Lars Leijonborg
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Lars Erik Ansgar Leijonborg (born November 21, 1949, Täby, Uppland) is a Swedish politician. He is currently leader of the Liberal Party of Sweden (Swedish: Folkpartiet liberalerna) and Minister for Education and Research.
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[edit] Biography
Lars Leijonborg grew up in Solna north of Stockholm. In 1971 he became the leader of the Liberal Youth League (Liberala ungdomsförbundet), the Liberal Party's youth organisation. In 1974 he graduated from his studies in social work. He was party secretary 1980-1983 and editor-in-chief for the party magazine 1983-1984. After a brief period as a management consultant, he was elected a member of parliament (riksdagsledamot) in 1985. In 1990 he was became the party's second vice leader. Succeeding Maria Leissner, on March 15, 1997 he was unanimously elected the leader of the party.
Initially, voters were cold to Leijonborg, his appearance often described as tense[citation needed]. In the 1998 parliamentary elections, Folkpartiet received 4.7% of the vote, just above the 4% threshold for parliamentary representation. It was the worst election result the party had seen since the first world war. Even within the party, Leijonborg's position was questioned by many. The youth organisation he once headed openly called for his resignation. Despite the internal opposition, he managed to hold on to his position. And when, in the campaign before the 2002 parliamentary elections, the party suddenly surged after launching a proposal on making a Swedish language test one of the requirements for a naturalized Swedish citizenship, Leijonborg was nicknamed "the Lion King" (Leijonkungen) in the tabloids. The election result, 13.3%, was a success for the party and for Leijonborg personally, but since the party's centre-right partners failed to gain ground, the Social Democrats could remain in government. In 2006 the party was a part of the Alliance for Sweden, which won the election, although the Liberal Party lost almost six percentage points compared to the 2002 election, getting a total of 7,5% of the votes.
[edit] Government Minister
On October 6, 2006 Lars Leijonborg was made Minister of Education in the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt. On October 16, 2006 Leijonborg temporarily took over the responsibilities for Minister for Culture Cecilia Stegö Chilò, who resigned that day.<ref>Cecilia Stegö Chilò avgår, Svenska Dagbladet, October 16, 2006 (Swedish)</ref>
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Maria Leissner | Leader of the Swedish Liberal Party 1997— | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Leif Pagrotsky Minister for Education and Culture | Swedish Minister for Education and Research October 6, 2006— | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| Preceded by: Cecilia Stegö Chilò | Minister for Culture (acting) October 16, 2006 - October 24, 2006 | Succeeded by: Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth |
| Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt |
|---|
| Fredrik Reinfeldt (Prime Minister) • Cecilia Malmström (EU Affairs) • Beatrice Ask (Justice) • Tobias Billström (Migration and Asylum Policy) • Carl Bildt (Foreign Affairs) • Sten Tolgfors (Foreign Trade) • Gunilla Carlsson (International Development Cooperation) • Mikael Odenberg (Defence) • Göran Hägglund (Social Affairs) • Maria Larsson (Public Health and Social Services) • Cristina Husmark Pehrsson (Social Security) • Anders Borg (Finance) • Mats Odell (Local Government and Financial Markets) • Lars Leijonborg (Education and Science) • Jan Björklund (Schools) • Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth (Culture) • Eskil Erlandsson (Agriculture) • Andreas Carlgren (Environment) • Maud Olofsson (Industry and Trade, Vice Prime Minister) • Åsa Torstensson (Infrastructure) • Sven Otto Littorin (Employment) • Nyamko Sabuni (Integration and Gender Equality) |
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