Politics in Sweden: Who is the new leader of the struggling Liberals?
Simona Mohamsson vowed to bring 'tough love' to immigration and integration politics in her first speech as party leader. Will one of her first moves be to change the Liberals' stance on the far-right Sweden Democrats, asks The Local Sweden's Editor Emma Löfgren.
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We did mention Simona Mohamsson in our analysis a month ago as a possible candidate for the position as leader, but she was hardly one of the favourites.
Her appointment came as many of the top names, however, said they were not interested in the role, including Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari.
Mohamsson, who spent most of her childhood and teenage years in south-western Sweden, has had a meteoric career within the Liberal Party, only entering national politics as recently as April, when she took over as party secretary – one of the most senior roles within a party.
Before that the 30-year-old had been active in youth and local politics, serving as deputy chair of the party's LUF youth wing and city councillor in charge of social services in Hisingen, a suburb of Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city.
She was born in Hamburg, Germany, and moved to Överlida, a village of around 500 people in the countryside south-east of Gothenburg, when she was eight years old.
Her father is an Israeli Arab born in Haifa and her mother is from a mountain village in Lebanon, close to the Israeli border. The family changed their name from Mohammed to the more Swedish-sounding Mohamsson shortly after arrival in Sweden.
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She was formally elected as the new leader of the Liberals on June 24th, and thrown into the deep end only hours later when she gave a speech on the main stage of Sweden's annual, high-profile Almedalen political week on the island of Gotland.
Mohamsson dedicated a significant amount of her speech to one of the Liberals' main issues: schools, saying she had arrived in Sweden to a 'flumskola' (a Swedish slang word that refers to the school system as 'frivolous') run by the centre-left Social Democrats, a stark difference to the German school system she had started out in.
'That is my promise to those of you listening. The school as an institution of knowledge must be restored. Folkpartiet classic,' she told the audience at Almedalen Week.
In the end, which she didn't mention, she actually spent most of her Swedish school years under a national government led by the centre-right Alliance (including the Liberals, known at the time as Folkpartiet) for eight years and a centre-right majority city council.
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She also praised the Tidö coalition – the government made up of the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals, supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats – for its approach to crime and punishment, urging 'hard measures for soft values'.
'We should not have a Sweden where police officers are shot. Where children are killing other children. With streets of sorrow or neighbours in fear,' she said.
She said integration policies should place tougher demands on people, but also offer opportunities, such as Swedish for Immigrants classes coupled with language requirements for citizenship, or vocational training but also a cap on benefits.
'That's Liberal politics for more Mohamssons. Where second-generation immigrants become first-generation Swedes. With support from society, but also the clear expectations of society. Tough love, for a Sweden that sticks together,' she said.
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Mohamsson avoided addressing criticism of her party's collaboration with the Sweden Democrats in her speech, saying she could 'work together with all parties', before launching a blistering attack on the centre-left opposition, which she argued shared neither a joint vision for Sweden nor insights into the problems the country faces.
'It's not an option you want to collaborate with if you want to push Sweden in a better and safer direction,' she said.
At a press conference after the speech, she said the Liberals would make a clear statement about future government coalitions after the summer holidays.
The party has previously refused to be part of a government that includes the Sweden Democrats, or support such a government. But according to unconfirmed reports by public broadcaster SVT, the party management will attempt to change its stance.
Based on current polling figures, the best hope for a right-wing government after the 2026 election is if the Sweden Democrats are allowed to formally join the government.
That's if the Liberals even make it into parliament, which is not a safe bet.
In the latest major poll by number-crunchers Statistics Sweden, they were polling at 2.8 percent, far below the 4 percent required to get any seats in parliament.
Will Mohamsson's "tough love" be able to turn things around for the Liberals? It remains to be seen.
Politics in Sweden is The Local's weekly analysis, guide or look ahead to what's coming up in Swedish politics. Update your newsletter settings to receive it directly to your inbox.
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