Anna Maria Kinberg Batra (; ; born 14 April 1970) 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 who served as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and Leader 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 liber ...

from January 2015 to October 2017. She was a

Member of the Riksdag Members of Parliament (Swedish language, Swedish: ''riksdagsledamöter'', singular: ''riksdagsledamot'') in Sweden sit in the Riksdag. Description ''Members of Parliament'' refers to the elected List of members of the Swedish Riksdag, members ...

for

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm ...

from September 2006 to September 2018. She served as

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

from October 2010 to January 2015. On 25 August 2017, Kinberg Batra announced her resignation as party leader; she was succeeded by

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) ...

on 1 October 2017. In September 2017, she said that she would leave the political arena.

Early life

Anna Kinberg was born in

Skärholmen Skärholmen is a suburban area in the district of Söderort in south-western Stockholm, Sweden. Together with Bredäng, Sätra and Vårberg, it forms the borough of Skärholmen. The community primarily consisting of ''Million Programme'' style ...

. In 1974, Kinberg and her family moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, as her father worked for

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

office. Kinberg Batra speaks fluent

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

after her years in the country. They moved back to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in 1980, settling in

Djursholm Djursholm () is one of four suburban districts in, and the seat of Danderyd Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Djursholm is included in the multi-municipal Stockholm urban area. Djursholm is divided into a number of different areas: Djursh ...

where Kinberg Batra spent the rest of her upbringing.

Relatives

Kinberg Batra is a member of the Kinberg family from

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

. Her parents are commodity analyst Johan S. Kinberg and chemistry engineer Sarah Kinberg (''née'' Lundgren). Her grandfather was director Hilding Kinberg and her great-great-grandfather was professor

Hjalmar Kinberg Johan Gustaf Hjalmar Kinberg (13 May 1820 – 29 August 1908) was a Swedish zoologist, physician and veterinarian who was born in Grönby, near Trelleborg, Skåne County and who died in St. Matthew's Parish, Stockholm. Family Hjalmar Kinberg's ...

Education

Kinberg Batra went to high school at Danderyds gymnasium, where she studied

natural sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

. After high school, she studied

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at schoo ...

s and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

between 1989 and 1991. She graduated from

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; sv, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with ...

in 2000, having studied part-time there from 1991.

Political career

Kinberg Batra joined the

Moderate Youth League The Moderate Youth League ( sv, Moderata ungdomsförbundet ; MUF), officially known in English as the Swedish Young Conservatives, is the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party. Of the political youth organizations that received financial supp ...

in 1983. During the internal fights within the youth league in the beginning of the 1990s, she belonged to the

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 ...

phalanx and supported

as chairman. In 1993, she worked as

political advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

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 is not ...

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 Affairs ...

at the Government offices. She has also worked as editor at

Svenska Dagbladet ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. During the beginning of the ...

in 1994, and 1996. From 1995 to 1996, she was political

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

at the office of the

in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, and from 1998 to 2000, she served as project leader. From 2000 to 2005, she was communication consult at Prime PR. Concurrently, she ran her own consulting business. From 2005 to 2006, she was head of information at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. She was active in student politics as chairman of the

Stockholm University Student Union The Stockholm University Student Union (SUS) is one of Sweden's largest student organisations with more than 22,000 members (as of November 2011). Stockholm University Student Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student ...

in 1994, as member of the board of the

from 1995 to 1998, and as the first female chairman of the

from 1996 to 1998. From 2004 to 2011, she was a member of the board of activity center Fryshuset. Since 2011, she has been a member of the executive board of the

Elected representative

She has also been an elected member of the

Stockholm County Council The Stockholm Regional Council ( sv, Region Stockholm), is a regional council, a regional municipal body corresponding to the territory of Stockholm County in Sweden. Its main responsibilities are the public healthcare system and public transp ...

and the

municipal 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 counci ...

Nacka Municipality Nacka Municipality (''Nacka kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east-central Sweden. Its seat is located at Nacka. The municipality is situated just east of the capital Stockholm and the western parts are considered a suburban par ...

. Prior to the 2006 general election she worked at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and prior to that she worked in different companies as a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

consultant. She has authored the book ''Indien – från stackare till stormakt'' ("India – From Wretch to Great Power",

Timbro Timbro is a liberal think tank and publishing company located in Stockholm, Sweden. In its present form Timbro was founded in 1978 by Sture Eskilsson and the Swedish Employers’ Association, a precursor to the Confederation of Swedish Enterpr ...

, 2005). Kinberg became known to the general public when she stated that "people from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

are more intelligent than people from rural areas" in her 1998 election campaign. In 2014, she apologized for this statement and said that "it is still the stupidest thing I've said publicly". In the

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 ...

from 2006, she was chairman of the Committee on European Union Affairs from 2007 to 2010, and chairman of the Committee on Finance from 2010 to 2014.

Leader of the Moderate Party

Following the defeat of the

in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in September 2014, Kinberg Batra was ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' took leadership of the party. On 9 December 2014, the

's nomination committee nominated Anna Kinberg Batra to succeed

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 wa ...

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

. She was elected to the position at the

party congress The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...

on 10 January 2015, becoming the party's first female leader. She faced criticism from voters and from within the

after the December agreement, which made it possible for

Stefan Löfven Kjell Stefan Löfven (; officially ''Löfvén''; born 21 July 1957) is a Swedish politician who serves as the Party of European Socialists, President of European Socialists since October 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Sweden fro ...

's centre-left minority government coalition to continue in office. On 9 October 2015, following the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

' departure from the agreement, Kinberg Batra announced that the agreement was now dissolved. On 25 August 2017, she announced that she would resign the leadership of the Moderate Party, owing to heavy criticism from within the party. She was succeeded by

on 1 October 2017.

Personal life

She has been married to comedian

David Batra David Chandra Batra (born 29 November 1972) is a Swedish stand up comedian and TV actor. He was born in Lund to an Indian Punjabi Khatri father and Swedish mother. Batra started doing stand up comedy in 1994, and has written and played leading ...

since 2002. They have one daughter and live in

Nacka Nacka () is the municipal seat of Nacka Municipality and part of Stockholm urban area in Sweden. The municipality's name harks back to a 16th-century industrial operation established by the Crown at Nacka farmstead where conditions for water mil ...

, Stockholm. She is fluent in French and proficient in

References

External links

Riksdagen: Anna Kinberg Batra (m)
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinberg Batra, Anna 1970 births Living people Members of the Riksdag from the Moderate Party Leaders of the Moderate Party Politicians from Stockholm Stockholm School of Economics alumni Stockholm University alumni Swedish expatriates in the Netherlands Women members of the Riksdag 21st-century Swedish women politicians