Lars Leijonborg

Infobox Politician
name = Lars Leijonborg


caption =
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office = Minister for Education and Research
term_start = October 6, 2006
term_end =
predecessor = Leif Pagrotsky
successor =
constituency =
majority =
office2 = Chairman of the Liberal People's Party
term_start2 = March 15, 1997
term_end2 = September 7, 2007
predecessor2 = Maria Leissner
successor2 = Jan Björklund
constituency2 =
majority2 =
birth_date = birth date and age|1949|11|21
birth_place = Täby, Stockholm County
death_date =
death_place =
party = Liberal People's Party
relations =
spouse =
civil partner =
children =
residence =
occupation =
religion = Mission Covenant Church of Sweden


website =
footnotes =

Lars Erik Ansgar Leijonborg (born November 21, 1949) is a Swedish politician, chairman of the Liberal People's Party ( _sv. Folkpartiet liberalerna) 1997-2007, Minister for Higher Education and Research since 2006 and Head of the Ministry of Education and Research 2006-2007.

Biography

Although born in Täby, Stockholm County,Fact|date=April 2007 Lars Leijonborg grew up in Solna north of Stockholm.sv icon cite web
url = http://www.folkpartiet.se/FPTemplates/PersonalContent____35304.aspx
title = Om Lars Leijonborg - Folkpartiet
accessdate = 2007-02-17] In 1971 he became the leader of the Liberal Youth of Sweden ("Liberala ungdomsförbundet"), the Liberal Party's youth organisation. In 1974 he graduated from his studies in social work at Stockholm University. He was party secretary from 1980 to 1983 and editor-in-chief for the party magazine "NU" from 1983 to 1984. After a brief period as a management consultant, he was elected a member of the Riksdag (parliament) in 1985. In 1990 he became the party's second deputy chairman. Succeeding Maria Leissner, on March 15, 1997 he was unanimously elected chairman of the party.

Initially, voters were cold to Leijonborg, his appearance often described as tense.Fact|date=February 2007 In the 1998 parliamentary elections, "Folkpartiet" received 4.7% of the vote, just above the 4% threshold for parliamentary representation. It was the worst election result the party had seen since World War I. Even within the party, Leijonborg's position was questioned by many. The youth organisation he once headed openly called for his resignation. Despite the internal opposition, he managed to hold on to his position. And when, in the campaign before the 2002 parliamentary elections, the party suddenly surged after launching a proposal on making a Swedish language test one of the requirements for a naturalized Swedish citizenship, Leijonborg was nicknamed "the Lion King" ("Leijonkungen") in the tabloids.Fact|date=February 2007 The election result, 13.3%, was a success for the party and for Leijonborg personally, but since the party's centre-right partners failed to gain ground, the Social Democrats could remain in government. In 2006 the party was a part of the Alliance for Sweden, which won the election, although the Liberal Party lost almost six percentage points compared to the 2002 election, getting a total of 7,5% of the votes.

On October 6, 2006 Lars Leijonborg was made Minister for Education and Research in the Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt. On October 16, 2006, Leijonborg temporarily took over the responsibilities for Minister for Culture Cecilia Stegö Chilò, who resigned that day. [sv icon cite news
title = Cecilia Stegö Chilò avgår
url = http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_13866368.asp
publisher = Svenska Dagbladet
date = 2006-10-16
accessdate = 2007-02-17] Twelve days later, on October 24, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth assumed the post as Minister for Culture. [sv icon cite news
title = Moderater nya statsråd i Reinfeldts regering
url = http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=583074
publisher = Dagens Nyheter
date = 2006-10-24
accessdate = 2007-02-17]

Leijonborg announced his resignation as party leader on April 23, 2007. [sv icon cite news
title = Leijonborg avgår i höst
url = http://www.svd.se/dynamiskt/inrikes/did_15206952.asp
publisher = Svenska Dagbladet
date = 2007-04-23
accessdate = 2007-04-23] He resigned from his post in September 2007. His successor as chairman, Minister for Schools Jan Björklund also took office as the new head of the Ministry of Education and Research. Nevertheless, Leijonborg remained in the cabinet, keeping his political assignments as a minister for higher education and research.

Leijonborg is a member of the congregationalist Mission Covenant Church of Sweden ( _sv. Svenska Missionskyrkan). [ [http://www.folkpartiet.se/FPTemplates/AreaContentPage____43809.aspx Christian Liberals - Folkpartiet ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.folkpartiet.se/FPTemplates/PersonalPage____11470.aspx Lars Leijonborg - Folkpartiet]
* [http://www.riksdagen.se/Webbnav/index.aspx?nid=1111&iid=0980725315516 Riksdagen: Lars Leijonborg (fp)]

Persondata
NAME=Leijonborg, Lars
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Leijonborg, Lars Erik Ansgar
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Politician
DATE OF BIRTH=November 21, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH=Täby, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=