Sweden election: Ulf Kristersson’s transformation

Before the 2018 election, Ulf Kristersson reportedly made a promise. Like other leading Swedish politicians of the time, the leader of the bourgeois moderates also visited Holocaust survivor Hédi Fried, a moral authority in the country. Fried warned of the threat to democracy she saw looming. Kristersson, she later said, vowed not to agree to cooperation with the Swedish Democrats. Now, after Sunday’s election, there is every indication that Ulf Kristersson will become the new prime minister – and that his government will depend on the support of right-wing populists.

Matthias Wysuwa

Political correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.

Kristersson was born in Lund in December 1963 and grew up near Eskilstuna, a good 100 kilometers west of Stockholm. Since taking the lead from the moderates in late 2017, he has wondered how the party should deal with the Swedish Democrats.

Right-wing populists were isolated in parliament for a long time. Kristersson’s predecessor as party leader stumbled when she once raised the possibility of us working together. After the 2018 election, Kristersson tried to confirm himself as prime minister in parliament, but two bourgeois parties refused to support him – they wanted to prevent any influence from the Swedish Democrats.

moving away from past vows

One of the two, the Liberals, reversed that decision. You’ve returned to the middle-class camp and, like Kristersson, made it clear before the election that you’re ready for the Swedish Democrats to support you. So it will come now.

Kristersson, who is married and adopted three girls from China with his wife, drew attention from the start of his party. The economist moved to the Reichstag in 1991 and was president of the youth association until 1992 – until he lost to Fredrik Reinfeldt in the council election. Reinfeldt belonged to the conservative wing, Kristersson to the liberal. Reinfeldt was prime minister from 2006 to 2014, and Kristersson served as minister for four years. After his electoral defeat, Reinfeldt wrote a book.

He described the Swedish Democrats as a party that essentially unites racists and xenophobia and attracts voters who are dissatisfied with their lives and the area they live in. Kristersson, however, officially welcomed Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of this party, for the first time a good year after meeting Hédi Fried.

Now he has to negotiate the price for supporting the right-wing populists with Åkesson. It can’t be easy, Swedish Democrats have risen to become the second strongest force in parliament – ​​Kristersson’s moderates are only in third place.