Annie Lööf
| Annie Lööf | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister for Enterprise | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 29 September 2011 |
|
| Prime Minister | Fredrik Reinfeldt |
| Preceded by | Maud Olofsson |
| Leader of the Centre Party | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 23 September 2011 |
|
| Party secretary | Michael Arthursson |
| Preceded by | Maud Olofsson |
| Member of the Riksdag for Jönköping County | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2006 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 July 1983 Värnamo, Sweden |
| Political party | Centre Party |
| Occupation | Jurist, Politician |
| Website | annieloof.se |
Annie Marie Therése Lööf (born Johansson 16 July 1983, Maramö, Värnamo Municipality, Småland) is a Swedish Centre Party politician. She has been member of the Riksdag (representing Jönköping County) since 2006, leader of the Centre Party since 2011[1] and Minister for Enterprise since 2011.
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Biography [edit]
Annie Lööf was born and raised in Maramö outside Värnamo. She still lives in Värnamo. During her last year at Finnvedens Secondary School in Värnamo, where she studied social sciences, she developed an interest in politics, and at the end of 2001, she joined the Centre Party. During the 2002 election, she was employed as an election-agent for the Centre Party Youth in Jönköping County and was the same year awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Award for her commitment to international environmental issues and peace. After the election, she enrolled to study law at Lund University and graduated in August 2011 with a law degree.
In the general election in 2006, she was elected a member of the Riksdag and for the parliamentary period of 2006-2010, becoming Sweden's then-youngest member of its legislature.[2]
In January 2007 Lööf, along with her colleague Fredrick Federley, initiated the Liberal Group, a network of liberal-minded people inside and outside the Riksdag. She has also been the deputy chairman of the Centre Party Youth. For several years, she served on the board of the Nordic Centre Youth Federation, Scandinavia's second largest youth organization.
In 2008, Lööf was awarded the "Young European Leadership Program" grant from the United States Embassy.[citation needed]
Career [edit]
Assignments [edit]
Before she became a minister and party leader, Annie Lööf was member of the Committee on Finance, the War Delegation and a deputy of the Committee on Justice and first deputy group leader for the Centre Party's parliamentary group and member of the party's executive board.
She has served as a member on several government commissions, including the E-Publicity Committee, the investigation of the police needs of signal intelligence and in the signals intelligence committee, which evaluated the National Defence Radio Establishment activities.
During her two terms, she has been active in municipal politics in Värnamo, as deputy of the City Council from 2002 to 2004, as member of the Citizens' Board from 2002 to 2004, as well as ordinary municipal councillor from 2006 to 2007. Lööf was also elected to the local councils for Värnamo in 2010, but left the mission because of many national commitments.
Until 2008, Lööf was a substitute to the Nordic Council's Swedish delegation, and the pre-term in office she worked for the Committee on the Constitution as a member.
In addition to her duties as member of the Riksdag, Lööf have for four years been a member of the Youth Board's advisory council and for two years in the Director of Coompanion - Cooperative Development Sweden.
After the 2010 general election, Lööf was elected Chairman of the National Post-Election Analysis Group the Centre Party appointed. The Analysis Group presented its report in January 2011. The same year she became economic spokesperson of her party.[3] On 31 August 2011 the Centre Party proposed Annie Lööf as the new party chairman and on the party's congress in Åre on 23 September she was elected by acclamation.[4]
Party leader and Minister for Enterprise [edit]
Lööf was elected party leader and party chairman on September 23, 2011, succeeding Maud Olofsson. She thus became the Centre Party's youngest party chairman ever.
On 29 September 2011 Lööf succeeded Maud Olofsson as Minister for Enterprise. She also replaced Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren with Lena Ek while the Minister for Rural Affairs Eskil Erlandsson remained.
During Almedalsveckan 2012, in her address on the Centre Party day, Lööf criticized her own government for a lack of reform tempo in the Alliance and that she wanted to see a revival. "The joint project has lost momentum. Project embers have died down," she said.[5] The criticism was met with fierce opposition from the other parties in the Alliance, mainly from the Christian Democrats and the party secretary Acko Ankarberg.[6] The speech was also drawn attention because of the Social Democrat Marita Ulvskogs statement: "New speechwriter for Annie Lööf? Helps unfortunately not. Credibility zero. Would work in Top Model, not in reality." she wrote on Twitter.[7] Ulvskog later apologized.
On 6 August 2012 she dismissed Christina Lugnet, the Director-General of Tillväxtverket, after it become known that her government agency had spent approximately 16 million SEK at feasts, hotel visits and conferences.[8] This is prohibited under Swedish law and by the agency's own rules.[9]
On August 8, it became known that Lööf used taxpayers' money for a number of restaurant visits, including banquets for her staff.[10] A memo was revealed to have amounted 20 000 SEK.[11] The Centre Party has subsequently repaid the money that Lööf let taxpayers pay, because it is the parties who should pay these costs.[12]
Personal life [edit]
Lööf is the daughter of Centre Party politician Hans-Göran Johansson, the current Mayor of Värnamo Municipality. On 30 July 2011 Lööf married Carl-Johan Carlsson. They adopted Lööf as their common surname.[13]
References [edit]
- ^ "Enig centerrörelse valde Annie Lööf till ny partiordförande" (Press release) (in Swedish). Centre Party. 23 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
- ^ "Födelseår". Sveriges Riksdag. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ (Press release). Centerpartiet. 8 October 2010 http://www.centerpartiet.se/Media/Pressmeddelanden/2010/Centerpartiets-fornyelse-i-fokus-nar-nya-talespersoner-utses/. Retrieved 26 September 2011. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ TT (23 September 2011). "Annie Lööf redo för rivstart". GöteborgsPosten. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Lööf want to see a reawakening (in Swedish)
- ^ Cold war in the Alliance (in Swedish)
- ^ S-leader: "It shows too little respect" (in Swedish)
- ^ Christina Lugnet gets fired from Tillväxtverket (in Swedish)
- ^ Against their own rules. (in Swedish)
- ^ Lööf get criticized - from all sides. (in Swedish)
- ^ Here is the minister's tavern bills. (in Swedish)
- ^ They pay back. Olof Johansson (C): "They can afford it.". (in Swedish)
- ^ http://www.expressen.se/kvp/centerpolitikern-annie-johansson-har-gift-sig/
External links [edit]
- Annie Lööf (Cen) at the Riksdag website
- http://annieloof.se/ - Official site (Swedish language)
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Maud Olofsson |
Leader of the Swedish Centre Party 2011— |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Maud Olofsson |
Minister for Enterprise 2011— |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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