Fredrik Reinfeldt

He is the longest-serving non-Social Democratic Prime Minister since Erik Gustaf Boström's first spell in office between 1891 and 1900.

John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, former Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015.

John Fredrik Reinfeldt was born in 1965 in Allmänna BB hospital in Stockholm, the eldest of three brothers to his parents Bruno (1938–2016) 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, 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.

At the age of 11, Reinfeldt became chairman of the student council (elevrådet) in his school, and became a fan of the football 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 continued to play for them after his family moved to Täby.

At his secondary school, Åva gymnasium, he studied natural science for three years.

He also enjoyed setting up and performing revues and cabarets.

After school, Reinfeldt completed his military service as a ranger (lapplandsjägare) at Lapland Ranger Regiment 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 (värnpliktsriksdagen).

A native of Stockholm County, Reinfeldt joined the Moderate Youth League in 1983.

Reinfeldt joined the Moderate Youth League—the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party —in 1983 at the age of 18.

As a member of the Moderate Youth League in Täby, he challenged the leaders of the local league, who preferred to use the premises as a place to drink beer and wine rather than engage in discussions about politics.

Reinfeldt, who is said to dislike hard liquor and to consume wine and beer in moderate amounts, started "Conservative Youth" (Konservativ ungdom) and formed a bond with the mother party, eventually taking over the youth league in 1987.

In 1988 he became a secretary (borgarrådssekreterare) in the Stockholm Municipality Council.

He was active in student politics while studying at Stockholm University, eventually becoming chairman of the student party "Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68" between 1988 and 1989.

He graduated from Stockholm University School of Business with a degree in Business and Economics (civilekonomexamen) in 1990.

He became chairman of the Moderate Youth League's Stockholm branch in 1990, and the following year was elected a member of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament).

He served as Member of Parliament from 1991 to 2014, representing his home constituency.

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.

By 1992 he rose to the rank of chairman, a position he held until 1995.

From 1992 to 1995 Reinfeldt was the chairman of the Moderate Youth League.

Reinfeldt's first term in office was marked by the late-2000s financial crisis and recession.

His premiership was characterised by "Arbetslinjen" (English: Working line), a focus on getting more people into the workforce, and by management of the late-2000s financial crisis and recession, which resulted in one of the world's strongest public finances and top rankings in climate and health care.

Reinfeldt was elected party leader on 25 October 2003, succeeding Bo Lundgren.

Under his leadership, the Moderate Party has transformed its policies and oriented itself closer to the political centre, branding itself "the New Moderates" (Nya moderaterna).

Following the 2006 general election, Reinfeldt was elected Prime Minister on 6 October.

Along with the three other political parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden, Reinfeldt presided over a coalition government with the support of a narrow majority in parliament.

At the age of 41, he was the third-youngest person to become Prime Minister of Sweden.

He was the last rotating President of the European Council in 2009.

He is chairman of the Swedish Football Association since 25 March 2023.

In 2010, under Reinfeldt's leadership, the Moderate Party got its highest share of the vote since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1921.

His popularity fell until the economy of Sweden emerged as one of the strongest in Europe; this brought a resurgence of support for him, resulting in his government's re-election in 2010.

Reinfeldt's second government was reduced to a minority government, owing to the rise of Sweden Democrats; he remained in power as the first centre-right Prime Minister since the Swedish-Norwegian Union to be re-elected..

After his defeat in the 2014 election Reinfeldt announced that he would step down from leading the party, which he did on 10 January 2015.