Magdalena Andersson is closer to becoming the 1st female prime minister in the country
Magdalena Andersson, who last week was unanimously elected the new leader of the Swedish Social Democrats (SAP), is now one step closer to becoming the country’s first female prime minister. Andersson is Sweden’s Minister of Finance and she was the only candidate for the party chairmanship.
The 54-year-old economist and former competition swimmer will be the first female Prime Minister in Sweden’s history, provided she wins a vote in the Riksdag, which date has not yet been set.
According to EuroNews, Andersson’s election to SAP’s leader comes five months after SAP’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven resigned after losing a vote of confidence in parliament. Lofven was reinstated in July after securing a new coalition. However, he unexpectedly announced in August that he would resign in November.
Andersson’s challenge as SAP leader
Now Lofven must formally announce the Speaker of the Riksdag that he is resigning, and propose Andersson as a replacement, who then forms a government. But Andersson will still need to secure the support of both the Green Party and the Left Party and the Center Party, which have had trust and supply alliances with the Lofven government.
If she secures the post of prime minister, Andersson will have to control her party through the next parliamentary election in Sweden, which is scheduled to take place in September 2022.
It is worth mentioning that Lofven in 2012 became head of SAP, which currently holds 100 of the Parliament’s 349 seats. However, the country’s second largest party, the liberal-conservative Moderates, hope to be able to govern after getting closer to the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats.
According to the latest opinion polls, SAP is 25.6% – almost three percentage points lower than the last election, while the Moderates have seen support grow by over three percentage points to 23%.