Fredrik Reinfeldt
Prime Minister of Sweden
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 October 2006
Monarch: Carl XVI Gustaf
Deputy: Maud Olofsson
Preceded by: Göran Persson
President of the European Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2009
President: José Manuel Barroso
Preceded by: Jan Fischer
Succeeded by: Herman Van Rompuy
Born: 4 August 1965 (age 44)
Österhaninge, Sweden
Political party: Moderate Party
Spouse(s): Filippa Reinfeldt
Residence: Sager Palace
Alma mater: Stockholm University
Profession: Economist
Religion: Agnostic
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John Fredrik Reinfeldt (born 4 August 1965 in Österhaninge, Stockholm County, Sweden) is the current Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and the current President of the European Council. He is married to politician Filippa Reinfeldt.
A native of Stockholm County, Reinfeldt joined the Moderate Youth League in 1983, and by 1992 had risen to the rank of chairman, a position he held until 1995. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1991, representing his home constituency. Following the 1994 defeat of the Moderate-led coalition government, Reinfeldt adopted a critical stance against the party leadership under Carl Bildt, which resulted in isolation within the party. However, following a change of leadership in 1999 and a bad result in the 2002 election, Reinfeldt gradually gained influence within the Moderate Party.
Reinfeldt was elected party leader on 25 October 2003, succeeding Bo Lundgren. Under his leadership, the Moderate Party has transformed its policies and oriented towards the centre, branding itself “the New Moderates” (Swedish: Nya moderaterna). Following the general elections held on 17 September 2006, Reinfeldt was elected Prime Minister by the new parliament on 5 October and presented his cabinet the following day. Together with the three other political parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden, Reinfeldt presides over a coalition government with the support of a narrow majority in the parliament. At the age of 41, he was the third youngest person to become Prime Minister of Sweden.
Early life and education
In 1965, Fredrik Reinfeldt was born at Allmänna BB hospital in Stockholm as the oldest of three brothers to his parents Bruno 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, England 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.[1][2]
At the age of 11, Reinfeldt became chairman of the student council (Swedish: 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. He also enjoyed setting up and performing revues and cabarets. After school, Reinfeldt completed his military service as a ranger (Swedish: lapplandsjägare) at Lapplands jägarregemente 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 (Swedish: värnpliktsriksdagen).[1][2] Reinfeldt graduated from Stockholm University with a degree in Business and Economics (Swedish: civilekonomexamen) in 1990.[3]
Political career
Reinfeldt joined the Moderate Youth League—the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party[4]—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.[1] Reinfeldt, who is said to dislike hard liquor and to consume wine and beer in moderate amounts,[1] started “Conservative Youth” (Swedish: Konservativ ungdom) and formed a bond with the mother party, eventually taking over the youth league in 1987. In 1988, he became a secretary (Swedish: borgarrådssekreterare) in the Stockholm Municipality Council.[1]
He was active in student politics while studying at Stockholm University, eventually becoming chairman for the student party “Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition ‘68″ between 1988 and 1989.[3] In 1990, he became chairman of the Moderate Youth League in Stockholm, and in 1991 Reinfeldt was elected a member of the Riksdag—the Swedish Parliament.[3] 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.[1]
