Eva Carin Beatrice Ask (born 20 April 1956) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and a member of 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 ...

. She has served as Governor of Södermanland County since 1 January 2020. Ask served as member of the

Swedish Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

for Stockholm Municipality from 1994 to 2019. She was Minister for Schools from 1991 to 1994 and Minister for Justice from 2006 to 2014

Biography

Ask was born in Sveg,

Jämtland County Jämtland County ( sv, Jämtlands län, ) is a county or ''län'' in the middle of Sweden consisting of the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen, along with minor parts of Hälsingland and Ångermanland, plus two small uninhabited strips of ...

. She earned a high school diploma in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in 1974, and finished her

upper secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Sweden in 1976. From 1978 to 1979, she studied

international economics International economics is concerned with the effects upon economic activity from international differences in productive resources and consumer preferences and the international institutions that affect them. It seeks to explain the patterns and ...

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

but never graduated. Instead, she began working for the

and the Moderate Youth League, before being elected the first female chairman of the youth league in 1984. She was re-elected in 1986, and served a second term until 1988, when she was elected city commissioner with responsibility for schools ( sv, skolborgarråd) in the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Stockholm. Following the 1991 election, after which

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affair ...

became

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, Ask was appointed Minister for Schools and Adult Education in the new cabinet. Together with Per Unckel, Minister for Education, she took part in shaking the very foundation of the Swedish education system. Among other things, education vouchers were introduced which allowed children to choose

independent schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

without paying any fees. Since the loss in the 1994 election, Ask has served as party spokesman of several issues. From 1994 to 2006, she was member of the Swedish parliament. Following the 2006 election, after which

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He ...

became Prime Minister, Ask was appointed Minister for Justice in the new cabinet. Historically, she is one of very few non- jurists to hold the post of Minister for Justice in Sweden. She has been criticized by newspapers and fellow politicians in her role as a Minister of Justice, most notably for her part in the change in legislation regulating the

National Defence Radio Establishment The National Defence Radio Establishment ( sv, Försvarets radioanstalt, FRA) is a Swedish government agency organised under the Ministry of Defence. The two main tasks of FRA are signals intelligence (SIGINT), and support to government authorit ...

, as well as her proposal to send lavender-colored envelopes to suspected purchasers of sexual acts, with the head of the

Swedish Bar Association The Swedish Bar Association ( sv, Sveriges advokatsamfund) is an organisation for Swedish lawyers, including members of the Bar practicing law, under the title of ''advokat'', a title which is protected by Swedish law and reserved for the exclus ...

, Anne Ramberg, calling the latter "an unacceptable view of human beings. It is a return to medieval times". After the news of the Swedish police controlling the citizenships of fare evaders in the Stockholm subway, Ask supported the REVA project and continuing in-country foreigner checks. An open letter to the minister describing the more recent public uproar has received worldwide attention, and was carried in the New York Times, written in opposition of police actions in Stockholm. In January 2014, she shared a link on Facebook to a satirical website article about marijuana killing 37 people in the US following the legalization in the state of Colorado, and tied it to her anti-drug stand as a youth politician. Her post was ridiculed and criticized after it spread on social media. Her press secretary later told the Aftonbladet newspaper that the minister had all the time been aware that the article was satirical. At the end of her time in office as Minister for Justice, she was the fourth longest-serving person to the hold the office out of 41 individuals. She was second deputy leader of the

from 2009 to 2015.

Personal life

Ask was formerly in a relationship with Moderate Party politician Christer G. Wennerholm, with whom she has one child. She has a second child from another relationship.

References

External links

Beatrice Ask
at the Government Offices of Sweden
Beatrice Ask
at the

Parliament of Sweden The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...

Beatrice Ask
at the