Sweden votes in Magdalena Andersson as first female PM

Many MPs gave the new prime minister (right) a standing ovation in the Riksdag.

TRN Online
24 Nov, 2021

Magdalena Andersson has been approved by Sweden's parliament as the country's first-ever female prime minister, after replacing Stefan Lofven as leader of the center-left Social Democrats.

Sweden is the only Nordic country never to have elected a woman as national leader before.

Ms. Andersson, who's currently finance minister, did not win Wednesday's vote.

However, she was elected because under Swedish law she only needed a majority of MPs not to vote against her.

A hundred years after Swedish women were given the vote, the 54-year-old Social Democrat leader was given a standing ovation by sections of the parliament, or Riksdag.

Her election at the head of a minority government followed an 11th-hour deal with the opposition Left party, in exchange for higher pensions for many Swedes. She also secured the support of coalition partner the Greens as well as the Centre party.

Of the 349 members of the Riksdag, 174 voted against her. But on top of the 117 MPs who backed Ms. Andersson, a further 57 abstained, giving her victory by a single vote.

A former junior swimming champion from the university city of Uppsala, she began her political career in 1996 as political adviser to then-Prime Minister Goran Persson. She has spent the past seven years as finance minister.

However, she faces a tough job from the outset, with opposition parties on the right saying they'll reject the government's 2022 budget later on Wednesday. The Centre party, which backed her for the job of prime minister, says it will not support a finance package from a government "moving far to the left".

As well as the uphill task of getting a budget passed, Ms. Andersson faces other big challenges as she takes on the role.

Although Sweden has a relatively low rate of Covid-19 infection, there are concerns that infections will peak next month.

The government announced on Wednesday that third Covid vaccinations would be rolled out to everyone over 18, and that vaccination passes would be required for any public gathering involving over 100 people from 1 December.