Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Statsråd och chef för utrikesdepartementet
Lesser coat of arms of Sweden
Incumbent Margot Wallström since 3 October 2014
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Style	Excellency was used up to the 1970s in Sweden; but is still used in diplomatic writing
Member of	The Government
Seat	Arvfurstens palats, Stockholm, Sweden
Appointer	The Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term Serves as long as the Prime Minister sees fit
Formation	20 March 1876
First holder	Oscar Björnstjerna
Deputy	State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Website	www.sweden.gov.se

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Swedish: utrikesminister) is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Margot Wallström of the Social Democrats.

History

The office was instituted in 1809 as a result of the constitutional Instrument of Government promulgated in the same year. Until 1876 the office was called Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs (Swedish: statsminister för utrikes ärendena, commonly known as utrikesstatsminister), similar to the office of Prime Minister for Justice (Swedish: justitiestatsminister). The Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs initially served as head of the Cabinet of Foreign Mail Exchange at the Royal Office. Following the ministry reform in 1840, the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs became head of the newly instituted Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 1876 the office proper of Prime Minister of Sweden was created and at the same time the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs was nominally demoted to a mere Minister. The holder of the office did however continue to be styled as "Your excellency", until 1974 when the new Instrument of Government came into force. Before the parliamentary breakthrough in the early 20th century, that title had been granted exclusively to members of the most prominent noble families.

Office holders

Prime Ministers for Foreign Affairs (1809–1876)

Name		Took office	Left office	Political party
	Lars von Engeström	9 June 1809	8 June 1824	Independent
	Gustaf af Wetterstedt	8 June 1824	15 May 1837	Independent
	Adolf Mörner (acting)	15 May 1837	30 January 1838	Independent
	Gustaf Algernon Stierneld	30 January 1838	11 July 1842	Independent
	Albrecht Elof Ihre (acting)	5 September 1840	29 December 1842	Independent
	Albrecht Elof Ihre	29 December 1842	10 April 1848	Independent
	Gustaf Algernon Stierneld	10 April 1848	8 September 1856	Independent
	Elias Lagerheim	8 September 1856	16 March 1858	Independent
	Christofer Rutger Ludvig Manderström	16 March 1858	4 June 1868	Independent
	Carl Wachtmeister	4 June 1868	14 October 1871	Independent
	Baltzar von Platen	10 November 1871	17 December 1872	Independent
	Oscar Björnstjerna	17 December 1872	20 March 1876	Independent

Ministers for Foreign Affairs (1876–present)

Parties

  No party

  Lantmanna Party

  Social Democrat

  Conservative / Moderate Party

  Liberal / People's Party

  Centre Party

Status

  Denotes acting Minister for Foreign Affairs

No.	Portrait	Minister (Born–Died)	Tenure			Political party	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
1	100px	Oscar Björnstjerna (1819–1905)	20 March 1876	19 April 1880		Independent		De Geer Sr. (II)
2		Carl Hochschild (1831–1898)	27 April 1880	25 September 1885		Independent		Posse
								Thyselius
3	100px	Albert Ehrensvärd the Elder (1821–1901)	25 September 1885	12 June 1889		Independent		Themptander
								Gillis Bildt
4		Gustaf Åkerhielm (1833–1900)	12 June 1889	12 October 1889		Protectionist Party
5	100px	Carl Lewenhaupt (1835–1906)	12 October 1889	1 June 1895		Independent		Åkerhielm
								Boström (I)
6		Ludvig Douglas (1849–1916)	1 June 1895	13 October 1899		Independent
7	100px	Alfred Lagerheim (1843–1924)	20 December 1899	7 December 1904		Lantmanna Party		von Otter
								Boström (II)
8		August Gyldenstolpe (1849–1928)	22 December 1904	2 August 1905		Independent		Ramstedt
9	100px	Fredrik Wachtmeister (1855–1919)	2 August 1905	7 November 1905		Protectionist Party		Lundeberg
10		Eric Trolle (1863–1934)	7 November 1905	17 March 1909		Independent		Staaff (I)
								Lindman (I)
11		Arvid Taube (1853–1916)	30 April 1909	7 October 1911		General Electoral League
12	100px	Albert Ehrensvärd the Younger (1867–1940)	7 October 1911	17 February 1914		Liberal Coalition Party		Staaff (I)
13		Knut Wallenberg (1853–1938)	17 February 1914	30 March 1917		National Party		Hammarskjöld
14		Arvid Lindman (1862–1936)	30 March 1917	19 October 1917		General Electoral League		Swartz
15	100px	Johannes Hellner (1866–1947)	19 October 1917	10 March 1920		Liberal Coalition Party		Edén
16	100px	Erik Palmstierna (1877–1959)	10 March 1920	27 October 1920		Social Democrats		Branting (I)
17	100px	Herman Wrangel (1857–1934)	27 October 1920	13 October 1921		Independent		De Geer Jr.
								von Sydow
18		Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925)	13 October 1921	19 April 1923		Social Democrats		Branting (II)
19	100px	Carl Hederstierna (1861–1928)	19 April 1923	11 November 1923		General Electoral League		Trygger
20	100px	Erik Marks von Würtemberg (1861–1937)	11 November 1923	18 October 1924		General Electoral League
21	100px	Östen Undén (1886–1974)	18 October 1924	7 June 1926		Social Democrats		Branting (III)
								Sandler
22	100px	Eliel Löfgren (1872–1940)	7 June 1926	2 October 1928		Liberal Party		Ekman (I)
23		Ernst Trygger (1857–1943)	2 October 1928	7 June 1930		National Party		Lindman (II)
24	100px	Fredrik Ramel (1872–1947)	7 June 1930	24 September 1932		Independent		Ekman (II)
								Hamrin
25		Rickard Sandler (1884–1964)	24 September 1932	19 June 1936		Social Democrats		Hansson (I)
26	100px	Karl Gustaf Westman (1876–1944)	19 June 1936	28 September 1936		Farmer's League		Pehrsson-Bramstorp
27		Rickard Sandler (1884–1964)	28 September 1936	13 December 1939		Social Democrats		Hansson (II)
28		Christian Günther (1886–1966)	13 December 1939	31 July 1945		Independent		Hansson (III)
29	100px	Östen Undén (1886–1974)	31 July 1945	19 September 1962		Social Democrats		Hansson (IV)
								Erlander (I)
								Erlander (II)
								Erlander (III)
30		Torsten Nilsson (1905–1997)	19 September 1962	30 June 1971		Social Democrats		Erlander (III)
								Palme (I)
31		Krister Wickman (1924–1993)	30 June 1971	3 November 1973		Social Democrats
32		Sven Andersson (1910–1987)	3 November 1973	8 October 1976		Social Democrats
33	100px	Karin Söder (1928–2015)	8 October 1976	18 October 1978		Centre Party		Fälldin (I)
33		Hans Blix (born 1928)	18 October 1978	12 October 1979		People's Party		Ullsten
34		Ola Ullsten (born 1931)	12 October 1979	8 October 1982		People's Party		Fälldin (II)
								Fälldin (III)
35		Lennart Bodström (1928–2015)	8 October 1982	17 October 1985		Social Democrats		Palme (II)
36		Sten Andersson (1923–2006)	17 October 1985	4 October 1991		Social Democrats		Palme (II)
								Carlsson (I)
								Carlsson (II)
37		Margaretha af Ugglas (born 1939)	4 October 1991	7 October 1994		Moderate Party		Carl Bildt
38		Lena Hjelm-Wallén (born 1943)	7 October 1994	7 October 1998		Social Democrats		Carlsson (III)
								Persson
39		Anna Lindh (1957–2003)	7 October 1998	11 September 2003 †		Social Democrats
–		Jan O. Karlsson (born 1939)	11 September 2003	10 October 2003		Social Democrats
40	100px	Laila Freivalds (born 1942)	10 October 2003	21 March 2006		Social Democrats
–		Bo Ringholm (born 1942)	21 March 2006	27 March 2006		Social Democrats
–	100px	Carin Jämtin (born 1964)	27 March 2006	24 April 2006		Social Democrats
41		Jan Eliasson (born 1940)	24 April 2006	6 October 2006		Social Democrats
42		Carl Bildt (born 1949)	6 October 2006	3 October 2014		Moderate Party		Reinfeldt
42		Margot Wallström (born 1954)	3 October 2014			Social Democrats		Löfven

Statistics

#	Minister for Foreign Affairs	Date of birth	Age at ascension (first term)	Time in office (total)	Age at retirement (last term)	Date of death	Longevity
1	Oscar Björnstjerna	(1819-03-06)March 6, 1819	57 years, 14 days	4 years, 30 days	61 years, 44 days	September 2, 1905(1905-09-02)	86 years, 180 days
2	Carl Hochschild	(1831-09-13)September 13, 1831	48 years, 227 days	5 years, 151 days	54 years, 12 days	December 12, 1898(1898-12-12)	67 years, 90 days
3	Albert Ehrensvärd, Sr.	(1821-01-10)January 10, 1821	64 years, 258 days	3 years, 260 days	68 years, 153 days	January 31, 1901(1901-01-31)	80 years, 21 days
4	Gustaf Åkerhielm	(1833-06-24)June 24, 1833	55 years, 353 days	0 years, 122 days	56 years, 110 days	April 2, 1900(1900-04-02)	66 years, 282 days
5	Carl Lewenhaupt	(1835-03-19)March 19, 1835	54 years, 207 days	5 years, 232 days	60 years, 74 days	December 10, 1906(1906-12-10)	71 years, 266 days
6	Ludvig Douglas	(1849-11-24)November 24, 1849	45 years, 189 days	4 years, 134 days	49 years, 323 days	July 20, 1916(1916-07-20)	66 years, 239 days
7	Alfred Lagerheim	(1843-10-04)October 4, 1843	56 years, 77 days	4 years, 353 days	61 years, 64 days	May 23, 1924(1924-05-23)	80 years, 232 days
8	August Gyldenstolpe	(1849-07-22)July 22, 1849	55 years, 153 days	0 years, 223 days	56 years, 11 days	June 30, 1928(1928-06-30)	78 years, 344 days
9	Fredrik Wachtmeister	(1855-02-10)February 10, 1855	50 years, 173 days	0 years, 97 days	50 years, 270 days	September 6, 1919(1919-09-06)	64 years, 208 days
10	Eric Trolle	(1863-09-23)September 23, 1863	41 years, 349 days	3 years, 130 days	45 years, 114 days	April 21, 1934(1934-04-21)	70 years, 149 days
11	Arvid Taube	(1853-01-19)January 19, 1853	56 years, 101 days	2 years, 160 days	58 years, 261 days	October 14, 1916(1916-10-14)	63 years, 269 days
12	Albert Ehrensvärd, Jr.	(1867-05-09)May 9, 1867	44 years, 151 days	2 years, 133 days	46 years, 284 days	March 6, 1940(1940-03-06)	72 years, 302 days
13	Knut Wallenberg	(1853-05-19)May 19, 1853	60 years, 274 days	3 years, 41 days	63 years, 315 days	June 1, 1938(1938-06-01)	85 years, 13 days
14	Arvid Lindman	(1862-09-19)September 19, 1862	46 years, 55 days	0 years, 203 days	48 years, 198 days	December 9, 1936(1936-12-09)	74 years, 81 days
15	Johannes Hellner	(1866-04-22)April 22, 1866	51 years, 180 days	2 years, 143 days	53 years, 323 days	February 19, 1947(1947-02-19)	80 years, 303 days
16	Erik Palmstierna	(1877-11-10)November 10, 1877	42 years, 121 days	0 years, 231 days	42 years, 352 days	October 22, 1959(1959-10-22)	81 years, 346 days
17	Herman Wrangel	(1857-08-13)August 13, 1857	63 years, 75 days	0 years, 351 days	64 years, 61 days	October 9, 1934(1934-10-09)	77 years, 57 days
18	Hjalmar Branting	(1860-11-23)November 23, 1860	60 years, 324 days	1 year, 188 days	62 years, 147 days	February 24, 1925(1925-02-24)	64 years, 93 days
19	Carl Hederstierna	(1861-12-01)December 1, 1861	61 years, 139 days	0 years, 206 days	61 years, 345 days	November 17, 1928(1928-11-17)	66 years, 352 days
20	Erik Marks von Würtemberg	(1861-05-11)May 11, 1861	62 years, 184 days	0 years, 342 days	63 years, 160 days	July 22, 1937(1937-07-22)	76 years, 72 days
21	Östen Undén	(1886-08-25)August 25, 1886	38 years, 54 days	18 years, 282 days	76 years, 25 days	January 14, 1974(1974-01-14)	87 years, 142 days
22	Eliel Löfgren	(1872-03-15)March 15, 1872	54 years, 84 days	2 years, 117 days	56 years, 201 days	April 8, 1940(1940-04-08)	68 years, 24 days
23	Ernst Trygger	(1857-10-27)October 27, 1857	70 years, 341 days	1 years, 248 days	72 years, 223 days	September 23, 1943(1943-09-23)	85 years, 331 days
24	Fredrik Ramel	(1872-12-09)December 9, 1872	57 years, 180 days	2 years, 109 days	59 years, 290 days	October 30, 1947(1947-10-30)	74 years, 325 days
25	Rickard Sandler	(1884-01-29)January 29, 1884	48 years, 239 days	6 years, 345 days	55 years, 318 days	November 12, 1964(1964-11-12)	80 years, 288 days
26	Karl Gustaf Westman	(1876-08-18)August 18, 1876	59 years, 306 days	0 years, 101 days	60 years, 41 days	January 24, 1944(1944-01-24)	67 years, 159 days
27	Christian Günther	(1886-12-05)December 5, 1886	53 years, 8 days	5 years, 230 days	58 years, 238 days	March 6, 1966(1966-03-06)	79 years, 91 days
28	Torsten Nilsson	(1905-04-01)April 1, 1905	57 years, 171 days	8 years, 284 days	66 years, 90 days	December 14, 1997(1997-12-14)	92 years, 257 days
29	Krister Wickman	(1924-04-13)April 13, 1924	47 years, 78 days	2 years, 126 days	49 years, 204 days	September 10, 1993(1993-09-10)	69 years, 150 days
30	Sven Andersson	(1910-04-05)April 5, 1910	63 years, 212 days	2 years, 340 days	66 years, 186 days	September 21, 1987(1987-09-21)	77 years, 169 days
31	Karin Söder	(1928-11-30)November 30, 1928	47 years, 313 days	2 years, 10 days	49 years, 322 days	December 19, 2015(2015-12-19)	87 years, 19 days
32	Hans Blix	(1928-06-28)June 28, 1928	50 years, 112 days	0 years, 359 days	51 years, 106 days	Living	(Living)
33	Ola Ullsten	(1931-06-23)June 23, 1931	48 years, 111 days	2 years, 361 days	51 years, 107 days	Living	(Living)
34	Lennart Bodström	(1928-04-20)April 20, 1928	54 years, 171 days	3 years, 9 days	57 years, 180 days	April 30, 2015(2015-04-30)	87 years, 10 days
35	Sten Andersson	(1923-04-20)April 20, 1923	62 years, 180 days	5 years, 352 days	68 years, 167 days	September 13, 2006(2006-09-13)	83 years, 210 days
36	Margaretha af Ugglas	(1939-01-05)January 5, 1939	52 years, 272 days	3 years, 3 days	55 years, 275 days	Living	(Living)
37	Lena Hjelm-Wallén	(1943-01-14)January 14, 1943	51 years, 266 days	4 years, 0 days	55 years, 266 days	Living	(Living)
38	Anna Lindh	(1957-06-19)June 19, 1957	41 years, 110 days	4 years, 339 days	46 years, 84 days	September 11, 2003(2003-09-11)	46 years, 84 days
39	Laila Freivalds	(1942-06-22)June 22, 1942	61 years, 110 days	2 years, 162 days	63 years, 272 days	Living	(Living)
40	Jan Eliasson	(1940-09-17)September 17, 1940	65 years, 219 days	0 years, 165 days	66 years, 19 days	Living	(Living)
41	Carl Bildt	(1949-07-15)July 15, 1949	57 years, 83 days	7 years, 362 days	65 years, 80 days	Living	(Living)
42	Margot Wallström	(1954-09-28)September 28, 1954	60 years, 5 days	(Ongoing)	Incumbent	Living	(Living)

See also

• State Secretary for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

External links

• http://web.archive.org/web/20120506050731/http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/2059