Annie Lööf

Annie Lööf

Annie Lööf in June 2016
Leader of the Centre Party
Assumed office
23 September 2011
Party secretary Michael Arthursson
Preceded by Maud Olofsson
Minister for Enterprise
In office
29 September 2011 – 3 October 2014
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
Preceded by Maud Olofsson
Succeeded by Mikael Damberg
Member of the Riksdag
Assumed office
17 September 2006
Constituency Jönköping County
Personal details
Born (1983-07-16) 16 July 1983
Värnamo, Sweden
Political party Centre Party
Spouse(s) Carl-Johan Lööf
Children Ester Lööf
Alma mater Lund University
Occupation Politician
Website annieloof.se

Annie Marie Therése Lööf (Swedish: [ˈløːv]; born Johansson 16 July 1983, Maramö, Värnamo Municipality, Småland) is a Swedish politician. She has been a Member of the Riksdag, representing her home constituency of Jönköping County, since 2006, and leader of the Centre Party since 2011.[1] Lööf served as Minister for Enterprise from 2011 to 2014, in the later Reinfeldt Cabinet.

Biography

Annie Lööf was born and raised in the small village of Maramö, near Värnamo. During her last year at Finnvedens Secondary School in Värnamo, where she studied social sciences, she developed an interest in politics, and at the end of 2001 she joined the Centre Party. During the 2002 general election she was employed as an election agent for the party's youth organization (CUF) in Jönköping County and in the same year she won a Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship, which gave her the chance to immerse herself in international peace and environmental issues at the UN Headquarters in New York.[2] After the election she enrolled to study law at Lund University and was awarded a degree in law in August 2011.

In the general election of 2006 she was elected to the Riksdag, being at that time the youngest member of the legislature.[3]

In January 2007, together with her colleague Fredrick Federley, Lööf initiated the Liberal Group, a network of liberal-minded people both inside and outside the Riksdag. She has also been the vice president of CUF. For several years she served on the board of the Nordic Centre Youth Federation, Scandinavia's second largest youth organization.

In 2008 Lööf was awarded the "Young European Leadership Program" grant from the United States Embassy.

Career

Assignments

Before she became a minister and party leader, Annie Lööf was member of the Committee on Finance, the War Delegation and a vicepresident of the Committee on Justice and first Deputy House Leader for the Centre Party's parliamentary group and member of the party's executive board. She has served as a member on several government commissions, including the E-Publicity Committee, the investigation of the police needs of signal intelligence and in the signals intelligence committee, which evaluated the National Defence Radio Establishment activities.

During her two terms, she has been active in municipal politics in Värnamo, as deputy of the City Council from 2002 to 2004, as member of the Citizens' Board from 2002 to 2004, as well as ordinary municipal councillor from 2006 to 2007. Lööf was also elected to the local councils for Värnamo in 2010, but left the mission because of many national commitments. Until 2008 Lööf was a substitute to the Nordic Council's Swedish delegation, and the pre-term in office she worked for the Committee on the Constitution as a member. In addition to her duties as member of the Riksdag, Lööf has for four years been a member of the Youth Board's advisory council and for two years in the Director of Coompanion - Cooperative Development Sweden.

After the 2010 general election, Lööf was elected chairman of the National Post-Election Analysis Group the Centre Party appointed. The Analysis Group presented its report in January 2011. The same year she became Spokesperson for Financial and Economic Affairs of her party.[4] On 31 August 2011 the Centre Partys Nomination Commité proposed Annie Lööf as the Party President and on the party's congress in Åre on 23 September she was elected by acclamation.[5]

Party leader and Minister for Enterprise

Lööf at the "Stora Tillväxtdagen" (Major Growth Day) in April 2012

Lööf was elected leader and party president on 23 September 2011, succeeding Maud Olofsson, in the at the party congress in Åre. She thus became the Centre Party's youngest-ever party leader.

On 29 September 2011 Lööf succeeded Maud Olofsson as Minister for Business and Enterprise. She also saw to replace Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren with Lena Ek, former MEP, and gave birth for to new cabinet post Minister for IT and Energy who Anna-Karin Hatt (former candidate for the party leadership) was given. The Minister for Rural and Farming Affairs, Eskil Erlandsson kept his seat.

During Almedalsveckan 2012, in her address at the Centre Party gathering, Lööf criticized the government of which she was a part for its inability to keep up the pace of reform that had been a leading part of the Alliance platform in 2006, and urged a revival. "The joint project has lost momentum. Project embers have died down," she said.[6] These points were met with fierce opposition from the other cabinet parties, mainly from the Christian Democrats and the party secretary Acko Ankarberg.[7] The speech also drew attention because of the caustic review by Social Democrat former minister of culture Marita Ulvskog: "New speechwriter for Annie Lööf? unfortunately didn't help. Credibility none. Would work in Top Model, not in reality" she wrote on Twitter.[8] Ulvskog later apologized for some of the wording.

On 6 August 2012 Lööf dismissed Christina Lugnet, the Director-General of Tillväxtverket, after it had become known that Lugnet's government agency had spent approximately 16 million SEK on mostly internal representation over a brief period of time: banquets, kick-offs, hotel stays for its personnel and conferences.[9] This was out of bounds under Swedish law and by the agency's own rules.[10]

On 8 August, it became known that Lööf used taxpayers' money for a number of restaurant visits, including banquets for her staff.[11] A memo was revealed to have amounted 20 000 SEK.[12] The Centre Party has subsequently repaid these expenses to the treasury, as it was for party activities.[13]

After the parliamentary election 2014, Lööfs trust figures were dramatically were raised. In 2017, Annie Lööf were the party president with highest figures of trust by the voters of all the party leaders.[14][15]

Personal life

Lööf is the daughter of Centre Party politician Hans-Göran Johansson, the current Mayor of Värnamo Municipality. On 30 July 2011 Lööf married Carl-Johan Lööf. They adopted Lööf as their common surname.[16] On 10 September 2015 she gave birth to a daughter.[17] They live in Nacka, Stockholm.

References

  1. ↑ "Enig centerrörelse valde Annie Lööf till ny partiordförande" (Press release) (in Swedish). Centre Party. 23 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Vi får inte glömma Nigerdeltat (Almedalsveckan – fredag" (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Födelseår". Sveriges Riksdag. Archived from the original on 15 October 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Centerpartiets förnyelse i fokus när nya talespersoner utses" (Press release). Centerpartiet. 8 October 2010. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  5. ↑ TT (23 September 2011). "Annie Lööf redo för rivstart". GöteborgsPosten. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "Lööf want to see a reawakening (in Swedish)". Expressen. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Cold war in the Alliance (in Swedish)". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "S-leader: "It shows too little respect" (in Swedish)". Expressen. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Christina Lugnet gets fired from Tillväxtverket (in Swedish)". Expressen. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Against their own rules. (in Swedish)". di.se. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  11. ↑ "Lööf get criticized – from all sides. (in Swedish)". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Here is the minister's tavern bills. (in Swedish)". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  13. ↑ "Olof Johansson (C): "They can afford it.". (in Swedish)". Expressen. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Annie Lööf ny etta på förtroendelistan - DN.SE". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  15. ↑ TT. "Annie Lööf i förtroendetopp". SvD.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  16. ↑ "Centerpolitikern Annie Johansson har gift sig – Kvällsposten". Expressen. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "Annie Lööf har fött barn". Retrieved 12 July 2017.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Annie Lööf.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Maud Olofsson		 Leader of the Swedish Centre Party
2011–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Maud Olofsson		 Minister for Enterprise
2011–2014 		Succeeded by
Mikael Damberg
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