Swedish Parliament Elects Magdalena Andersson as First Female Prime Minister

Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson becomes Sweden’s first female prime minister. The former finance minister received the necessary support in a vote in the Swedish parliament on Wednesday to succeed the resigned government leader Stefan Löfven.

For Andersson, it was enough that no majority voted against her in the Riksdag in Stockholm: 57 members abstained, and 174 voted against her. With 175 votes against in the 349-seat parliament, her way to the head of the government’s office would have been blocked.

She secured sufficient to support this week by striking a deal with the Left Party. She promised not to block her appointment after promises were made about increasing pensions.

Andersson, 54, succeeds her party colleague Löfven, who has led Sweden for the past seven years with a red-green minority government. He gives his successor time to prepare for the parliamentary elections in September 2022.

Andersson is expected to face a difficult period politically because her government does not have a majority in parliament. Nevertheless, she is expected to propose the new red-green government on Friday.

Although Sweden is internationally known as a frontrunner in gender equality, the country has never had a female prime minister. However, in other Northern European countries such as Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, there was already a woman at the head of the government.