This is an important obstacle in the way of Magdalena Andersson taking over the job from Stefan Löfven.
Two weeks ago, Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson (54) was elected the new leader of the Swedish Social Democrats.
Now one obstacle remains for her to become Sweden’s new prime minister after Stefan Löfven. She must secure support from SV’s Swedish sister party, Vänstern. On Tuesday morning, she had to ask for more time to talk to Vänstern. They had not been able to agree.
There is only one year until the election and no one wants extra elections. Most therefore expect her to be Sweden’s first female prime minister.
So who is she really?
–Comes from elite school
For seven years as Minister of Finance, she has been one of Stefan Löfven’s most important employees. But Magdalena Andersson, Magda among friends, has a different background than her predecessor.
Stefan Löfven came from a traditional working class background. He grew up with a foster family in Sollefteå, trained as a welder and made a career in the trade union movement.
Andersson grew up in the university city of Uppsala. The parents were teachers at high school and university. As a teenager, she was an elite-level swimmer. She herself has a strong academic background, graduated with a master’s degree in economics from «Handels», the prestigious Stockholm School of Economics. There she also met her husband, Richard Friberg, who works as a professor of economics at the school. Andersson also has studies from Harvard on his CV. As a 17-year-old, she joined the party.
However, her predecessors throughout party history have come from different backgrounds. That Andersson comes from academia, therefore, does not mean anything in itself, says Ulf Bjereld, professor at the University of Gothenburg and himself an active social democrat.
As Minister of Finance, you have to limit yourself a little. It is therefore difficult to say how she will stand out from Löfven, says Ulf Bjereld.
– But she is a better rhetorician and better debater. She wants to make a stronger impression, I think.
She is described as more temperamental and tough in rhetoric than her predecessor. She is seen as more straightforward than Löfven, more uncompromising and less good at «small talk». And she has a sharp sense of humor, says Bjereld. But like Löfven, she is pragmatic.
– She can go a little to the left and a little to the right, depending on the circumstances, he says.
Inherits lots of problems
When she was elected party leader, Andersson said that “every stone should be turned” in the fight against gang crime and segregation. SVT’s commentator Mats Ericsson said that she appeared as one «Gray sauce with baton».
But Bjereld says that no one expects her to end crime overnight if she now becomes prime minister. On the other hand, he thinks there are high expectations in her own party that she must talk more about social issues, such as a better health care system. Another key issue is the fight against private schools being allowed to take out dividends.
Political scientist Therese Reitan at Södertörn University College points out that Andersson inherits a very difficult political situation if she becomes head of government.
– She must find her contacts and which buttons she can press in contact with the other parties to avoid stepping on their toes. She must weigh the words on gold weight, says Reitan.
–The election in 2018 gave none of the traditional blocs in the Riksdag a majority. Stefan Löfven therefore entered into an agreement with the bourgeois parties Center Party and Liberals to retain power. Many Social Democrats believe that politics became too blue. At the same time, the Center Party demanded that the Vänstern party on the far left should have no influence.
Now Vänstern has had enough and says they do not want to be a doormat for the Social Democrats. This summer it led to a government crisis. The Left therefore demands some concessions before supporting Andersson. They want a higher pension for those who come out the worst. But just as important is to be seen and heard. If and when Andersson has received the Left’s blessing, there will be a vote in the Riksdag.
An important obstacle
However, Reitan reminds that it will take very little to spoil the necessary majority when the Riksdag is to vote on a new prime minister.
– But if someone is stuck in the elevator or becomes ill, the entire vote count can tip right or wrong, Reitan says.
Afterwards, there will also be a battle over the budget, which must have the support of a majority.
–Party and party
In addition, both Reitan and Bjereld point out that Andersson must try to gather his own party. Bjereld believes it will be her biggest challenge. It has, for example developed strong subgroups in the party that has become very strong.
– The subgroup Reformists will pull the party further to the left. Some believe that the group has grown a little too large and has become a kind of party within the party. These are the kind of things she has to deal with, says Reitan.
In Sweden, there are many who are impatient after the country, which considers itself the world’s most equal, gets a female prime minister. Next year is the election. It will be Magdalena Andersson’s big test.
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