Stefan Löfven's first cabinet | |
|---|---|
 53rd Cabinet ofSweden | |
 The original Löfven cabinet outside theStockholm Royal Palace, 3 October 2014. | |
| Date formed | 3 October 2014 |
| Date dissolved | 21 January 2019 |
| People and organisations | |
| Head of state | Carl XVI Gustaf |
| Head of government | Stefan Löfven |
| Deputy head of government | Margot Wallström(acting, 2014–2019) Åsa Romson(honorary title, 2014–2016) Isabella Lövin(honorary title, 2016–2019) |
| No. of ministers | 23 |
| Ministers removed | 5 |
| Member party | Social Democrats Green Party |
| Status in legislature | Centre-leftMinority(coalition) with confidence & supply from theLeft Party |
| Opposition party | Alliance:Moderate Party,Centre Party,Liberals,Christian Democrats Sweden Democrats |
| History | |
| Election | 2014 election |
| Predecessor | Reinfeldt cabinet |
| Successor | Löfven II cabinet |
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Related topics |
Thefirst cabinet of Stefan Löfven (Swedish:regeringen Löfven I) was thecabinet of Sweden between 2014 and 2018. It was acoalition government, consisting of two parties: theSocial Democrats and theGreen Party. The cabinet was installed on 3 October 2014, following the2014 general election. It lost a vote of no confidence following the2018 election, but remained in office as a caretaker government. Löfven was reelected as prime minister in January 2019, thus forming thesecond cabinet of Stefan Löfven.[1]
With only 37.9% of thepopular votes in 2014 and 138 out of 349 seats (39.5%) in theRiksdag (Swedish parliament), the "red-green" coalition began as one of the weakestminority governments inSwedish history and relied on support from other parties in the Riksdag. At the 2018 election it became weaker, gaining only 32.6% of the votes. On 25 September 2018 the Riksdag passed a motion of no confidence in it by 204 votes to 142, and Löfven resigned. However, the speaker then invited him to stay on as acting prime minister of acaretaker government.[2]
2014 was the first time that theGreen Party had been part of a government, and the first time in 57 years that the Social Democrats had formed acoalition cabinet. From then on, this was led byPrime MinisterStefan Löfven, leader of the Social Democrats. The cabinet consisted of 12 men and 12 women.[3]
Thecabinet was installed following a formal government meeting withKingCarl XVI Gustaf on 3 October 2014. Stefan Löfven had previously announced hiscabinet ministers at 09:00 AM on the same day.[4][5][6][7][8]
In May 2016, Löfven reshuffled his cabinet. In July 2017, three cabinet ministers (Infrastructure MinisterAnna Johansson, Interior MinisterAnders Ygeman, and Defense MinisterPeter Hultqvist) were challenged by avote of confidence by the opposition and a majority in the Riksdag.[9] Löfven subsequently removed Johansson and Ygeman from office, but retained Hultqvist, and the no-confidence motion against Hultqvist collapsed in September 2017 after the Centre Party and Liberals dropped their support for it.[10] The cabinet ruled out cooperation with theSweden Democrats.
The numbers below refer to the composition of the cabinet at its formation on 3 October 2014.
Party breakdown of cabinet ministers:
18 | |
6 |
On 3 December 2014, the proposed budget of the Löfven Cabinetfailed in the Riksdag due to theSweden Democrats siding with the centre-rightopposition Alliance's budget. Prime Minister Löfven announced plans to call for fresh elections in March 2015.[23] However, on 27 December, the early election was cancelled after the governing parties signed an agreement with the four parties in the oppositionAlliance.[24] Under the "Decemberöverenskommelsen" (December Agreement), the six parties agreed not to vote against a budget proposed by the government for the next eight years. The December Agreement fell in October 2015 when the Christian Democrats decided to leave it.[25]
The government announced the outline of its policy on 3 October 2014. Plans included reducing unemployment to the lowest level in the EU by 2020, reducing deficits, phasing out nuclear energy, reducing emissions from fossil fuels and having a more socially liberalasylum policy.[26]
In its statement the government identified as feminist. It aims to increase gender equality, reduce thegender wage gap and introduce quota if female representation on governing boards is below 40% by 2016. It also promised to increase penalties for aggravated sexual offences.[26]
The government's foreign policy will consist of pursuing membership of theSecurity Council and remaining outsideNATO. The government said it opposesISIL. It was the first EU government to recognise theState of Palestine in view to "facilitate a peace agreement by making the parties less unequal",[27] resulting in that Israel the same day recalled its ambassador for consultations.[28]
Prime MinisterStefan Löfven lost the motion of no confidence against him and his cabinet on 25 September 2018. 142 members of parliament voted for retaining Löfven's cabinet while 204 voted against. Löfven stated in a subsequent press conference that he would not be stepping down asSocial Democratic party leader and that he would be willing to partake in talks regarding the formation of a new government, but insisted that it is ultimately up to theSpeaker of the Riksdag. Löfven also stated that he finds it "completely unbelievable that the Alliance could ever form a government", if they intend on keeping their promise of not co-operating with the right-wingSweden Democrats. Löfven and his cabinet continued to serve as acaretaker government until Löfven was reelected as prime minister in January 2019, 131 days after the 2018 election. 115 MPs voted to re-elect Löfven as prime minister, while 153 voted against him and 77 MPs, representing theCentre Party,Liberals and theLeft, abstained. Since the Swedish prime minister is elected throughnegative parliamentarism, a candidate can be elected to the office if no more than 175 MPs vote against him/her.[2][29][30][1]
| Preceded by | Cabinet of Sweden 2014–2019 | Succeeded by |
