Elsa Widding | |
---|---|
Member of the Riksdag | |
Assumed office 26 September 2022 | |
Constituency | Stockholm County |
Personal details | |
Born | Biskopsgården,Sweden | 24 January 1968
Political party | Independent (2023–present) |
Other political affiliations | Sweden Democrats (2022–April 2023) MoD (2024-01-05–2024-01-26) |
Alma mater | Chalmers University of Technology |
Occupation | Engineer,energy consultant |
Elsa Britt Madeleine Olefjord Widding (born 24 January 1968) is a Swedish politician,author and commentator.
She was an advisor to the Swedish government on energy and infrastructure issues,and gained public notice in 2009 for her opposition to the state-run energy company Vattenfall buying out Dutch energy company Nuon due to the financial consequences of the decision which became known as the Nuon affair. In the 2022 Swedish general election,she became a member of the Riksdag for the Stockholm County constituency representing the Sweden Democrats. On 1 May 2023,she left the party to become an independent politician. [1]
Widding holds a master's degree in engineering and environmental sciences[ citation needed ] from Chalmers University of Technology which she gained in 1993 and then a degree in business from INSEAD. She worked in the energy sector,first for the Norwegian energy supplier Statkraft and then for various positions at Vattenfall. Between 2008 and 2010,she was a government advisor to Sweden's Ministry of Enterprise,Energy and Communications and since 2014 has been a private consultant to energy companies. [2]
Widding gained some public prominence in Sweden in 2009 for opposing Vattenfall's buyout of Dutch energy company Nuon (now known as Vattenfall Nederland). Widding argued that Vattenfall would see a financial loss following the takeover and wrote to Vattenfall's then CFO Dag Andresen warning about the deal and stated that,in order to meet its return requirements,Vattenfall should pay a maximum of 70 billion kronor. [3] After the deal,Vattenfall was forced to heavily write down the value of Nuon,which drastically worsened Vattenfall's finances. [4] Vattenfall former CEO Lars Westerberg later testified that Widding had been right in her prediction. [5]
In 2015,she wrote in an article for Svenska Dagbladet criticizing Vattenfall's involvement in winding down coal power in Germany,which she stated was too short-term. She argued Sweden should "put on the leader's jersey and instead of shirking responsibility and just selling the coal power plants,find a way to speed up the conversion of these so that they can run them fossil-free within a reasonable time." [6] In 2019,she campaigned against Sweden's proposal to close down some of its nuclear power plants in favour of wind energy.
During her career,Widding began sharing her commentary regarding energy and climate change on her personal YouTube channel [7] [8] and on articles for the Klimatrealistern blogsite,the latter of which has been described as expressing climate change scepticism. [9] Widding has stated that she is not a climate change denier and supports increased use of renewable energy and environmental protection,but has claimed climate change activism has promoted alarmist messages presented by the media that Widding claims are highly misleading to both decision-makers and the public. [10] [11] For her views,she was named "Sweden's rowdiest woman" by Passion for Business magazine. [12]
For the 2022 Swedish general election,Widding stood as a candidate for the Sweden Democrats party in the Stockholm County constituency and was elected to the Riksdag. [13]
In 2023,Widding received criticism from other Swedish politicians including Liberal Party Minister Mats Persson after attending the Spotlight conference in Norway which has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories. Widding stated she was unaware of the organizer's beliefs and criticized Persson back,accusing him of misrepresenting her views. Following the controversy Widding announced she was leaving the Sweden Democrats after accusing the party of not supporting her,claiming "SD supports the government through the TidöAgreement. But I would have expected my party to distance itself from these abominable pretensions of which the leading representatives of the Liberals are guilty." She also affirmed that she would remain in the Riksdag as an independent MP but continuing to vote with the SD and the Moderate-led coalition. The SD responded by stating that they respected her decision but hoped that she return her seat to the party. [14] [15]
The Sweden Democrats is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2022,it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing bloc and the second-largest party in the Riksdag. It provides confidence and supply to the centre-right ruling coalition. Within the European Union,the party is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party.
The Green Party,commonly referred to as Miljöpartiet in Swedish,is a political party in Sweden based on green politics.
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is a Swedish economist,lecturer,former Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He was the last rotating President of the European Council in 2009. He is chairman of the Swedish Football Association since 25 March 2023.
Per Jimmie Åkesson is a Swedish politician and author,serving as leader of the Sweden Democrats since 2005. He has been a member of the Riksdag (SD) for Jönköping County since 2010. He previously served as leader of the Sweden Democratic Youth from 2000 until 2005.
Richard Johannes Jomshof,néLohikoski,is a Swedish politician affiliated with the Sweden Democrats (SD) party and former pop musician. He served as Secretary-General of the Sweden Democrats from 2015 to 2022 and has been a Member of the Riksdag since September 2010. In 2022,he was appointed as chairman of the Justice Committee in the Riksdag.
Anna Maria Kinberg Batra is a Swedish politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Moderate Party from January 2015 to October 2017. She was a Member of the Riksdag for Stockholm County from September 2006 to September 2018. She served as parliamentary leader from October 2010 to January 2015.
Kjell Stefan Löfven is a Swedish politician who has served as the President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 2021 and leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2012 to 2021.
Eve Carina Jessica Ståhl Herrstedt is a Swedish journalist and politician representing the Sweden Democrats in the Parliament of Sweden (Riksdag) since the 2010 election. Since 2009 she has served as the second vice-president of the Sweden Democrats (SD) and is the chairwoman of SD-Women.
Eva Magdalena Andersson is a Swedish politician and economist who has served as Leader of the Opposition since October 2022 and Leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party since 2021. She has served as a Member of the Riksdag for Stockholm County since 2014. She previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from November 2021 to October 2022,Minister for Finance from 2014 to 2021 and Chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee from 2020 to 2022.
The first cabinet of Stefan Löfven was the cabinet of Sweden between 2014 and 2018. It was a coalition government,consisting of two parties:the Social Democrats and the Green Party. The cabinet was installed on 3 October 2014,following the 2014 general election. It lost a vote of no confidence following the 2018 election,but remained in office as a caretaker government. Löfven was reelected as Prime Minister in January 2019,thus forming the second cabinet of Stefan Löfven.
Ebba-Elisabeth Busch is a Swedish politician,serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden,Minister for Energy and the Minister for Business and Industry since October 2022. She has served as Leader of the Christian Democrats since April 2015.
Julia Maria Kronlid is a Swedish politician for the Sweden Democrats and a member of the Riksdagen since the 2010 general election. She represents the Stockholm County electorate.
Martin Anders Kinnunen,is a Swedish-Finnish member of parliament for the Sweden Democrats party. He was previously the press secretary for the party,as well as leader for the party's youth organisation the Sweden Democratic Youth (SDU) between 2005 and 2007. He took over that position from Jimmie Åkesson and was succeeded by Erik Almqvist.
Alternative for Sweden is a far-right political party in Sweden. It was founded in March 2018 by Gustav Kasselstrand and William Hahne,along with other members of the Sweden Democratic Youth,who were collectively expelled from the Sweden Democrats in 2015. It advocates the forced remigration of immigrants and Sweden's withdrawal from the European Union.
General elections were held in Sweden on 11 September 2022 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag who in turn elected the Prime Minister of Sweden. Under the constitution,regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The preliminary results presented on 15 September showed the government parties lost their majority,which were confirmed by the final results published on 17 September. After a month of negotiations following the elections that led to the TidöAgreement among the right-wing bloc,Moderate Party (M) leader Ulf Kristersson was elected prime minister on 17 October. The Kristersson Cabinet is a minority government that relies on confidence and supply from the Sweden Democrats (SD).
Jessica Marie Susanne Ohlson is a Swedish politician and lawyer. She was chairman of the Sweden Democratic Youth (SDU) from September 2015 to 2017 and served as party secretary for Alternative for Sweden from 2018 to 2020. Ohlson is an assistant lawyer at her father's law firm Lars Ohlson AB in Nyköping.
Linda Lindberg is a Swedish politician of the Sweden Democrats and Member of the Riksdag since 2018. She has served as Leader of the Sweden Democrats in the Riksdag since 2023.
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven tendered his resignation on 10 November 2021,leaving his government in place as a caretaker cabinet until a new Prime Minister is elected by the Riksdag. Government formation talks commenced the following day with Magdalena Andersson,the newly-elected head of the Social Democratic party offering to lead a government. She was formally nominated to form a government by the Speaker of the Riksdag,Andreas Norlén later the same day. It was the third government formation process since the 2018 general election,the first taking a record 144 days before the formation of Löfven's second cabinet. The process took place just ten months ahead of the 2022 general election.
Romina Pourmokhtari is a Swedish politician for the Liberals. She has served as the Minister for the Environment since 2022 in the Kristersson Cabinet. She has also been a member of the Riksdag for Stockholm Municipality since 2022. She is the youngest-ever minister of a cabinet in Sweden,having ascended to her position at the age of 26.
Jamal El-Haj is a Swedish politician,trade unionist and member of the Riksdag,the national legislature. A former member of the Social Democratic Party,he has represented MalmöMunicipality since September 2018. He had previously been a substitute member of the Riksdag for Leif Jakobsson between June 2016 and September 2018.