Ulf Kristersson

Ulf Hjalmar Kristersson (born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish Moderate Party politician serving as Minister for Social Security since 2010.

Previously he was one of the vice mayors in Stockholm. He was born in Skåne and grew up there and in Södermanland. After finishing secondary school at S:t Eskils gymnasium in Eskilstuna and completing a degree in economics at Uppsala University, he was elected chairman of the Moderate Youth League in 1988. When he stood for re-election the second time in 1992, he was opposed by Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is now the leader of the Moderate Party. 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. Kristersson, the Libertarian alternative, lost narrowly. On October 5, 2010 he became Minister for Social Security.

He was predicted as a future leader of the party before his loss. 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.

In 1991 Ulf Kristersson was elected to the Riksdag and served until 2000. He worked in the private sphere before being elected a Commissioner for Finance in Strängnäs in 2003. After the landslide for the centre-right Alliance in the Stockholm municipal election in 2006, Kristersson became vice mayor with responsible for social welfare and labour division.

Kristersson was also asked by Fredrik Reinfeldt to lead the committee responsible for developing a new family policy for the party. He immediately caused controversy by suggesting that fathers must take a month of paternity leave for the family to receive all benefits. This was clearly in conflict with traditional Moderate Party policy, which has centred on individual choice.

References

• Ulf Kristersson (M)