| Lars Leijonborg |
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Lars Erik Ansgar Leijonborg (born November 21 , 1949 ) is a Swedish politician and the current leader of the Liberal Party Of Sweden (''Folkpartiet liberalerna''). He was elected Party Leader on March 15 , 1997 , succeeding Maria Leissner . BIOGRAPHY Lars Leijonborg grew up in Solna north of Stockholm . In 1971 he became the leader of the Liberal Youth League (''Liberala ungdomsförbundet''), the Liberal Party's youth organisation. In 1974 he graduated from his studies in social work. He was party secretary 1980 - 1983 and editor-in-chief for the party magazine 1983 - 1984 . After a brief period as a management consultant, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1985 . In 1990 he was became the party's second vice leader. Succeeding Maria Leissner , on March 15 , 1997 he was unanimously electer the leader of the party. Initially, voters were cold to Leijonborg, his appearance often described as tense. In the 1998 Parliamentary Elections , the People's Party only got 4.7 percent of the vote, barely above the four-percent limit for parliament representation. It was the worst election result the party had seen since World War I. Even within the party, Leijonborg's position was questioned by many. The youth organisation he once headed openly called for his resignation. Despite the internal opposition, he managed to hold on to his position. And when, in the campaign before the 2002 Parliamentary Elections , the party suddenly surged after launching a proposal on making the passage of a language test a requirement for citizenship, Leijonborg suddenly found himself nicknamed "the Lion King" (''Leijonkungen'') in the tabloids. The election result, 13.3 percent, was a success for the party and for Leijonborg personally, but since the party's centre-right alliance partners failed to gain ground, the Social Democrats could remain in government. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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