Jan Björklund
Encyclopedia
Jan 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
.
), Älvsborg County
(today Västra Götaland County
), Sweden
. His father Arne worked in the textile industry
and his mother Ragna came to Sweden from Norway
as a war refugee in 1944. He came from a working class
home and both of his parents lack higher education
.
After he had completed upper secondary education (gymnasium) in 1982, Björklund enlisted in the Swedish Armed Forces
and earned the rank of officer
in 1985. He then served at the royal Life Guards
in Stockholm
, from where he retired as a major
in 1994 to start a new career in politics.
, in 1976. He was elected as a member of board of the organization in 1983 and served as its second deputy chairman between 1985 to 1987. He has served as a member of board of the Liberal People's Party since 1990. He joined the party's leadership in 1995, became second deputy chairman in 1997 and first deputy chairman in 2001.
In 1991
Björklund was elected as a substitute member of the Stockholm City Council
, where he came to serve in the city's board of education. Between 1994 and 1998 he served as an oppositional vice mayor in Stockholm. Between 1998 and 2002 he served as vice mayor for schools and between 2002 and 2006 he served again as oppositional vice mayor.
In the run up to both the 2002
and 2006 election
s, Björklund was chairman of the centre-right alliance
's working group on education policy
, and shortly thereafter appointed as Minister for Schools in the new centre-right cabinet
led by Prime Minister
Fredrik Reinfeldt
.
Following Lars Leijonborg
s decision to retire as party leader at the Liberal People's Party's national meeting in September 2007, Björklund was unanimously nominated by the party's election committee as new party leader. He was elected new party leader on 7 September 2007. At the same time he also overtook Leijonborg's position as head of the Ministry of Education and Research
and as Minister for Education. However, the change in minister title was merely formal as his areas of responsibility are still those that he had as Minister for Schools.
Following the 2010 general election, in which the Liberal People's Party became the second largest party in the government alliance, Björklund replaced Maud Olofsson
as Deputy Prime Minister
on 5 October 2010.
liness and discipline
. He has criticized the Swedish schools system for being too "dopey" and not focusing enough on knowledge. Among other things, he has advocated more frequent assessments and a reformed grade
system.
In the run up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq
in 2002, as first deputy chairman of his party, Björklund expressed his support for Swedish participation in the multinational coalition
on the condition that the invasion would receive broad international support (which it didn't).
In January 2009 Björklund criticised the recent years downsizing of the Swedish defence
. "After the last years development in Russia and the war in Georgia
Sweden must be able to mobilize more soldiers than we can today" he stated during an interview in Swedish news program SVT
.
, Stockholm
.
Sweden
Sweden , 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....
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He is the leader of the Liberal People's Party
Liberal People's Party (Sweden)
The 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...
and serves as Minister for Education and Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
The Swedish constitution allows the Prime Minister to appoint one of the Ministers in the cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister , in case the Prime Minister for some reason is prevented from performing his or her duties...
in the Swedish government
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
.
Education and military career
Jan Björklund was born in Skene (today a part of Mark MunicipalityMark Municipality
Mark Municipality is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kinna.The municipality was created with the municipal reform of 1971 by the amalgamation of eight previous entities. Most of them had themselves been formed by the 1952 municipal...
), Älvsborg County
Älvsborg County
Älvsborg County, or Älvsborgs län, was a county of Sweden until December 31, 1998 when it was merged with the counties of Gothenburg and Bohus and Skaraborg to form the county of Västra Götaland...
(today Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County is a county or län on the western coast of Sweden.The county is the second largest of Sweden's counties and it is subdivided into 49 municipalities . Its population of 1,550,000 amounts to 17% of Sweden's population...
), Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , 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....
. His father Arne worked in the textile industry
Textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....
and his mother Ragna came to Sweden from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
as a war refugee in 1944. He came from a working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
home and both of his parents lack higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
.
After he had completed upper secondary education (gymnasium) in 1982, Björklund enlisted in the Swedish Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
and earned the rank of officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
in 1985. He then served at the royal Life Guards
Life Guards (Swedish Army)
The Life Guards is a combined cavalry/infantry regiment of the Swedish Army, with responsibility for training. The infantry battalion trains ordinary infantry soldiers in both the mechanized and rifle roles, as well as training clerical soldiers. The Guards Battalion consists of three companies,...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm 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...
, from where he retired as a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in 1994 to start a new career in politics.
Political career
Björklund early became a member of the Liberal Youth of Sweden, the youth wing of the Liberal People's PartyLiberal People's Party (Sweden)
The 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...
, in 1976. He was elected as a member of board of the organization in 1983 and served as its second deputy chairman between 1985 to 1987. He has served as a member of board of the Liberal People's Party since 1990. He joined the party's leadership in 1995, became second deputy chairman in 1997 and first deputy chairman in 2001.
In 1991
Swedish general election, 1991
Election to the Parliament of Sweden was held on 15 September 1991. The election, like all parliamentary elections in Sweden, was conducted using a party-list proportional representation system....
Björklund was elected as a substitute member of the Stockholm City Council
Stockholm Municipality
Stockholm Municipality or the City of Stockholm is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is the largest of the 290 municipalities of the country in terms of population, but one of the smaller in terms of area, making it the most densely populated...
, where he came to serve in the city's board of education. Between 1994 and 1998 he served as an oppositional vice mayor in Stockholm. Between 1998 and 2002 he served as vice mayor for schools and between 2002 and 2006 he served again as oppositional vice mayor.
In the run up to both the 2002
Swedish general election, 2002
The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-...
and 2006 election
Swedish general election, 2006
A general election was held in Sweden on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Swedish parliament. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 "fixed seats" in 29 constituencies and 39 members at a national level for what are called "adjustment seats", used to ensure that parties have...
s, Björklund was chairman of the centre-right alliance
Alliance for Sweden
The Alliance , formerly Alliance for Sweden , is a political alliance in Sweden. It consists of the four centre-right parties in the Riksdag...
's working group on education policy
Government minister and party leader
In the 2006 election Björklund was elected as a Member of ParliamentParliament of Sweden
The 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...
, and shortly thereafter appointed as Minister for Schools in the new centre-right cabinet
Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt
The 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...
led by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
.
Following Lars Leijonborg
Lars Leijonborg
Lars Erik Ansgar Leijonborg is a Swedish politician, Minister for Higher Education and Research 2006-2009 and Head of the Ministry of Education and Research 2006-2007...
s decision to retire as party leader at the Liberal People's Party's national meeting in September 2007, Björklund was unanimously nominated by the party's election committee as new party leader. He was elected new party leader on 7 September 2007. At the same time he also overtook Leijonborg's position as head of the Ministry of Education and Research
Ministry of Education and Research (Sweden)
The 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....
and as Minister for Education. However, the change in minister title was merely formal as his areas of responsibility are still those that he had as Minister for Schools.
Following the 2010 general election, in which the Liberal People's Party became the second largest party in the government alliance, Björklund replaced Maud Olofsson
Maud Olofsson
Maud Elisabeth Olofsson is a Swedish politician, the former leader of the Centre Party of Sweden between 2001-2011, and the former Minister for Enterprise and Energy between 2006 and 2011...
as Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
The Swedish constitution allows the Prime Minister to appoint one of the Ministers in the cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister , in case the Prime Minister for some reason is prevented from performing his or her duties...
on 5 October 2010.
Political views
Björklund is often seen as a representative of the more right-wing, hard-edged faction of the Liberal Party. He has focused most on school issues, where he is known for his support for orderSocial order
Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
liness and discipline
Discipline
In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
. He has criticized the Swedish schools system for being too "dopey" and not focusing enough on knowledge. Among other things, he has advocated more frequent assessments and a reformed grade
Grade (education)
Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters , as a range , as a number out of a possible total , as descriptors , in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary...
system.
In the run up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
in 2002, as first deputy chairman of his party, Björklund expressed his support for Swedish participation in the multinational coalition
Multinational force in Iraq
The Multi-National Force – Iraq was a military command, led by the United States, which was responsible for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Multi-National Force – Iraq replaced the previous force, Combined Joint Task Force 7, on 15 May 2004, and was later itself reorganized into its successor, United...
on the condition that the invasion would receive broad international support (which it didn't).
In January 2009 Björklund criticised the recent years downsizing of the Swedish defence
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
. "After the last years development in Russia and the war in Georgia
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
Sweden must be able to mobilize more soldiers than we can today" he stated during an interview in Swedish news program SVT
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
.
Personal life
Jan Björklund is married to Anette Brifalk, with whom he has two children. He lives with his family in BrommaBromma borough
Bromma is a so called borough in the western part of Stockholm, Sweden, forming part of the Stockholm Municipality. Bromma is primarily made up of the parish with the same name, and the parish of Västerled...
, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm 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...
.
External links
- Jan Björklund at the Swedish governmentGovernment of SwedenThe Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
's website - Jan Björklund at the Liberal People's PartyLiberal People's Party (Sweden)The 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...
's website