Party and government leader
Swedish Prime Minister Löfven resigned
Stefan Löfven will step down from the office of Prime Minister. Photo: John Minchillo / POOL AP / dpa
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“It’s been seven fantastic years,” said Stefan Löfven about his reign in the course of his resignation. His successor could make for a novelty.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has resigned after seven years as Prime Minister of the Scandinavian EU country.
The 64-year-old Social Democrat submitted his resignation to Parliament’s President Andreas Norlén on Wednesday, as live recordings from Stockholm showed.
The move does not come as a surprise: Löfven announced in August that he would retire first as head of the party and then as head of government. Last week he had already handed over the chairmanship to the previous finance minister Magdalena Andersson, who – according to Löfven’s hope – will inherit him in the highest political office in the country. She would be the first woman to become the Swedish Prime Minister.
“It’s been seven fantastic years,” said Löfven after the meeting with Norlén. “I am proud that as a working-class boy from Sunnersta in Ådalen, I had the fantastic privilege of running our country during these years.” The former union leader was alluding to his roots in the working class. He said he made every decision in terms of what was best for Sweden.
A calm, experienced politician
Löfven was born in Stockholm in 1957, but grew up as a foster child in a working-class family in Sunnersta in northern Sweden. He broke off studying social work and instead worked as a welder for an armaments company. At the same time, he made his way up in the Swedish metalworkers’ union. In 2012 he became party leader of the then ailing Social Democrats. He is considered a calm, experienced political figure.
With the current approach, Löfven wants to give his successor the opportunity to position himself better before the next parliamentary election in late summer 2022. The past few years at the top of the government were difficult for him: Not only did his country decide to take a controversial special path without lockdown and with rather loose restrictions in the Corona crisis. Gang crime has also become a major problem in Sweden. In addition, following the emergence of the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, parliamentary majorities have long been very fragile.
Andersson is now likely to inherit all of these challenges – but the 54-year-old will not automatically become the new Prime Minister: Norlén is now first exploring who has the best chances of being able to form the next government. That should ultimately come down to Andersson. However, it then first has to face a vote in the Swedish parliament, which could take place next week at the earliest. Until then, Löfven will remain in office. In view of the tight majority, Andersson has to convince other parties not to oppose them in such a vote.
The Social Democrats have been ruling Sweden together with the Greens in a minority government for years. Löfven has been Prime Minister since October 2014. In the summer of 2021, he had resigned once during a major government crisis, but was re-elected as head of government a few days later by parliament.