Per Carl Gustav Unckel (24 February 1948 – 20 September 2011)Landshövding Per Unckel avliden
Stockholm County Administrative Board 2011-09-21 was 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 ...

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 ...

politician who served as Minister for Education from 1991 to 1994 and as Governor of Stockholm County from 2007 until his death in 2011. He was born in

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English ...

and was at one time chairman of 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 su ...

district there. He studied law in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

1968–71. In 1971, he was elected national chairman of the

and served until 1976, when he was elected to the Riksdag for

. In 1986, he became secretary general of the Moderate Party. He stayed in the post until 1991, when the Moderate Party won the election and

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 of Sweden The prime minister ( sv, statsminister ; literally translating to "Minister of State") is the head of government of Sweden. The prime minister and their cabinet (the government) exercise executive authority in the Kingdom of Sweden and are su ...

. Unckel was then appointed Minister of Education. In that position, he spearheaded the educational reforms that revolutionised the Swedish education system. Among other things, students were allowed to choose among the local schools. After the loss in the election in 1994, Unckel became the party spokesman on labour policy. In 1998 he became chairman of the Committee on the Constitution and one year later he was appointed leader of the Moderate Party parliamentary group. The election in 2002 was disastrous for the Moderate Party and several senior figures had to resign from the board of the party. Per Unckel was one of them. He was seen as a part of the old regime - the so-called "Bunker" around Carl Bildt, together with the likes of Anders Björk and Gunnar Hökmark. His old Moderate Youth League district, however, paid their respects by electing him honorary chairman. In 2003, he was appointed secretary-general of the

Nordic Council of Ministers The Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental forum established after the Helsinki Treaty. The purpose of the Nordic Council of Ministers is to complement the Nordic Council and promote Nordic cooperation. Structure The governm ...

and retired from Swedish politics. He served until December 2006. He later served as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the European Humanities University. Unckel died on 20 September 2011 from cancer, aged 63.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Unckel, Per 1948 births 2011 deaths Swedish Ministers for Education Members of the Riksdag from the Moderate Party Governors of Stockholm County Uppsala University alumni Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Deaths from cancer in Sweden Members of the Riksdag 1976–1979 Members of the Riksdag 1979–1982 Members of the Riksdag 1982–1985 Members of the Riksdag 1994–1998 Members of the Riksdag 1998–2002 Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006 Burials at Galärvarvskyrkogården