''Richard'' Johannes Jomshof, né ''Lohikoski'', (born 6 July 1969 in
Helsingborg
Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...
) is a Swedish politician affiliated with the
Sweden Democrats (SD) party and former pop musician. He serves as party secretary of the Sweden Democrats and has been a
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 ...
since September 2010 and in 2022 was appointed as chairman of the
Justice Committee in the Riksdag.
Biography
Jomshof was born in 1969 in Helsingborg to a Swedish mother and a Finnish father. He studied history and social studies at
Malmö University
Malmö University ( sv, Malmö universitet) is a public university located in Malmö, Sweden. With more than 24,000 students and about 1,600 employees (academic and administrative), Malmö University is the ninth largest institute of learning in S ...
before attending the university's affiliated teacher training college.
As a teacher, Jomshof was dismissed from two jobs for being part of Sweden Democrats.
After leaving university, Jomshof became a professional musician, co-founding and playing in the Swedish
synthpop band
Elegant Machinery. In a 2013 interview with ''Side-Line'', he spoke about his involvement in SD and what effect it has had on Elegant Machinery. When asked what he thought had improved in Sweden the latest 20 years, he said it was the music.
Political career
Jomshof's original political background was in the
Moderate Youth League and he had also previously voted for the
Swedish Social Democratic Party. He first became active in SD in the late 1990s. During the
2009 European Parliament election, Jomshof stood on the SD's list
but was not elected.
Since the
2010 Swedish general election
General elections were held in Sweden on 19 September 2010 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag. The main contenders of the election were the governing centre-right coalition the Alliance, consisting of the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, ...
, Jomshof represents the
Gävleborg constituency in the
Riksdag. He was also responsible for drafting the SD's education policies in the party manifesto ahead of the 2010 election.
In 2012, he succeeded
Kent Ekeroth
Kent Alexander Ekeroth (born 11 September 1981) is a Swedish politician and economist, who represented the Sweden Democrats.
Early life
Ekeroth was born in Malmö to a Jewish mother, Janina Kazarina, originally from Kazakhstan in Central Asia ...
as SD's spokesman on legal affairs, and in January 2015 he was elected as party secretary, succeeding
Björn Söder
Björn Olof Söder (born 3 January 1976) is a Swedish Sweden Democrats politician who served as Second Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag from September 2014 to September 2018. He has been a Member of the Riksdag (SD) for Stockholm County since Octo ...
. In 2021, he was appointed the SD's spokesman on education policy.
Following the
2022 Swedish general election
General elections were held in Sweden on 11 September 2022 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag who in turn elected the Prime Minister of Sweden. Under the constitution, regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The pr ...
, Jomshof was appointed chairman of the
Justice Committee in the Riksdag.
Political beliefs
Jomshof has served as the SD's policy spokesman on school policies. He has called for teachers to take on non-pedagogical tasks while increasing the number of nurses and mental health councilors working with schools. He also believes Swedish should remain the official language within the state school system. Jomshof also said that he previously was a political
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and that much of his current beliefs and decision to join the SD were formed after working in Swedish schools in the late 1980s and stating that he was already witnessing issues surrounding discipline, language and cultural segregation between immigrants and Swedes.
Jomshof has called for a more restrictive immigration policy. He has received media attention for his statements about
Islam and Muslim immigration to Sweden and has been accused of
Islamophobia
Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism.
The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
by political opponents, but has claimed he is not opposed to immigrants. During a speech in the
Swedish parliament in 2013, Jomshof said that Islam, unlike
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, is immoral and
violent
Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened ...
. During the same speech he compared Islam to
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
and claimed that they both have no place in Western society.
In 2021, Jomshof appeared on a Swedish TV show ''
Sverige möts'', where he allegedly called Islam a "disgusting religion." His remarks drew media attention and he was subsequently criticized by Moderate leader
Ulf Kristersson
Ulf Hjalmar Ed Kristersson (born 29 December 1963) is a Swedish politician who has been serving as Prime Minister of Sweden since October 2022. He has been the leader of the Moderate Party (M) since October 2017 and a member of the Riksdag (MP ...
and former Swedish prime minister
Stefan Löfven
Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden from October 2014 to November 20 ...
. Jomshof later stated that his comments had been misinterpreted and taken out of context.
References
Sources
BBC news with Jomshof's comments on how a member of the Swedish government shut down the SD Courier web site*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070926224323/http://sydsvenskan.se/sverige/article123330.ece Article in Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan about Jomshof losing his work because of his political views
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jomshof, Richard
Living people
1969 births
People from Helsingborg
Swedish anti-communists
Members of the Riksdag from the Sweden Democrats
Swedish people of Finnish descent
Swedish male musicians
Synth-pop musicians
Members of the Riksdag 2010–2014
Members of the Riksdag 2014–2018
Members of the Riksdag 2018–2022
Members of the Riksdag 2022–2026
21st-century Swedish politicians