 11, Reinfeldt became chairman of the student council (Swedish: elevrådet) in his school, and became a fan of sports club Djurgårdens IF, a passion he maintains to this day. He started playing basketball for the "Tensta Tigers" while living in Bromsten (which is located adjacent to Tensta), and he continued playing for the "Tensta Tigers" after his family moved to Täby. He also enjoyed setting up and performing revues and cabarets. After school, Reinfeldt completed his military service as a ranger (Swedish: lapplandsjägare) and finished first in his class as a cadet in Umeå. It was during this time that he became interested in politics, as a representative for his regiment in the congress of conscripts in the Swedish military (Swedish: värnpliktsriksdagen).^[1][2] Reinfeldt graduated from Stockholm University with a degree in Business and Economics (Swedish: civilekonomexamen) in 1990.^[3]

[edit] Marriage and family life

In 1992, he married Filippa Holmberg. At present, Reinfeldt has moved into the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden, the Sager House, together with his wife, Filippa, who is a Moderate Party County Councillor for healthcare issues (Swedish: sjukvårdslandstingsråd) in Stockholm, and their three children, Ebba, Gustaf and Erik.^[4][5] His father Bruno Reinfeldt is also involved in local politics for the Moderate Party in Täby.^[6]

[edit] Genealogy

During the last election, a story arose that Reinfeldt's paternal great-grandfather, John Reinfeldt, was the illegitimate son of Emma Dorotea Reinfeld, a maid from Eckau in present-day Latvia, and John Hood, a black circus director from New York.^[7] Emma Dorotea Reinfeld later married the Swede Anders Karlsson, but her son John kept his mother's surname. The spelling was later changed to Reinfeldt.^[7][8][2][9] He also allegedly has italian ancestry, his paternal grandmother was related to royals Ferdinand IV and Marie Caroline of Sicily.^[8]

[edit] Political career

Reinfeldt joined the Moderate Youth League in 1983 at the age of 18. As a member of the Moderate Youth League in Täby, he challenged the leaders of the local youth league, who preferred to use the premises as a place to drink beer and wine rather than engage in discussions about politics.^[1] Reinfeldt, who is said to dislike hard liquor and to consume wine and beer in moderate amounts,^[1] started "Conservative Youth" (Swedish: Konservativ ungdom) and formed a bond with the mother party, eventually taking over the youth league in 1987. In 1988, he became a secretary (Swedish: borgarrådssekreterare) in the Stockholm Municipality Council.^[1]

He was active in student politics while studying at Stockholm University, eventually becoming chairman for the student party "Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68" between 1988 and 1989.^[3] In 1990, he became chairman of the Moderate Youth League in Stockholm, and in 1991 Reinfeldt was elected a member of the Riksdag (Swedish: riksdagsledamot).^[3] In the Swedish general election of 1991, the Moderate Party and its allies had considerable success, leading to the formation of a centre-right coalition government under Moderate Party leader and Prime Minister Carl Bildt. The 1991 government was the first centre-right government in Sweden since 1982.^[1]

[edit] Leader of the Moderate Youth League

From 1992 to 1995, Reinfeldt was the chairman of the Moderate Youth League. He ousted the former chairman, Ulf Kristersson at the controversial congress known as The Battle of Lycksele, gathering 58 of the delegates votes with Kristersson gathering 55 votes.^[10] The 1992 congress was also the culmination of a long ideological battle within the Moderate Youth League.^[2] Reinfeldt later stated that although the effects of that deep ideological division and battle in the party lingered on within the Moderate Youth League, he also felt that it was a defining moment in his life. Had he lost the battle he would most likely not be in politics today.^[1][10] During the period 1995 to 1997, Reinfeldt was chairman of the Democrat Youth Community of Europe.^[11]

At the beginning of his term as leader of the Moderate Youth League, Reinfeldt supported the government of Prime Minister Bildt, but Reinfeldt gradually changed his views and became more critical of the party leadership. In 1993, he wrote the book "Det sovande folket" (The Sleeping Nation), in which he criticized the Swedish welfare state and argued for the introduction of a neoliberalist society. Following the defeat of the Bildt government in the Swedish general election of 1994, Reinfeldt publicly criticized the Moderate Party leader, whom Reinfeldt believed had gotten too much dominance in the party.^[2]

In 1995, Reinfeldt co-authored the book "Nostalgitrippen" (The Nostalgic Trip), which described several persons in the Moderate Party leadership, including Gunnar Hökmark and Bo Lundgren, as "Carl Bildt-lookalikes". Bildt was described as being the perfect leader for the opposition to satirize; a nobleman living in the affluent Östermalm with a boyish expression and a better-than-you attitude.^[1] As for the other high party officials, the book stated that: "If everyone appears similar to Carl it confirms peoples misconceptions about the Moderate Party. It becomes a party for Carl Bildt-copies."^[10]

This provoked swift reaction from the Moderate Party leadership, who believed that Reinfeldt's criticisms had gone too far. On February 14, 1995, Reinfeldt was called to a meeting of the Moderate Party's Riksdag group, which took place in the former second chamber (Swedish: andrakammarsalen) of the Swedish parliament building, a meeting where Bildt apparently scolded him for hours.^[2] After this, Reinfeldt toned down his criticism, but was ostracized within the Moderate Party and not given any important posts until after the change of leadership when Lundgren succeeded Bildt in 1999. At that time, he was elected into a high party group, the förtroenderåd.^[1] From 2001 to 2002, Reinfeldt was chairman of the justice committee of the Swedish parliament. During this time, Reinfeldt traveled around the country gathering impressions and support at the local level of the Moderate Party.^[2][1]

[edit] Leader of the Moderate Party

Following the loss in the Swedish general election of 2002, Lundgren was forced to resign his position as leader of the Moderate Party.^[4] After the 2002 election, Reinfeldt was elected as leader of the Moderate Party parliamentary group, spokesman for economic policy and vice chairman of the parliament's finance committee. On October 25, 2003, he was unanimously elected as the new leader of the Moderate Party.^[2]

[edit] "The New Moderates"

Main article: Moderate Party

Under Reinfeldt's leadership, the Moderate Party has adjusted its position in the political spectrum, moving towards the centre. To reflect these changes, the party's unofficial name was altered to the "The New Moderates" (Swedish: De Nya Moderaterna) in order to emphasize the break with the past.^[12] The Moderate Party also calls itself "Sweden's new workers' party" (Swedish: Sveriges nya arbetarparti) which sounds similar to the Swedish Social Democratic Party which calls itself "Sweden's Social Democratic Workers' Party" (Swedish: Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti).

The Moderate Party is starting to focus more on calls for tax cuts for low- and middle-income groups, rather than on major tax cuts more benefiting high-income earners. Also, as leader of the Moderate Party, Reinfeldt has tended to be less forceful in his criticism of the Swedish welfare state than his predecessors. Reinfeldt has instead proposed reforms to Sweden's welfare state, which include cutting taxes for the lowest income earners and reducing unemployment benefits, in order to encourage the jobless to return to work.^[5] He has toned down calls within the party for dismantling large portions of the Swedish welfare state, stating that change must come gradually from the bottom up and not dictated from the top down.^[4] Reinfeldt's goal is said to be to fine-tune the welfare state, by focusing on getting people off welfare benefits and in to employment. He has worked to shift the conservatives toward the middle ground by convincing voters that he would fix rather than dismantle the public welfare system.^[5]

Reinfeldt has even extended an invitation to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, a traditional supporter of the Social Democrats and opponents to the Moderate Party.^[13] He also changed the Moderate Party's traditional stance towards the Swedish Labour and employment laws, stating that he prefers small changes instead of any radical reform.^[14]

People both within and outside the party differ on their analysis of the transformation of the Moderate Party, with some arguing that the party is mainly honing the way it describes its visions, and others suggesting that it constitutes a substantial policy change towards the centre.^[15][16][17] As a consequence of Reinfeldt's shift of the Moderate Party to the centre, the differences between the Moderate Party and their traditional opponents the Swedish Social Democratic Party have become harder to discern.^[14] In a series of radio and television debates the opposing Social Democrat leader and incumbent Prime Minister Göran Persson portrayed his opponent as a classic conservative in disguise. Persson stated that, if in power, the conservatives would tamper with Sweden's successful formula of high taxes, a large public sector and generous benefits.^[18] There is also some criticism within the party, Moderate Youth League chairman Christofer Fjellner has called Reinfeldt's political reform as "leftist rhetoric" (Swedish: vänsterretorik).^[14]

Fredrik Reinfeldt and the Alliance for Sweden 2006.

[edit] Alliance for Sweden

Main article: Alliance for Sweden

In the run-up for the Swedish general election of 2006 Reinfeldt, as leader of the Moderate Party, participated in the creation of the Alliance for Sweden which has united the centre-right in a coalition, which consists of the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and Christian Democrats. Reinfeldt is said to have been instrumental in uniting the four parties which previously were known for being notoriously divided in order to present a powerful alternative to the Social Democrats.^[4][5] The parties presented a joint election manifesto for the alliance.^[4][19]

[edit] 2006 Swedish general election

Main article: Swedish general election, 2006

Following the Swedish general election of 2006 on September 17, 2006 the Alliance for Sweden won a majority of the votes after the first count.^[20] The Moderates gathered 26.1 percent of the votes, a new record for the party which in the 2002 election had only managed to gather 15.2 percent of the votes.^[5]

Looking back at the defeat of the incumbent Social Democrats, the opinion among several members of the defeated incumbents was that the election was lost because the previous government failed to bring down unemployment, and failed to campaign on it as an issue. Ardalan Shekarabi, the former chairman for the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League, stated that "the Moderates were right strategically to focus on unemployment".^[21] Former Social Democratic minister Leif Pagrotsky stated that internal fighting, authoritarianism and perceived aggressiveness as well as a loss of appeal to the middle class and city inhabitants contributed to the election loss.^[22]

President George W. Bush and Fredrik Reinfeldt meet with the press in the Oval Office May 15, 2007.

[edit] Prime Minister

See also: Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt

After the election results were clear, the Riksdag's speaker, Björn von Sydow, asked Reinfeldt to form a coalition government, and on October 4, 2006, the new speaker, Per Westerberg, nominated Reinfeldt to be prime minister. A day later, he was elected in the Riksdag with 175 members voting in support of Reinfeldt and 169 against him succeeding to the prime ministership.

The new government assumed office at 12:00 Swedish time on October 6.^[23] At the age of 41, Reinfeldt is the third youngest person to become prime minister after Robert Themptander and Rickard Sandler.^[24]

In 2008 Reinfeldt was reported for high treason. The reason being his signing of the Lisbon Treaty, in December 2007, which transfers authority from Sweden to the EU. ^[25]

[edit] Foreign policy

As one of Europe's new conservative leaders, Reinfeldt is seen as an important ally of the United States. His party is a member of the conservative International Democrat Union, together with the Republican Party in the United States and the British Conservative Party, even though being more liberal than these. During the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Reinfeldt visited the United States to support the campaign of George W. Bush.^[26] Prior to the 2004 US presidential election, Reinfeldt again expressed his support for Bush. In an interview with the newspaper Stockholm City on March 8, 2004, Reinfeldt said that he preferred Bush over the Democratic Party contender John Kerry, and in a poll conducted by the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet in April 2004, Reinfeldt like a large majority of his party favoured Bush over Kerry.^[27]

The Moderate Party has a strong pro-European Union policy stance, and also supports Sweden joining NATO. Reinfeldt has also opposed a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, saying that the democratically elected Iraqi government should have the last say on the issue.

Reinfeldt visited Washington, D.C. on May 15, 2007, meeting with President Bush. His trip also included meetings with others, including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[28][29] This is his first visit to the United States since becoming prime minister in 2006.^[30] Bush and Reinfeldt mostly discussed climate change and free trade, focusing on the Doha Round.^[31][32][33] Young Americans for Freedom, an influential conservative organization, issued a press release ahead of Reinfeldt's visit, saying he has "done a tremendous job at modernizing his party’s message and finding electoral success in what most American conservatives would perceive as a staunch left-wing country."

[edit] Controversies and public perception

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Smear campaigns

During the run-up for the 2006 Swedish general election, Reinfeldt was subjected to a smear campaign. Mats Lindström, a staff member in the Social Democratic Party headquarters, admitted to sending e-mails accusing Reinfeldt of tax fraud, false financial declarations and only attaining his position because of his father's influence.^[34] The IP address used in the e-mails was traced to the Social Democratic Party headquarters, and party officials cooperated with Moderate Party officials and the Swedish parliament's security department in tracing the source.

Social Democratic Party Secretary Marita Ulvskog apologized and said that such behavior was completely unacceptable.^[35][36] Following the incident, Reinfeldt filed a complaint with the Swedish police,^[37] however, the matter did not result in any police action.^[38]

A short time after the e-mail campaign, images of Reinfeldt as a wolf in sheep's clothing. which depicted Reinfeldt and the Moderate Party in an unflattering light were spread internally within the Social Democratic Party and subsequently leaked to the media.^[39] Social Democratic Party spokeswoman Carina Persson confirmed that the material came from the Social Democratic Youth League, but denied the existence of an official smear campaign and stated that the material was not meant to be released or spread to a wider audience.^[40][41]

[edit] Economical conduct

During the week of the general election, Sveriges Television broadcast a program which closely examined the leaders of the two largest political parties in Sweden. The program exposed that Reinfeldt and his wife, Filippa, had used the services of several au pairs and foreign nannies, paying them less than what a Swedish employee would earn, but within the salary recommendations for an au pair.^[42]

[edit] The conduct of the cabinet

Shortly after the new cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt assumed power, it was shaken by scandals regarding the former activities of several of the new ministers. Within 14 days, two of the new ministers had resigned and another was facing criminal charges in the Minister affair at the announcement of the Reinfeldt cabinet.

[edit] Public perception

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Reinfeldt has been called a "Swedish David Cameron", insofar as he succeeded to shift the moderates from a right position to a center position in politics. On the other hand he is thought to have influenced Cameron, since the Swedish prime minister was elected party leader in 2003 -- two years before Cameron took control of the British Conservative Party in 2005. He has also been likened to former President Bill Clinton, while his wife has been likened to the former First Lady, Senator Hillary Clinton.^[5] Fredrik Reinfeldt has been described as a communitarian^[43][44]

He attended a meeting held of the Bilderberg Group in Ottawa, Canada in June 2006. The meeting was also attended by former Moderate Party leader, former Swedish Prime Minister and current Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt.^[45]

Reinfeldt's parents, Bruno and Birgitta, were both entrepreneurs -- his father ran a training company and his mother worked in recruitment. Reinfeldt has said his parents' experience of the difficulties in business life, in particular the "pretty aggressive attitude towards entrepreneurship" was one of several key factors which influenced his political activities.^[5]

In a study by SIFO, a Swedish polling institute, Reinfeldt was the "most admired man in Sweden" in 2006.^[46] Aside from the personal evaluations, the popularity of Reinfeldt's cabinet was in clear decline since the general elections in 2006^[47], from 51% to about 40% in the late 2007, a number that has since stabilized with some minor ups and downs. Similarly Fredrik Reinfeldt's share with Göran Hägglund to be one of only two party leaders whose voter confidence have deteriorated in any significant degree since September 2007^[48].

[edit] Persona

Reinfeldt has been perceived as a very controlled and harmonious person, and his apparent lack of public displays of emotion stands in contrast to his predecessor, Bo Lundgren, who on several occasions displayed fits of rage.^[2] The prime minister has been described as "gentle, pensive and a good listener" and his "cool, soft-spoken approach" is said to go down well with Swedish voters.^[4] Aware of this perception, Reinfeldt has said "I am by nature confident and calm. But that does not mean I am not passionate and do not feel strongly about things".^[5] Regarding his family life, Reinfeldt has cultivated the image of a good family man who enjoys housework.^[4][5]

[edit] Bibliography

• (1993) Det sovande folket ISBN 91-86194-10-0
• (1993) Projekt Europa: sex unga européer om Europasamarbetet ISBN 91-86194-06-2
• (1995) Nostalgitrippen ISBN 91-86194-13-5
• (1995) Stenen i handen på den starke ISBN 91-86194-14-3
• (2001) Väljarkryss: personvalshandbok ISBN 91-35288-50-1

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Ljunggren, Stig-Björn (2006). Högern att lita på! : om Fredrik Reinfeldt och de nya moderaterna. Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg. ISBN 91-7224-023-7. 
• Forstorp, Per-Anders & Palmer, Brian (2006). George W. Reinfeldt: konsten att göra en politisk extreme makeover. Stockholm: Karneval förlag. ISBN 91-976031-4-7. 
• Wiklund, Mats (2006). En av oss: en bok om Fredrik Reinfeldt. Rimbo: Fischer & Co. ISBN 91-85183-24-5. 
• Kristofferson, Ulf (2006). Fredrik Reinfeldt - i huvudrollen. Stockholm: Bonnier fakta. ISBN 91-85015-76-8. 

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Fredrik Reinfeldt

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Fredrik Reinfeldt

• Prime Minister of Sweden
• List of national leaders
• Elections in Sweden
• Government of Sweden
• Parliament of Sweden
• Politics of Sweden
• List of Bilderberg attendees

[edit] External links

• Fredrik Reinfeldt - webpage at the parliament of Sweden (Swedish)
• An interview with Fredrik Reinfeldt in The Independent (English)
• Extended biography by Fundación CIDOB (Spanish)

v • d • e Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt Present ministers: Reinfeldt • Malmström • Ask • Billström • Bildt • Björling • Tolgfors • Carlsson • Hägglund • Larsson • Husmark Pehrsson • Borg • Odell • Leijonborg • Björklund • Adelsohn Liljeroth • Erlandsson • Carlgren • Olofsson • Torstensson • Littorin • Sabuni Former ministers: Borelius (2006) • Stegö Chilò (2006) • Odenberg (2006–2007)

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