Swedish Parliament Votes for Kristersson as Prime Minister

Niclas Rolander
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Sweden’s Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson won a vote to become the next prime minister, setting the stage for his nationalist-backed coalition to govern Nordic region’s largest economy as it heads toward a recession.

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The parliamentary ballot confirmed backing for Kristersson by four parties, including the Sweden Democrats. Now the country’s second-largest party, the anti-immigrant force will not be part of Kristersson’s center-right government, but supports him in exchange for seeing its policies on crime and migration implemented.

Kristersson, 58, replaces Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson who had been the country’s first female prime minister.

“We sought a mandate for change,” Kristersson said at a news conference after the vote. “It will be hard and it will take time, but it will be possible.”

The Moderate leader will announce his list of ministers on Tuesday followed by a meeting with the King, marking his formal ascension. Elisabeth Svantesson, who has been the Moderates’ spokesperson on economic policy for the last five years, is widely expected to become the next finance minister.

An avid long-distance runner, Kristersson emerged as party leader five years ago. He has cabinet experience from about a decade ago, having served as social security minister in a previous Moderate-led government, and holds a degree in economics from Sweden’s Uppsala University.

One of the first tasks for the Kristersson government is to agree on spending plans for 2023, at a time when households are being squeezed by rising prices and the central bank’s response to inflation is increasing costs for borrowers. That is widely seen leading to a recession, with the Riksbank currently projecting gross domestic product to contract by 0.7% next year.

While Sweden’s public debt burden is low, giving room to support vulnerable households, Kristersson has vowed to adhere to rules that stipulate that the government should post a surplus of 0.33% of GDP over an economic cycle.

“We will respect the fiscal policy framework, and we won’t run an expansionary policy in the current situation,” Kristersson said.

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