Jimmie Åkesson | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Åkesson in 2022 | |
| Leader of the Sweden Democrats | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Mikael Jansson |
| Member of the Riksdag | |
| Assumed office 4 October 2010 | |
| Constituency | Jönköping County |
| Chairman of the Sweden Democratic Youth | |
| In office 21 June 2000 – 7 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Jimmy Windeskog |
| Succeeded by | Martin Kinnunen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Per Jimmie Åkesson (1979-05-17)17 May 1979 (age 46) Bromölla, Sweden |
| Political party | Sweden Democrats |
| Other political affiliations | Moderate (MUF) (until 1995) |
| Spouse | |
| Domestic partner | Louise Erixon (2011–2020) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Lund University |
Per Jimmie Åkesson ([ˈjɪ̌mːɪˈôːkɛˌsɔn]; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician and author, serving as leader of theSweden Democrats since 2005. He has been a member of theRiksdag (SD) forJönköping County since2010. He previously served as leader of theSweden Democratic Youth from 2000 until 2005.[1]
Jimmie Åkesson was born inIvetofta inSkåne County,[2] but grew up inSölvesborg inBlekinge County.[3] His father, Stefan, is a businessman who ran a floor laying business and his mother, Britt Marie, was a care provider in a nursing home. Åkesson's parents divorced when he was young and he was raised primarily by his mother.[4][5][6]
From 1995 to 1998, Åkesson completed a three-year social studies program at the Furulundsskolan Institute in Sölvesborg. In 1999, he began studyingpolitical science, law, economics,human geography and philosophy atLund University, without graduating, and has stated that he became interested in politics around this time.[2][6][7] Prior to working full-time in politics, Åkesson worked as aweb developer and founded a web design companyBMJ Aktiv withBjörn Söder, the former party secretary of the Sweden Democrats.[2][8]
Åkesson was a member of theModerate Youth League, the youth wing of theModerate Party, but left the Moderates to join the original version ofSweden Democratic Youth Association (the youth wing of theSweden Democrats) in 1995, although some sources claim 1994.[3][4] In interviews, Åkesson has stated that he joined the SD after many of the party's original and more hardline members had left.[4][5] The magazineExpo claims that Åkesson first contacted the SD in 1994 as a fifteen year old. In his 2013autobiography, Åkesson wrote that he decided to become a member of the SD on New Year's Eve in 1994 but did not formally sign membership papers until 1995 when the SD's first chairmanAnders Klarström had stepped down due to considering him too radical. He wrote that he was not attracted by neo-Nazi sympathizers in the party, he wrote that at the time he supported the SD's "political potential" and said "I was a nationalist and the Sweden Democrats had succeeded, despite their flaws, in formulating a fundamentally sound, democratic and universal nationalism." He said that the SD policies he was most attracted to at first were its view on theEuropean Union and its policy on immigration.[9][10][11][12] In an article for the SDU's magazine in 1997, Åkesson wrote "We had the first contact with SD sometime in December of the same year [1994], and during a meeting at New Year's Eve we decided to start working party politically, and that a local SDU branch would eventually be formed."[13][14] Journalist and former SD press secretary Christian Krappedal corroborated that Åkesson became a member of the party in the spring of 1995.[15]
In 1995, he also co-founded a local chapter of the Sweden Democratic Youth Association.[3] In 1997, he was elected as a deputy member of the party's national board.[3]
In the1998 Swedish general election, at the age of 19, Åkesson was elected to public office as acouncilman inSölvesborg Municipality.[3] The same year, he also became deputy chairman of the newly establishedSweden Democratic Youth(Sverigedemokratisk Ungdom), and later, from 2000 to 2005, was chairman of the organisation.[3]
In 2005, he defeated party leaderMikael Jansson in a party election to become the party leader of the Sweden Democrats (SD). During his student years at Lund University, Åkesson got to knowBjörn Söder,Richard Jomshof andMattias Karlsson with whom he formed theNational Democratic Student Association in Lund. The group became known as the "Scania Gang" or "Fantastic Four" within the SD; a political group of younger members who had the goal of taking over the party's leadership and sought to moderate and reform the SD.[16]
In 2009,Sveriges Radio reported that Åkesson along with other prominent SD members sang a scornful song about theassassination of Olof Palme.[17] Åkesson said he should have been more against it, but that the recordings were missing context. He said they sang a wide range of songs, fromJussi Björling to communisticprotest songs (Swedish:kampsånger), in a non-political context.[18]
In the2010 Swedish general election, the SD for the first time crossed theelection threshold and entered theRiksdag, with 5.70% of the votes, gaining 20 seats.[19] Åkesson, who was placed first on the party's national ballot, was elected as aMember of the Riksdag (MP) along with 19 of his fellow party members.[1][20]
In September 2014,Sveriges Radio (SR) reported that Åkesson had spent upwards of 500,000 kronor ($70,000) in 2014 alone on online betting. The sum is more than the politician would have earned all year, after tax, reported SR.[21] The revelation caused an uproar, both among people who view Åkesson as unreliable and those who opposed SR's decision to publish the information. Among the latter were formerGreen Party SpokespersonMaria Wetterstrand and Foreign MinisterCarl Bildt.[22] Åkesson himself called SR's actions an attempt atcharacter assassination.[23]
Following the2014 Swedish general election, Åkesson announced he would be on sick leave due toburnout.[24][25] In early 2015, Åkesson was named Sweden's most important opinion leader for the calendar year 2014 by the Swedish magazineDSM in their annual rankings.[26][27]
On 27 March 2015, Åkesson publicly announced that he would return to his duties as party leader for the SD, albeit initially in a somewhat reduced role, on theSVT programSkavlan, as well as in an open letter on his Facebook page.[28][29][30]
In the2018 Swedish general election, the SD got 17.6% of the votes (+4.7pp), after theSwedish Social Democratic Party (28.4%, -2.6 pp) and theModerate Party (19.8%, -3.5 pp). SD had 62 of 349 seats in the nextRiksdag.
The SD saw a greater rise in support during the2022 Swedish general election under Åkesson's leadership with the party overtaking the Moderates to become the second largest in the Riksdag.[31]
In August 2023, theNobel Foundation invited Åkesson as an official guest as part of the Swedish delegation at the annualNobel Banquet for the first time having previously denied him an invitation before.[32]
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Detailing his political beliefs in a profile forThe Local, Åkesson described himself as a Swedish nationalist,social conservative and a supporter of equality.[33][34]
During his chairmanship of the Sweden Democrats' youth league and as party leader, Åkesson has sought to moderate the SD's ideological points and expel hardline members from the party. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Åkesson was considered part of a reformist faction on the party's national board that sought to change the SD programme such as abolishing the party's support for capital punishment. Under his leadership from 2005, Åkesson has changed party rhetoric away fromethnic nationalism in reference to Swedish identity to promoting a Swedish culture based on theFolkhemmet (people's home) concept, folklore and Swedish Lutheran traditions.[35] He has said that the SD no longer associates itself with any form of neo-Nazism under his leadership and maintains a zero-tolerance policy on expressions of racism or extremism from its representatives.[36][37][6] As SD leader, Åkesson has described his main policy focus to be the areas of law & order, expanding nuclear power and defending Swedish culture and society against mass migration. He has also criticized the other parties in the Riksdag for being toopro-European and undermining Sweden's social solidarity through uncontrolled immigration policies.[38][39]
In 2009, Åkesson contributed a debate article forAftonbladet which was critical ofmulticulturalism and Islam in Sweden where he argued "Islam has influenced Swedish society to a much greater extent than Swedish society has influenced Islam" and that various phenomena associated with Islam were "greatest foreign threat to Sweden since the Second World War."Aftonbladet editorial staff headlined the article withMuslims are our greatest foreign threat.[40] After the column received much attention, Åkesson took part in a debate with by Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime MinisterMaud Olofsson onSVT. Åkesson argued that the point of the article was to say that Muslims who come to Sweden should adapt to a Swedish way of life as opposed to the other way around.[41] The SwedishCenter Against Racism reported the article to the office of theChancellor of Justice as an incitement against an ethnic group.[42] However, the Chancellor of Justice dismissed the complaint and did not initiate an investigation.[43] The opinion polling companiesSynovate andUnited Minds noted that the debate on the article increased voter support for the Sweden Democrats in polls ahead of the2010 Swedish general election.[44]
In 2013,Fokus magazine named Åkesson as Sweden's fifth most powerful person.[45]
Following theOctober 7 attacks in 2023, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis, people were spotted celebrating in various Swedish cities.[46] Åkesson immediately stated that these people do not belong in Sweden and that he is open to expel those who praise terrorism.[47] During a speech on 26 November 2023, Åkesson asserted that Swedish-Palestinians who have travelled toGaza should not expect help to return to Sweden.[48]
Observers such as Nordic politics scholarBenjamin R. Teitelbaum, journalistBülent Keneş and political scientist Jonas Hinnfors have described Åkesson as an effective public speaker and media communicator, but have noted that his political image is based on building support through appearing "calm and sensible" and not fitting the typical outspoken and charismatic image of a populist leader.[49][50]
Åkesson was engaged toLouise Erixon, a former parliamentary aide to Björn Söder and the daughter of former Sweden Democrats MP Margareta Gunsdotter. Erixon served as the mayor ofSölvesborg from 2019 to 2022, and she was one of the first Sweden Democrats to hold a local mayorship.[51][52] They have a son, born in 2013.[53]
On 24 April 2020, Erixon announced on her Facebook page that the couple had separated some time previously.[54]
Since 2022, Åkesson has been in a relationship withnutritionist Matilda Kärnerup. They married in 2024.[55][56]
Outside of politics, Åkesson is also a musician. He plays keyboard and bass for the rock groupBedårande Barn alongsidePeter London and has also performed at concerts with theViking rock bandUltima Thule.[57][58][59] Åkesson currently resides inSölvesborg. According to his personal profile, his main interests are playinggolf and watchingfootball. He is a supporter ofMjällby AIF.[60]
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(in Swedish)| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Leader of theSweden Democrats 2005–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |