Fredrik Reinfeldt
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Fredrik John Reinfeldt (born August 4, 1965) is a Swedish politician and the current leader of the Swedish liberal conservative Moderate Party (Moderata samlingspartiet). He was elected Party Leader on October 25, 2003, succeeding Bo Lundgren.
Biography
Reinfeldt was born in Täby. He joined the Moderate Youth League (Moderata Ungdomsförbundet or MUF) in 1986. He was elected a Member of Parliament in the parliamentary elections 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 president of the Moderate Youth League.
Under Reinfeldt's leadership, the Moderate Party has changed its rhetoric and started 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 vehement in his criticism of the Swedish welfare state than his predecessors. 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 middle.
Bibliography
- (1993) Det sovande folket
- (1993) Projekt Europa: sex unga européer om Europasamarbetet
- (1995) Nostalgitrippen
- (1995) Stenen i handen på den starke
- (2001) Väljarkryss: personvalshandbok
| Preceded by: Bo Lundgren | Leader of the Swedish Moderate Party 2003— | Succeeded by: Incumbent |