Per Jimmie Åkesson (; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician and author, serving as leader of the
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...
since 2005. He has been a member of the
Riksdag
The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...
(SD) for
Jönköping County
Jönköping County () is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in September 2017. The capita ...
since
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
. He previously served as leader of the
Sweden Democratic Youth from 2000 until 2005.
Early life and education
Jimmie Åkesson was born in
Ivetofta in
Skåne County
Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...
,
but grew up in
Sölvesborg in
Blekinge County
Blekinge County () is a county or '' län'' in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne
Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden ...
.
His father, Stefan, is a businessman who ran a floor laying business and his mother, Britt Marie, was a care provider in a nursing home. Åkesson's parents divorced when he was young and he was raised primarily by his mother.
From 1995 to 1998, Åkesson completed a three-year social studies program at the Furulundsskolan Institute in Sölvesborg. In 1999, he began studying
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
, law, economics,
human geography
Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography which studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment, examples of which include urban sprawl and urban ...
and philosophy at
Lund University
Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...
, without graduating, and has stated that he became interested in politics around this time.
Prior to working full-time in politics, Åkesson worked as a
web developer
A web developer is a programmer who develops World Wide Web applications using a client–server model. The applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the client, and any general-purpose programming language in the server. is used ...
and founded a web design company ''BMJ Aktiv'' with
Björn Söder, the former party secretary of the Sweden Democrats.
Political career
Youth politics
Åkesson was a member of the
Moderate Youth League, the youth wing of the
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative*
*
*
*
* List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...
, but left the Moderates to join the original version of
Sweden Democratic Youth Association (the youth wing of the
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...
) in 1995, although some sources claim 1994.
In interviews, Åkesson has stated that he joined the SD after many of the party's original and more hardline members had left.
The magazine ''
Expo'' claims that Åkesson first contacted the SD in 1994 as a fifteen year old. In his 2013
autobiography
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
, Åkesson wrote that he decided to become a member of the SD on New Year's Eve in 1994 but did not formally sign membership papers until 1995 when the SD's first chairman
Anders Klarström had stepped down due to considering him too radical. He wrote that he was not attracted by neo-Nazi sympathizers in the party, he wrote that at the time he supported the SD's "political potential" and said "I was a nationalist and the Sweden Democrats had succeeded, despite their flaws, in formulating a fundamentally sound, democratic and universal nationalism." He said that the SD policies he was most attracted to at first were its view on the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
and its policy on immigration.
In an article for the SDU's magazine in 1997, Åkesson wrote "We had the first contact with SD sometime in December of the same year
994 and during a meeting at New Year's Eve we decided to start working party politically, and that a local SDU branch would eventually be formed." Journalist and former SD press secretary Christian Krappedal corroborated that Åkesson became a member of the party in the spring of 1995.
In 1995, he also co-founded a local chapter of the Sweden Democratic Youth Association.
In 1997, he was elected as a deputy member of the party's national board.
In the
1998 Swedish general election, at the age of 19, Åkesson was elected to public office as a
councilman in
Sölvesborg Municipality.
The same year, he also became deputy chairman of the newly established
Sweden Democratic Youth ''(Sverigedemokratisk Ungdom)'', and later, from 2000 to 2005, was chairman of the organisation.
2005–present: Party leader
In 2005, he defeated party leader
Mikael Jansson in a party election to become the party leader of the Sweden Democrats (SD). During his student years at Lund University, Åkesson got to know
Björn Söder,
Richard Jomshof and
Mattias Karlsson with whom he formed the ''National Democratic Student Association in Lund.'' The group became known as the "Scania Gang" or "Fantastic Four" within the SD; a political group of younger members who had the goal of taking over the party's leadership and sought to moderate and reform the SD.
In 2009,
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...
reported that Åkesson along with other prominent SD members sang a scornful song about the
assassination of Olof Palme. Åkesson said he should have been more against it, but that the recordings were missing context. He said they sang a wide range of songs, from
Jussi Björling to communistic
protest songs
A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre.
...
(), in a non-political context.
In the
2010 Swedish general election, the SD for the first time crossed the
election threshold and entered the
Riksdag
The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...
, with 5.70% of the votes, gaining 20 seats. Åkesson, who was placed first on the party's national ballot, was elected as 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 members of the Riksdag. In Swedish, an MP is us ...
(MP) along with 19 of his fellow party members.
In September 2014,
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...
(SR) reported that Åkesson had spent upwards of 500,000 kronor ($70,000) in 2014 alone on online betting. The sum is more than the politician would have earned all year, after tax, reported SR. The revelation caused an uproar, both among people who view Åkesson as unreliable and those who opposed SR's decision to publish the information. Among the latter were former
Green Party Spokesperson
Maria Wetterstrand and Foreign Minister
Carl Bildt
Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, appearing as its lead candidate in four general elections, b ...
. Åkesson himself called SR's actions an attempt at
character assassination
Character assassination (CA) is a deliberate and sustained effort to damage the reputation or credibility of an individual. The term ''character assassination'' became popular around 1930. This concept, as a subject of scholarly study, was origi ...
.
Following the
2014 Swedish general election
General elections were held in Sweden on 14 September 2014 to elect all 349 seats in the Riksdag, alongside elections for the 21 2014 Swedish county council elections, county councils, and 290 2014 Swedish municipal elections, municipal assembli ...
, Åkesson announced he would be on sick leave due to
burnout. In early 2015, Åkesson was named Sweden's most important opinion leader for the calendar year 2014 by the Swedish magazine ''DSM'' in their annual rankings.
On 27 March 2015, Åkesson publicly announced that he would return to his duties as party leader for the SD, albeit initially in a somewhat reduced role, on the
SVT program ''
Skavlan'', as well as in an open letter on his Facebook page.
In the
2018 Swedish general election, the SD got 17.6% of the votes (+4.7
pp), after the
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( , S or SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( ), is a social democratic political party in Sweden. The party is member of the Progressiv ...
(28.4%, -2.6 pp) and the
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative*
*
*
*
* List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...
(19.8%, -3.5 pp). SD had 62 of 349 seats in the next
Riksdag
The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...
.
The SD saw a greater rise in support during 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 ...
under Åkesson's leadership with the party overtaking the Moderates to become the second largest in the Riksdag.
In August 2023, the
Nobel Foundation
The Nobel Foundation () is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
It also holds Nobel Sym ...
invited Åkesson as an official guest as part of the Swedish delegation at the annual
Nobel Banquet for the first time having previously denied him an invitation before.
Political beliefs and public image
Detailing his political beliefs in a profile for ''
The Local
''The Local'' is a multi-regional, European digital news publisher targeting expats, labour migrants and second home owners. It has nine local editions: The Local Austria, The Local Denmark, The Local France, The Local Germany, The Local Italy, ...
,'' Åkesson described himself as a Swedish nationalist,
social conservative and a supporter of equality.
During his chairmanship of the Sweden Democrats' youth league and as party leader, Åkesson has sought to moderate the SD's ideological points and expel hardline members from the party. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Åkesson was considered part of a reformist faction on the party's national board that sought to change the SD programme such as abolishing the party's support for capital punishment. Under his leadership from 2005, Åkesson has changed party rhetoric away from
ethnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnostate/ethnocratic) approach to variou ...
in reference to Swedish identity to promoting a Swedish culture based on the ''
Folkhemmet'' (people's home) concept, folklore and Swedish Lutheran traditions. He has said that the SD no longer associates itself with any form of neo-Nazism under his leadership and maintains a zero-tolerance policy on expressions of racism or extremism from its representatives.
As SD leader, Åkesson has described his main policy focus to be the areas of law & order, expanding nuclear power and defending Swedish culture and society against mass migration. He has also criticized the other parties in the Riksdag for being too
pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
and undermining Sweden's social solidarity through uncontrolled immigration policies.
In 2009, Åkesson contributed a debate article for ''
Aftonbladet
(, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries.
History and profile
The newspaper was founded by Lar ...
'' which was critical of
multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...
and Islam in Sweden where he argued "Islam has influenced Swedish society to a much greater extent than Swedish society has influenced Islam" and that various phenomena associated with Islam were "greatest foreign threat to Sweden since the Second World War." ''Aftonbladet'' editorial staff headlined the article with ''Muslims are our greatest foreign threat.'' After the column received much attention, Åkesson took part in a debate with by Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister
Maud Olofsson on
SVT. Åkesson argued that the point of the article was to say that Muslims who come to Sweden should adapt to a Swedish way of life as opposed to the other way around. The Swedish ''Center Against Racism'' reported the article to the office of the
Chancellor of Justice
The Chancellor of Justice is a government official found in some northern European countries, broadly responsible for supervising the lawfulness of government actions.
History
In 1713, the Swedish King Charles XII, preoccupied with fighting t ...
as an incitement against an ethnic group. However, the Chancellor of Justice dismissed the complaint and did not initiate an investigation. The opinion polling companies ''
Synovate
Synovate was a market research company with more than 100 offices in 62 countries. It was acquired by Ipsos in 2011 which combined to be the third largest in the world.
Company history
Synovate was one of the largest firms specializing in custo ...
'' and ''United Minds'' noted that the debate on the article increased voter support for the Sweden Democrats in polls ahead of the
2010 Swedish general election.
In 2013, ''
Fokus'' magazine named Åkesson as Sweden's fifth most powerful person.
Following the
Palestinian attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed more than 1,000 Israelis, people were spotted celebrating in various Swedish cities. Åkesson immediately stated that these people do not belong in Sweden and that he is open to expel those who praise terrorism. During a speech on 26 November 2023, Åkesson asserted that Swedish-Palestinians who have travelled to
Gaza should not expect help to return to Sweden.
Observers such as Nordic politics scholar
Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, journalist
Bülent Keneş and political scientist Jonas Hinnfors have described Åkesson as an effective public speaker and media communicator, but have noted that his political image is based on building support through appearing "calm and sensible" and not fitting the typical outspoken and charismatic image of a populist leader.
Personal life
Åkesson was engaged to
Louise Erixon
Louise Erixon (born 7 April 1989) is a Swedish media commentator and politician of the Sweden Democrats party who served as the mayor of Sölvesborg from 2019 to 2022.
Biography
Erixon is the daughter of Örjan Erixon and former Riksdag member ...
, a former parliamentary aide to Björn Söder and the daughter of former Sweden Democrats MP Margareta Gunsdotter. Erixon served as the mayor of
Sölvesborg from 2019 to 2022, and she was one of the first Sweden Democrats to hold a local mayorship. They have a son, born in 2013.
On 24 April 2020, Erixon announced on her Facebook page that the couple had separated some time previously.
Since 2022, Åkesson has been in a relationship with
nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...
Matilda Kärnerup. They married in 2024.
Outside of politics, Åkesson is also a musician. He plays keyboard and bass for the rock group alongside
Peter London and has also performed at concerts with the
Viking rock
Viking rock () is a rock music genre that takes much of its Viking revival, themes from 19th-century Viking romanticism, mixing it with elements of rockabilly, Oi! or street punk, and folk music. Frequent themes occurring in Viking rock include v ...
band
Ultima Thule. Åkesson currently resides in
Sölvesborg. According to his personal profile, his main interests are playing
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
and watching
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. He is a supporter of
Mjällby AIF
Mjällby Allmänna Idrottsförening, also known simply as Mjällby AIF, Mjällby or (especially locally) MAIF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Hällevik in Sölvesborg Municipality. The club is affiliated to Blekinge Fo ...
.
Bibliography
* (2008): ''20 röster om 20 år. Sverigedemokraterna 1988–2008''
* (2009): ''Åkesson om... Vecka 40–52 2008''
* (2013): ''Satis polito''.
* (2018): ''Det moderna folkhemmet''.
References
External links
*
Jimmie Åkessonat the
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...
' website
Jimmie Åkessonat the
Swedish parliament's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akesson, Jimmie
1979 births
Living people
Leaders of political parties in Sweden
Lund University alumni
People from Bromölla Municipality
People from Sölvesborg Municipality
Members of the Riksdag 2010–2014
Members of the Riksdag 2014–2018
Members of the Riksdag 2018–2022
Members of the Riksdag 2022–2026
Members of the Riksdag from the Sweden Democrats
Sweden Democrats politicians