Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
Flag of Sweden
Coat of arms of Sweden
Incumbent Ebba Busch since 18 October 2022
Appointer	Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Gunnar Sträng
Formation	1 January 1975; 50 years ago (1975-01-01)
Website	Government of Sweden

The Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden (called Ställföreträdande statsminister in Swedish) is like the second-in-command to the Prime Minister. This person steps in if the Prime Minister cannot do their job for some reason. The current Deputy Prime Minister is Ebba Busch.

Sweden's rules, found in its constitution, allow the Prime Minister to pick one of the other government ministers to be the Deputy Prime Minister. If no one is specifically chosen, or if the chosen deputy cannot act, then the minister who has been in the government the longest takes over. If several ministers have served for the same amount of time, the oldest one becomes the temporary leader.

A Deputy Prime Minister can only be a temporary leader. If the Prime Minister resigns, the whole government steps down. If the Prime Minister passes away, the Speaker of the Riksdag (Sweden's parliament) must dismiss the government.

History of the Deputy Prime Minister Role
Who Has Been Deputy Prime Minister?
People with the Honorary Deputy Prime Minister Title
See also

History of the Deputy Prime Minister Role

How the Position Started

Long ago, before 1975, if the Prime Minister couldn't work, the Minister for Foreign Affairs would take over. This changed when Sweden got a new constitution in 1974. In 1976, Per Ahlmark became the first person officially named Deputy Prime Minister.

When a Prime Minister Passed Away

In 1986, something very sad happened. The Prime Minister, Olof Palme, passed away. At that time, Ingvar Carlsson was the Deputy Prime Minister. He became the temporary Prime Minister from March 1 to March 12. This is the only time a Deputy Prime Minister has had to step in because the Prime Minister passed away. After this, Carlsson was asked to form a new government, and he became the new Prime Minister.

Role in Coalition Governments

The job of the Deputy Prime Minister can be different depending on the government. In Sweden, governments are often formed by several political parties working together. This is called a coalition government.

Often, the Deputy Prime Minister is the leader of the second-largest party in the coalition. For example, in some governments, the Liberal Party or the Green Party held this role. However, the Deputy Prime Minister always has another important job as a regular minister in the government.

In 2015, there was a discussion about this role. When Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was briefly unwell, it turned out that the person with the honorary title of "Vice Prime Minister," Åsa Romson of the Green Party, was not actually the one who would take over. Instead, the longest-serving minister, Margot Wallström, would step in. This showed that sometimes the title "Deputy Prime Minister" can be more of an honorary title for a leader of a partner party, rather than meaning they are the official stand-in.

Role in One-Party Governments

In governments where only one political party is in charge, the Deputy Prime Minister's role has been different. These deputies were often older, experienced politicians. They helped coordinate the government's work and sometimes handled specific policy areas that didn't need a full-time minister. For example, Bo Ringholm was Deputy Prime Minister and also Minister of Sport.

Who Has Been Deputy Prime Minister?

This table shows the people who have served as Deputy Prime Minister in Sweden. Some are marked with a dash (–) because they were acting Deputy Prime Ministers, meaning they stepped in temporarily based on seniority, rather than being officially appointed to the role.

№		Position	Took office	Left office	Duration	Party	Prime Minister
–	Gunnar Sträng (1906–1992) Acting	Minister for Finance	1 January 1975	8 October 1976	1 year, 281 days	Social Democrat	Olof Palme (S/SAP)
1	Per Ahlmark (1939–2018)	Minister for Employment	8 October 1976	7 March 1978	1 year, 150 days	Liberal	Thorbjörn Fälldin (C)
2	Ola Ullsten (1931–2018)	Minister for Employment, Minister for International Development Cooperation	7 March 1978	18 October 1978	225 days	Liberal	Thorbjörn Fälldin (C)
–	Sven Romanus (1906–2005) Acting	Minister for Justice	18 October 1978	12 October 1979	359 days	Independent	Ola Ullsten (L)
–	Ingemar Mundebo (1930–2018) Acting	Minister for Justice	12 October 1979	1 August 1980	294 days	Liberal	Thorbjörn Fälldin (C)
(2)	Ola Ullsten (1931–2018)	Minister for Foreign Affairs	1 August 1980	8 October 1982	2 years, 68 days	Liberal	Thorbjörn Fälldin (C)
3	Ingvar Carlsson (born 1934)	Minister for the Environment	8 October 1982	28 February 1986	3 years, 143 days	Social Democrat	Olof Palme (S/SAP)
–	Svante Lundkvist (1919–1991) Acting	Minister for Agriculture	28 February 1986	9 October 1986	223 days	Social Democrat	Ingvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
–	Kjell-Olof Feldt (1931–2025) Acting	Minister for Finance	9 October 1986	16 February 1990	3 years, 130 days	Social Democrat	Ingvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
–	Lena Hjelm-Wallén (born 1943) Acting	Minister for International Development Cooperation	16 February 1990	27 February 1990	11 days	Social Democrat	Ingvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
4	Odd Engström (1941–1998)	–	27 February 1990	4 October 1991	1 year, 219 days	Social Democrat	Ingvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
5	Bengt Westerberg (born 1943)	Minister for Health and Social Affairs	4 October 1991	7 October 1994	3 years, 3 days	Liberal	Carl Bildt (M)
6	Mona Sahlin (born 1957)	Minister for Gender Equality	7 October 1994	16 November 1995	1 year, 40 days	Social Democrat	Ingvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
7	Lena Hjelm-Wallén (born 1943)	Minister for Foreign Affairs (1994–1998)	16 November 1995	21 October 2002	6 years, 339 days	Social Democrat	Ingvar Carlsson (S/SAP) (1995 – 1996) Göran Persson (S/SAP) (1996 – 2002)
8	Margareta Winberg (born 1943)	Minister for Gender Equality	21 October 2002	31 October 2003	1 year, 10 days	Social Democrat	Göran Persson (S/SAP)
–	Marita Ulvskog (born 1951) Acting	Minister for Culture and Sports	31 October 2003	1 June 2004	214 days	Social Democrat	Göran Persson (S/SAP)
9	Lars Engqvist (born 1945)	Minister for Health and Social Affairs	1 June 2004	1 October 2004	122 days	Social Democrat	Göran Persson (S/SAP)
–	Laila Freivalds (born 1942) Acting	Minister for Foreign Affairs	1 October 2004	1 November 2004	31 days	Social Democrat	Göran Persson (S/SAP)
10	Bo Ringholm (born 1942)	Minister for European Union Affairs	1 November 2004	6 October 2006	1 year, 339 days	Social Democrat	Göran Persson (S/SAP)
11	Maud Olofsson (born 1955)	Minister for Enterprise and Energy	6 October 2006	5 October 2010	3 years, 364 days	Centre	Fredrik Reinfeldt (M)
12	Jan Björklund (born 1962)	Minister for Education	5 October 2010	3 October 2014	3 years, 363 days	Liberal	Fredrik Reinfeldt (M)
–	Margot Wallström (born 1954) Acting	Minister for Foreign Affairs	3 October 2014	10 September 2019	4 years, 342 days	Social Democrat	Stefan Löfven (S/SAP)
–	Morgan Johansson (born 1970) Acting	Minister for Justice (2014–2022) Minister for Migration (2019–2021) Minister of the Interior (2021–2022)	10 September 2019	18 October 2022	3 years, 38 days	Social Democrat	Stefan Löfven (S/SAP) (2019 – 2021) Magdalena Andersson (S/SAP) (2021 – 2022)
13	Ebba Busch (born 1987)	Minister for Energy, Business, Industry and Innovation	18 October 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 288 days	Christian Democrat	Ulf Kristersson (M)

People with the Honorary Deputy Prime Minister Title

Sometimes, a minister is given the special title of "Deputy Prime Minister" even if they are not the official stand-in for the Prime Minister. This happened when Stefan Löfven was Prime Minister. He gave this honorary title to one of the leaders of the Green Party, which was a junior partner in his government. This system stopped when Magdalena Andersson became Prime Minister and the Green Party left the government.

	Position	Took office	Left office	Duration	Party	Prime Minister
Åsa Romson (born 1972)	Minister for the Environment	3 October 2014	25 May 2016	1 year, 235 days	Green	Stefan Löfven (S/SAP)
Isabella Lövin (born 1963)	Minister for International Development Cooperation (2016–2019) Minister for the Climate (2016–2021) Minister for the Environment (2019–2021)	25 May 2016	5 February 2021	4 years, 256 days	Green	Stefan Löfven (S/SAP)
Per Bolund (born 1971)	Minister for the Environment Minister for the Climate	5 February 2021	30 November 2021	298 days	Green	Stefan Löfven (S/SAP)