Status: 04.11.2021 4:56 p.m.
Sweden’s Social Democrats have elected long-time finance minister Andersson as the new party leader. The 54-year-old succeeds Prime Minister Löfven and now has a good chance of becoming the country’s first head of government.
Sweden’s Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson has been elected as the new chairman of the Swedish Social Democrats. She was the only candidate at a party conference in Gothenburg. The 54-year-old succeeds Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who resigned his posts as party and government leader in November.
Andersson now has a good chance of becoming the first female prime minister in Sweden’s history. The parliament has yet to approve her appointment as head of government.
Reorganization before parliamentary elections
The move to the top of the party does not come as a surprise. Löfven had announced in August that he wanted to give up the office of party leader and subsequently also the post of prime minister. After a long period of complicated majority relationships in the Swedish Reichstag, he wanted to put his party in a position to position itself better before the next parliamentary election in September 2022.
Löfven had been party leader since 2012 and headed the Swedish government since 2014. Andersson headed the finance department under Löfven from the beginning.