Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt (born
August 4,
1965) is a
Swedish politician and the current leader of the
liberal conservative Moderate Party (
Swedish:
Moderata samlingspartiet). He was elected party leader on
October 25,
2003, succeeding
Bo Lundgren.
Reinfeldt was born in the village of Österhaninge, in
Haninge,
Södermanland; and was brought up in
Tensta,
Stockholm. He joined the
Moderate Youth League (
Moderata Ungdomsförbundet or MUF) in
1983, and was active in student politics at
Stockholm University, where he graduated in Economics (
civilekonomexamen) in 1990.
He was elected a
member of the
Riksdag (
riksdagsledamot) in the
general election of 1991, in which the Moderate Party and its allies had considerable success, leading to the formation of the first
centre-right government in Sweden since
1982, under Moderate
Prime Minister Carl Bildt.
From
1992 to
1995, Reinfeldt was the chairman of the Moderate Youth League. He ousted the former chairman,
Ulf Kristersson at the controversial congress known as
The Battle of Lycksele.
Under Reinfeldt's leadership, the Moderate Party has adjusted its position on the
political spectrum, moving towards the centre, starting to focus their calls for
tax cuts on low- and middle-income groups, rather than on major tax cuts more to the benefit of high-income earners. Also, Reinfeldt tends to be less forceful in his criticism of the
Swedish welfare state than his predecessors. Reinfeldt has been described as a
communitarian. People both within and outside the party differ on their analysis of this, with some arguing that the party is mainly honing the way it describes its visions, and others suggesting that it constitutes a substantial policy change towards the centre.
He lives in
Täby,
Uppland, with his wife Filippa, who is a local Moderate Party councillor (
kommunalråd), and their three children.
* (
1993)
Det sovande folket* (
1993)
Projekt Europa: sex unga européer om Europasamarbetet* (
1995)
Nostalgitrippen* (
1995)
Stenen i handen på den starke* (
2001)
Väljarkryss: personvalshandbok* Fredrik Reinfeldt is a fan of
Djurgårdens IF.
