Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
Ställföreträdande statsminister
Incumbent
Ebba Busch
since 18 October 2022
AppointerPrime Minister
Term lengthNo fixed term
Inaugural holderGunnar Sträng
Formation1 January 1975 (1975-01-01)
WebsiteGovernment of Sweden

The deputy prime minister of Sweden (Swedish: Ställföreträdande statsminister) is the deputy head of government of Sweden. The incumbent deputy prime minister is Ebba Busch.

The Swedish constitution allows the prime minister to appoint one of the ministers in the cabinet as deputy prime minister (Swedish: ställföreträdande statsminister, sometimes unofficially known as vice statsminister), in case the prime minister for some reason is prevented from performing his or her duties. If a deputy prime minister has not been appointed, the minister in the cabinet who has served the longest time (and if there are several with equal experience the one who is oldest) takes over as head of government (these are marked in italic in the table below).

A deputy prime minister can only serve as prime minister in a temporary function, as the resignation of a prime minister automatically includes the entire Cabinet, and the Instrument of Government requires the Speaker of the Riksdag to dismiss the Cabinet in the case of the death of the prime minister.

History

Origins of the office

Historically, under the 1809 Instrument of Government, the Minister for Foreign Affairs (the "second excellency" and to date the only formal "minister" save for the Prime Minister, the other cabinet members' formal title being Councillor of State for... etc) was to function as acting Prime Minister should the Prime Minister not be able not to perform his duties. With the enactment of the 1974 Instrument of Government and the inauguration of Thorbjörn Fälldin's three-party cabinet in 1976, Per Ahlmark was formally sworn in as the first to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister.

Palme assassination

In 1986 Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson became acting Prime Minister for the transitional cabinet from March 1 to March 12, upon the assassination of Olof Palme, the only time the death of the Prime Minister has caused the Deputy Prime Minister to temporarily assume the office. Carlsson subsequently received the task of forming a new cabinet from the Speaker of the Riksdag. The cabinet was approved by the Riksdag on March 12, 1986, effectively reappointing most cabinet members in their previous offices.

Role in coalition governments

The role and position of a Deputy Prime Minister may vary. In the five last coalition cabinets, Fälldin III, Bildt and Reinfeldt I and II, and Löfven, the Deputy Prime Minister was the head of the second-largest coalition partner (Liberals in Fälldin III, Bildt and Reinfeldt II, Centre in Reinfeldt I, Green in Löfven). In the governments Fälldin I and II, however, the Deputy Prime Ministership belonged to the Liberal Party despite the fact that it was the smallest of the three members. The reason for this might be ascribed to an unwillingness on behalf of the Centre and Liberals to give this position to the Moderates, due to ideological differences. In all of these governments, however, the Deputy Prime Minister also had a regular Cabinet portfolio.

In July 2015, the office of the Deputy Prime Minister was the subject of some political debate. Following a brief illness of the social democratic Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, the Prime Minister's office revealed that the Deputy Prime Minister Åsa Romson of the Green Party, although named Vice statsminister ("Vice Prime Minister") when the cabinet took office in October 2014, was in fact not expected to temporarily assume the duties of the Prime Minister as Statsministerns ställföreträdare ("Deputy of the Prime Minister") as stated in the Instrument of Government, instead yielding to the most senior minister of the cabinet. Effectively this made the social democratic then-Foreign Minister Margot Wallström the actual deputy of the Prime Minister, due to seniority rather than appointment. It also rendered the title of Vice statsminister an honorary title, for the most senior member of the party functioning as junior partner in the governing coalition, rather than an actual function.[1]

Role in one-party governments

The situation is different in the one-party governments that have existed since the position of Deputy Prime Minister was introduced in 1976, namely the Liberal Ullsten government and the Social Democratic governments Palme II, Carlsson I-III and Persson. While Mona Sahlin might well have been described as something of a "successor-in-waiting" (even if she ultimately did not succeed Ingvar Carlsson to the Premiership), the other Deputy Prime Ministers have tended to be older and experienced politicians who have often been in charge of coordinating the work of the Government and may also have been in charge of some policy areas of their own which were not substantial enough to warrant a full-time Cabinet position, such as Bo Ringholm, who was Minister of Sport concurrently with being Deputy Prime Minister.

According to 10 § Chapter 6 of the Instrument of Government, the Prime Minister may appoint a deputy who assumes the duties of the Prime Minister in case the latter is for some reason prevented from performing their duties. If such a deputy has not been appointed or if the appointed deputy is prevented from performing their duties, the minister who has served for the longest period of time assumes the office. If two or more ministers have served for an equal amount of time, seniority decides.[2]

List of officeholders

Color key

  Independent   Social Democrats   Moderate   Centre   Left   Liberals   Christian Democrats   Green   Sweden Democrats

Deputy Prime Minister Position Took office Left office Duration Party Prime Minister
Gunnar Sträng
Gunnar Sträng
(1906–1992)
Acting
Minister for Finance1 January 19758 October 19761 year, 281 daysSocial DemocratsOlof Palme (S/SAP)
1
Per Ahlmark
Per Ahlmark
(1939–2018)
Minister for Employment8 October 19767 March 19781 year, 150 daysLiberalsThorbjörn Fälldin (C)
2
Ola Ullsten
Ola Ullsten
(1931–2018)
Minister for Employment,
Minister for International
Development Cooperation
7 March 197818 October 1978225 daysLiberalsThorbjörn Fälldin (C)
Sven Romanus
Sven Romanus
(1906–2005)
Acting
Minister for Justice18 October 197812 October 1979359 daysIndependentOla Ullsten (L)
Ingemar Mundebo
Ingemar Mundebo
(1930–2018)
Acting
Minister for Justice12 October 19791 August 1980294 daysLiberalsThorbjörn Fälldin (C)
(2)
Ola Ullsten
Ola Ullsten
(1931–2018)
Minister for Foreign Affairs1 August 19808 October 19822 years, 68 daysLiberalsThorbjörn Fälldin (C)
3
Ingvar Carlsson
Ingvar Carlsson
(born 1934)
Minister for the Environment8 October 198228 February 19863 years, 143 daysSocial DemocratsOlof Palme (S/SAP)
Svante Lundkvist
Svante Lundkvist
(1919–1991)
Acting
Minister for Agriculture28 February 19869 October 1986223 daysSocial DemocratsIngvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
Kjell-Olof Feldt
Kjell-Olof Feldt
(born 1931)
Acting
Minister for Finance9 October 198616 February 19903 years, 130 daysSocial DemocratsIngvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
Lena Hjelm-Wallén
Lena Hjelm-Wallén
(born 1943)
Acting
Minister for International
Development Cooperation
16 February 199027 February 199011 daysSocial DemocratsIngvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
4
Odd Engström
Odd Engström
(1941–1998)
27 February 19904 October 19911 year, 219 daysSocial DemocratsIngvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
5
Bengt Westerberg
Bengt Westerberg
(born 1943)
Minister for Health and Social Affairs4 October 19917 October 19943 years, 3 daysLiberalsCarl Bildt (M)
6
Mona Sahlin
Mona Sahlin
(born 1957)
Minister for Gender Equality7 October 199416 November 19951 year, 40 daysSocial DemocratsIngvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
7
Lena Hjelm-Wallén
Lena Hjelm-Wallén
(born 1943)
Minister for Foreign Affairs
(1994–1998)
16 November 199521 October 20026 years, 339 daysSocial DemocratsIngvar Carlsson (S/SAP)
(1995 – 1996)
Göran Persson (S/SAP)
(1996 – 2002)
8
Margareta Winberg
Margareta Winberg
(born 1943)
Minister for Gender Equality21 October 200231 October 20031 year, 10 daysSocial DemocratsGöran Persson (S/SAP)
Marita Ulvskog
Marita Ulvskog
(born 1951)
Acting
Minister for Culture and Sports31 October 20031 June 2004214 daysSocial DemocratsGöran Persson (S/SAP)
9
Lars Engqvist
Lars Engqvist
(born 1945)
Minister for Health and Social Affairs1 June 20041 October 2004122 daysSocial DemocratsGöran Persson (S/SAP)
Laila Freivalds
Laila Freivalds
(born 1942)
Acting
Minister for Foreign Affairs1 October 20041 November 200431 daysSocial DemocratsGöran Persson (S/SAP)
10
Bo Ringholm
Bo Ringholm
(born 1942)
Minister for European Union Affairs1 November 20046 October 20061 year, 339 daysSocial DemocratsGöran Persson (S/SAP)
11
Maud Olofsson
Maud Olofsson
(born 1955)
Minister for Enterprise and Energy6 October 20065 October 20103 years, 364 daysCentreFredrik Reinfeldt (M)
12
Jan Björklund
Jan Björklund
(born 1962)
Minister for Education5 October 20103 October 20143 years, 363 daysLiberalsFredrik Reinfeldt (M)
Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
(born 1954)
Acting
Minister for Foreign Affairs3 October 201410 September 20194 years, 342 daysSocial DemocratsStefan Löfven (S/SAP)
Morgan Johansson
Morgan Johansson
(born 1970)
Acting
Minister for Justice (2014–2022)
Minister for Migration (2019–2021)
Minister of the Interior (2021–2022)
10 September 201918 October 20223 years, 38 daysSocial DemocratsStefan Löfven (S/SAP)
(2019 – 2021)
Magdalena Andersson (S/SAP)
(2021 – 2022)
13
Ebba Busch
Ebba Busch
(born 1987)
Minister for Energy, Business, Industry and Innovation18 October 2022Incumbent1 year, 87 daysChristian DemocratsUlf Kristersson (M)

List of people with the honorary title of "deputy prime minister"

When Stefan Löfven became Prime Minister of Sweden he appointed a cabinet minister with the honorary title of "deputy prime minister", despite not being the designated stand-in should he not be able to carry out his duties as Prime Minister. The honorary title was awarded to one of the two spokespersons of the Green Party, the junior coalition partner of his cabinet. With Magdalena Anderssons appointment as Prime Minister and the withdrawal of the Green Party from the government, this system ceased.

Deputy Prime Minister Position Took office Left office Duration Party Prime Minister
Åsa Romson
Åsa Romson
(born 1972)
Minister for the Environment3 October 201425 May 20161 year, 235 daysGreenStefan Löfven (S/SAP)
Isabella Lövin
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 20165 February 20214 years, 256 daysGreenStefan Löfven (S/SAP)
Per Bolund
Per Bolund
(born 1971)
Minister for the Environment
Minister for the Climate
5 February 202130 November 2021298 daysGreenStefan Löfven (S/SAP)

References

  1. "Green leader wouldn't replace PM in crisis". The Local. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  2. Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Kungörelse (1974:152) om beslutad ny regeringsform Svensk författningssamling 1974:1974:152 t.o.m. SFS 2018:1903 - Riksdagen". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-01-13.
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