Björn Söder

Björn Olof Söder^[1] (born 3 January 1976) is a Swedish politician of the nationalist Sweden Democrats. He is the current party secretary of the Sweden Democrats and a member of the Swedish parliament following the 2010 general election.^[2]

Background and education

Söder was born in Väsby, Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, where he also grew up.^[1] After he had completed upper secondary education (gymnasium) in 1995 he began engineering studies at the Lund Institute of Technology.^[1] Between 1997 and 1998 he made his compulsory military service at the K 3 regiment in Karlsborg.^[1] After finishing his military service he started to study again but took a break between 2000 and 2002 to work as an information technology consultant.^[1] He finished his studies in 2004 when he earned a Master of Engineering degree in chemical engineering from the Lund Institute of Technology.^[1]

Political career

Söder first joined the Swedish Progress Party in 1991 but left the party in 1994 after internal struggles and instead joined the Sweden Democrats.^[1] He was elected as a substitute member of the party board in 1997 but left the board to serve as secretary of the Sweden Democrat Youth between 1998 and 2000.^[1] Between 1998 and 2002 he was a member of the municipal council in Höör Municipality for the Sweden Democrats.^[1] In 2001 he was again elected as a member of the party board and later the same year of the party executive committee.^[1] In the same year he was also elected as a member of the church assembly of the Diocese of Lund and as a substitute member of the church assembly of the Church of Sweden.^[1]

At the Sweden Democrats' national meeting in 2003 Söder was elected as deputy party chairman.^[1] He left this post at the national meeting in 2005 when he was elected as party secretary.^[1] In 2005 he was once again elected as a member of the church assembly of the Diocese of Lund and as a full member of the church assembly of the Church of Sweden.^[1] Between 2006 and 2010 Söder was a member and party group leader of the Sweden Democrats in the Scania Regional Council as well as a member of the municipal council in Helsingborg Municipality.^[1]

In the 2010 general election the Sweden Democrats for the first time entered the Swedish parliament with 5.70% of the votes and Söder, placed second on the party's national ballot, was elected as a Member of Parliament along with 19 other Sweden Democratic politicians.^[2] On 24 September 2010 he was elected as group leader of the Sweden Democrats in the Swedish parliament.^[3] In October 2010, Söder publicly expressed his support for a spree shooter in the city of Malmö, and expressed his wish for "at least 100 dead" at the hands of the would-be killer.

References