Ulf Kristersson

Ulf Kristersson was born in Lund, Skåne County, as the eldest of three children to Lars Kristersson (1938–2015) who worked with economics and teacher Karin Kristersson (née Axelsson; 1938–2020).

The family moved to Torshälla outside Eskilstuna five years later.

In his youth, Kristersson was a troupe gymnast.

Kristersson finished secondary school at S:t Eskils gymnasium in Eskilstuna.

Ulf Hjalmar Kristersson (born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish politician who has been serving as Prime Minister of Sweden since 2022.

After graduating, Kristersson did military service as a platoon commander at Uppland Regiment from 1983 to 1984 and completed a degree in economics at Uppsala University.

In connection with the 1985 Swedish general election, he was employed as a campaigner at the Moderate Youth League (MUF) in Sörmland.

On 26 November 1988, he rose to become the new Chairman of MUF, succeeding Beatrice Ask.

In 1991, the centre-right Bildt Cabinet took power, and Kristersson became an MP.

He served on the Social Security Committee.

He soon becomes a vocal critic of the government's crisis agreement with Social Democrats.

At the time, Kristersson developed a friendship with the former party leader, Gösta Bohman, who, in some respects, also supported his criticism of the Bildt Cabinet.

In 1992, Kristersson was challenged as chairman of MUF by Fredrik Reinfeldt.

The congress was preceded by considerable ideological divisions between liberals and conservatives.

All this erupted at the congress in Lycksele, which came to be known as the Battle of Lycksele.

Kristersson, the liberal alternative, lost narrowly.

It is said that his loss caused his withdrawal from front-line politics and he was subsequently known as part of the "Lost Generation" of the Moderate Party.

At the time, he was criticized for his amateurism and preference for communication over political thought.

In 1994 he also released the book Non-working Generation at Timbros publishing company.

In the book Kristersson argues against the welfare institutions in Sweden and compares these to apartheid because he considered these institutions to force people into passivity.

From 1995 to 1998, Kristersson was chief of marketing at Timbro, a free market think-tank, while also working in parliament.

Kristersson left his parliamentary seat in April 2000, feeling that the new party leader Bo Lundgren had declined his services.

Kristersson worked for two years in the private sector, mainly as communications director and VP for the internet consultancy Adcore, a dotcom crash casualty.

Kristersson was chairman of the Swedish Adoption Centre (Adoptionscenter).

During his time as chairman, information emerged that the centre handled adoptions of children trafficked from China.

He returned to active politics in 2002 as Commissioner (Mayor) for Finance in Strängnäs and served there until 2006.

In 2006, he was appointed Vice Mayor (Socialborgarråd) in Stockholm, responsible for the social welfare and labor division.

During this time Kristersson got a rental contract for a five-room apartment in central Stockholm from Ersta Diakonisällskap.

Ersta Diakonisällskap describes its basic purpose as "to be a support for people in vulnerable situations, to take social responsibility and to offer care."

Due to that, Stockholm city was contracting and gave economical aid to Ersta Diakonisällskap, that, among other things provided for housing for those in social need.

An investigation was started and Kristersson and another person in the associations leadership were suspected of bribery.

According to an internal policy document, the apartments in the building were reserved for those newly employed by the association and students at Marie Cederschiöld högskola.

The investigation was closed with the motivation that Kristersson did not have direct influence over the aid that the association could give.

Fredrik Reinfeldt also asked Kristersson to lead the committee responsible for developing a new family policy for the party.

He previously served as Minister for Social Security from 2010 to 2014 and as Chairman of the Moderate Youth League from 1988 to 1992.

On 11 December 2014, he was appointed Shadow Finance Minister of the Moderate Party and economic policy spokesperson.

He has been the leader of the Moderate Party (M) since October 2017 and a member of the Riksdag (MP) for Södermanland County since 2014 and for Stockholm County from 1991 to 2000.

On 1 October 2017 Kristersson was elected party leader of the Moderate Party after Anna Kinberg Batra stepped down.

Under his leadership, M has opened up to the Sweden Democrats (SD) and, by late 2021, had formed an informal right-wing alliance with them and two centre-right parties of the dissolved Alliance.

In the 2022 Swedish general election, that bloc obtained a majority in the Riksdag, leading to Kristersson's election as Prime Minister on 17 October.