Forssell joined the Moderate Youth League (Swedish:Moderata ungdomsförbundet) in 1992. He served as chairman of the Moderate School Youth from 1998 to 1999 and was elected as member of the board of the Moderate Youth League in 2000. He was elected as new chairman of the Moderate Youth League on 20 November 2004,following the resignation of Christofer Fjellner. He served on this post until 25 November 2006,when he was succeeded by Niklas Wykman.
In the general election held on 17 September 2006,Forssell was elected a member of the Riksdag. As the new cabinet was announced on 6 October,Forssell was appointed as Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. He left his place in the Riksdag following his new appointment.
In September 2007,Forssell resigned from the position of Chief of Staff and become the Moderate Partys planning manager for the 2010 general election. Following the 2010 election,he returned to the Riksdag where he serves as member of the Defence Committee.
In October 2022 he was appointed as Minister for Foreign Trade and International Development Cooperation in the cabinet of Ulf Kristersson. Forssell stated the government would scrap the goal that at least 1% of GDP would be used in foreign aid,the goal being to prioritize the quality of the aid sent and spend more money internally in Sweden.[4]
In September 2024 Ulf Kristersson reshuffled his cabinet and Migration Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard was made the new Minister for Foreign Affairs. Forssell was appointed to replace her as Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy. He stated that he intended to keep with Stenergard's policies and maintain Sweden's lowest immigration numbers of the 21st century,as achieved under his predecessor.[5]
Exposure of son's far-right activities
In July 2025,it emerged that Forssell’s teenage son had been involved in far-right extremist circles.[6] According to Expo,he had participated in activities organised by Aktivklubb Sverige,a network linked to white nationalist and fascist ideologies,and had attempted to recruit others to Det fria Sverige,a nationalist organisation advocating for an ethnically defined Swedish nation. He had also been in contact with the Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR),a neo-Nazi group designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States.[6] The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) informed Forssell of his son’s involvement,which had reportedly ended and did not result in any criminal suspicion. Forssell vowed to stay on as minister;[7] however the incident prompted criticism from opposition parties[8] and led to him being called before the Riksdag's Committee on Social Insurance.[9]
Other activities
World Bank,Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (since 2022)[10]
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