Lars Erik Ansgar Leijonborg (born 21 November 1949) is a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, Minister for Higher Education and Research 2006-2009 and Head of the
Ministry of Education and ResearchThe Ministry of Education and Research is a government ministry in Sweden responsible for matters relating to schools, universities, colleges, and research.Before 1968 the ministry were called the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs....
2006-2007. During a ten-year period from 1997 to 2007, he served as chairman of the
Liberal People's PartyThe Liberal People's Party is a political party in Sweden. The party advocates social liberalism and is part of the governing centre-right coalition The Alliance, which achieved a majority in the general election of 17 September 2006...
.
He announced on the 11 June 2009 that he would be leaving the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt as soon as a successor was appointed. He was replaced by
Tobias KrantzTobias Kjell Bertil Krantz is a Swedish politician of the Liberal People's Party. He served as Minister for Higher Education and Research in the Swedish government between 17 June 2009 and 5 October 2010.- Education :...
on 17 June 2009.
Biography
Although born in
TäbyTäby is a trimunicipal locality and the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 58,593 inhabitants in 2005. It is also partly located in Danderyd Municipality and Sollentuna Municipality...
,
Stockholm CountyStockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
, Lars Leijonborg grew up in
SolnaSolna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna....
north of
StockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. In 1971 he became the leader of the Liberal Youth of Sweden (
Liberala ungdomsförbundet), the Liberal Party's youth organisation. In 1974 he graduated from his studies in social work at
Stockholm UniversityStockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
. He was
party secretaryIn politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader ....
from 1980 to 1983 and editor-in-chief for the party magazine
NU from 1983 to 1984. After a brief period as a management consultant, he was elected a member of the
RiksdagThe Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
(parliament) in 1985. In 1990 he became the party's second deputy chairman. Succeeding
Maria LeissnerMaria Leissner is a Swedish politician and former party leader of the Swedish Liberal People's Party . Between 2000-2004 she was Sweden's ambassador to Guatemala. In January 2007 she was appointed Ambassador-at-Large for Democracy.-External links:*...
, on 15 March 1997 he was unanimously elected chairman of the party.
Initially, voters were cold to Leijonborg, his appearance often described as tense. In the 1998 parliamentary elections,
Folkpartiet received 4.7% of the vote, just above the 4% threshold for parliamentary representation. It was the worst election result the party had seen since
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Even within the party, Leijonborg's position was questioned by many. The youth organisation he once headed openly called for his resignation. Despite the internal opposition, he managed to hold on to his position. And when, in the campaign before the 2002 parliamentary elections, the party suddenly surged after launching a proposal on making a Swedish language test one of the requirements for a naturalized Swedish citizenship, Leijonborg was nicknamed "the Lion King" (
Leijonkungen) in the tabloids. The election result, 13.3%, was a success for the party and for Leijonborg personally, but since the party's
centre-rightThe centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
partners failed to gain ground, the
Social DemocratsThe Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
could remain in government. In 2006 the party was a part of the
Alliance for SwedenThe Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
, which won the election, although after a scandal where leading members had hacked into a rival party's computer network, the Liberal Party lost almost six
percentage pointPercentage points are the unit for the arithmetic difference of two percentages.Consider the following hypothetical example: in 1980, 40 percent of the population smoked, and in 1990 only 30 percent smoked...
s compared to the 2002 election, getting a total of 7,5% of the votes.
On 6 October 2006 Lars Leijonborg was made Minister for Education and Research in the
Cabinet of Fredrik ReinfeldtThe cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt is the current cabinet of Sweden. It is a coalition cabinet consisting of the four parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden: the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats...
. On 16 October 2006, Leijonborg temporarily took over the responsibilities for Minister for Culture
Cecilia Stegö ChilòMarie Cecilia Stegö Chilò was the Swedish Minister for Culture for ten days, from October 6, 2006 to October 16, 2006. Prior to her appointment as a cabinet member she was Chief executive officer of the Swedish Free Enterprise Foundation , and Director of Timbro, a neoliberal, free-market...
, who resigned that day. Eight days later, on 24 October,
Lena Adelsohn LiljerothLena Elisabeth Adelsohn Liljeroth is a Swedish Moderate Party politician, Member of the Riksdag and Swedish Minister for Culture in the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt since 24 October 2006. Adelsohn Liljeroth is a journalist, a Swedish Moderate Party politician, and has been a member of the Riksdag...
assumed the post as Minister for Culture.
Leijonborg announced his resignation as party leader on 23 April 2007. He resigned from his post in September 2007. His successor as chairman, Minister for Schools
Jan BjörklundJan Arne Björklund is a Swedish politician. He is the leader of the Liberal People's Party and serves as Minister for Education and Deputy Prime Minister in the Swedish government.- Education and military career :...
also took office as the new head of the
Ministry of Education and ResearchThe Ministry of Education and Research is a government ministry in Sweden responsible for matters relating to schools, universities, colleges, and research.Before 1968 the ministry were called the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs....
. Leijonborg remained in the cabinet, keeping his political assignments as a minister for higher education and research but resigned from the government on 11 June 2009.
Leijonborg is a member of the congregationalist
Mission Covenant Church of SwedenThe Mission Covenant Church of Sweden , founded in 1878, is a Swedish Reformed free church. It is the second-largest Christian denomination in the country, after the national church, the Church of Sweden...
.
External links