''Jonas'' Viktor Göran Åkerlund (born 21January 1949) is a Swedish politician who was

Member of the Riksdag Members of Parliament ( Swedish: ''riksdagsledamöter'', singular: ''riksdagsledamot'') in Sweden sit in the Riksdag. Description ''Members of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the Riksdag. In Swedish, an MP is usually referred to ...

from 2010 to 2018 and first deputy party leader for the Swedish Democrats from 2006 to 2015. He also served as the party's press spokesman.

Work

Åkerlund was born in

Lingbo Lingbo is a locality situated in Ockelbo Municipality Ockelbo Municipality (''Ockelbo kommun'') is a municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Ockelbo. The present municipality was formed in 1971 throug ...

in Ockelbo municipality. He worked for several years as an

undertaker A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as ...

before his election to parliament.Riksdagens protokoll 2010/11:1 Måndagen den 4 oktober
Sveriges riksdags webbplats. Läst 16 juli 2021.\ He started his political career in the Social Democrats party in the 1970s. In 1985, he changed party affiliation to the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic lib ...

and from 1988–1991 he was the leading member of that party in the

Ockelbo Municipality Ockelbo Municipality (''Ockelbo kommun'') is a municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in Ockelbo. The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of "old" ''Ockelbo'' with ''Skog''. ...

. In 1995 he became a member of the Sweden Democrats. He was the party's press secretary from 2004–2005, and in 2005 he also worked as the party's press spokesperson. Åkerlund was elected second vice party president for SD in 2005 and vice party president in 2006. In the 2002 general elections, Åkerlund was candidate for the Riksdag as no. 16 on the SD list and first on the list in the Stockholm regional elections. He was also first on the list for SD in the Stockholm elections. In the 2006 general elections, Åkerlund was a candidate for SD for the Riksdag as the fourth choice, for Stockholm regional election as no. 9, and for Stockholm city council as no. 12 on the ballot. In the parish council elections in 2009 he was the party's number one candidate in the election to the Swedish Church Convocation, and as no. 7 in the Stockholm congregation election. Åkerlund was voted into the Riksdag in the general elections in 2010, for the

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's secon ...

electoral district in seat no. 90. As a member of the Riksdag he became member of Committee on the Constitution, and deputy member of the Committee on Business and Industry. He announced he would not seek another term in office ahead of the 2018 Swedish general election.

Controversy

In 2013 Åkerlund gained attention after a recording of him was discovered dating from 2002 in which he called

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

"parasites" during a broadcast on SD's own radio station. In the same recording he made jokes about sending half a million home and suggested most immigrants lied on their residency applications. After his remarks had become more publicly known in 2013, he stated that he had said them to provoke people but described his words as "immature" and claimed "I said an awful lot of things at the time that I don't stand behind at all today." In 2014 he was criticised by SD party leader

Jimmie Åkesson Per Jimmie Åkesson (; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician and author, serving as leader of the Sweden Democrats since 2005. He has been a member of the Riksdag (SD) for Jönköping County since 2010. He previously served as leader of ...

after he was seen acting in a threatening manner towards a female journalist in the Riksdag.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Åkerlund, Jonas 1949 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Members of the Riksdag from the Sweden Democrats Members of the Riksdag 2010–2014 Members of the Riksdag 2014–2018 Members of the Riksdag 2018–2022 21st-century Swedish politicians