Swedish Women Leaders

Anna Lindh was a Swedish lawyer and politician who served as the Minister for the Environment from 1994 to 1996. She then went on to serve as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her murder in 2003. In April 2004, Anna Lindh was honored posthumously by the EastWest Institute with the Statesman of the Year Award. 

Barbro Holmberg is a Swedish politician best known for her service as the Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy from 10 October 2003 to 6 October 2006. From 21 January 2008 to 31 July 2015, she also served as the Governor of Gävleborg.

In October 2020, following the resignation of Swedish politician Jonas Sjöstedt, Nooshi Dadgostar was elected the chairman of the Left Party of Sweden. Between 2018–2020, she served as the deputy leader of the Left Party. Earlier, she became the member of Riksdag in 2014 and since then has been representing her constituency Stockholm County in the Swedish Parliament.

Margot Wallstrom is a Swedish politician best known for serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden from 2014 to 2019. Over the course of her illustrious political career, Margot Wallstrom has also served as the Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 2016 to 2019 as well as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019.

Zaida Catalán was a Swedish politician best remembered for leading Young Greens, the youth wing of the Swedish Green Party, between 2001 and 2005. Catalán was also renowned as an activist and dealt with issues concerning environment, human rights, and animal rights. In 2017, Catalán visited the Congo as part of a UN mission where she was kidnapped and murdered.

Alice Bah Kuhnke was appointed the Swedish Minister of Culture and Democracy in October 2014 and continued in the office till January 2019. Thereafter, in 2019 she was elected as one of the 20 Members of the European Parliament in Sweden. The Swedish politician, who played a role in establishing the think tank Sektor3, was a television personality earlier.

Amanda Lind is a Swedish politician who served as the Minister for Democracy as well as the Minister for Culture from 2019 to 2021 in the cabinet of Stefan Löfven. Recognized and known for her distinctive hairstyle, Lind has been an important member of the Swedish Green Party since 1999.

Alva Myrdal was a Swedish politician, diplomat, and sociologist. She played a major role during the disarmament movement in Sweden, for which she was honored with the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. She also chaired the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute after playing a key role in its creation. Throughout her career, Myrdal was honored with many prestigious awards.

For someone, who at the age of seven founded the Swedish "Barbie Club" and joined a support group for Viet Cong at thirteen, leadership comes easily and Mona Sahlin is no exception to that. The first female leader of Swedish Social Democratic Party, she held several ministerial posts in the Swedish government. She took up writing and lecturing after her retirement.  

Daughter of an asylum seeker from Zaire, Nyamko Sabuni has politics in her blood, possibly inherited from her left wing politician father.  A member of the Liberal Party, she entered politics when an Ivorian refugee was killed by a Neo Nazi. She served as a minister from 2006 to 2013 and became the first ethnic minority to become a party leader.

A member of the Swedish Liberal party, Cecilia Malmström was a Member of the European  Parliament for Sweden from 1999 to 2006. Following this, she assumed the offices of Minister for European Union Affairs (2006-2010), European Commissioner for Home Affairs (2010-2014) and European Commissioner for Trade (2014-2019). Previously, she researched and taught European politics, regionalism and terrorism at Gothenburg University.

Leader of the Opposition from 1915 to 1917, Anna Kinberg Batra served as a Member of the Riksdag for twelve long years. Beginning her political career with the youth wing of the Moderate Party, she later held various important party posts, concurrently running her own consultancy, serving as the head of information at the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in 2005-2006.  

In April 2015, Swedish politician Ebba-Elisabeth Busch succeeded Göran Hägglund as the leader of the Christian Democrats party in Sweden. The alumnus of the Uppsala University has represented the Västra Götaland County East in the Swedish parliament (Riksdag) since 2018 and is also a member of Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs and The War Delegation.

The current European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson assumed office in December 2019 succeeding the Greek politician Dimitris Avramopoulos. Earlier, the Swedish politician had also served as Minister for Employment in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s government, Minister for Welfare and Elderly Healthcare in Prime Minister Göran Persson's government and Minister for Schools in Ingvar Carlsson's and Göran Persson's government.

The German-Swedish lawyer and politician Walburga Habsburg Douglas serves as the vice-president of the Paneuropean Union and is also a board member of the Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism. The former parliament member was born in Germany and is the daughter of last crown prince of Austria-Hungary and the granddaughter of the last Austrian emperor, Charles I.

Ann Linde is a Swedish politician and the current Minister for Foreign Affairs. A popular figure in the Swedish political circuit, Ann Linde also served as the Minister for EU Affairs and Minister for Foreign Trade from 2016 to 2019. 

Former deputy prime minister of Sweden and Green Party leader Isabella Lovin is the daughter of artist Björn Lövin. Though she initially studied film and worked as a freelance reporter and editor for brands such as Femina, she later stepped into politics. She has also penned a book on fishing policy.

Moderate Party politician Anna Konig Jerlmyr and the current mayor of Stockholm, Anna Konig Jerlmyr has previously also been the vice mayor for social affairs. She also co-leads the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and has been the president of Eurocities and a board member of Friends of Europe.

Respectfully remembered for her attempts to defend Sweden against Christian II of Denmark, Christina Gyllenstierna was known simply as Lady Christina during her lifetime. A leader of the Swedish resistant, she defended Stockholm—besieged by land and sea—for four months before she was persuaded to capitulate in exchange for a letter of amnesty for her family and her followers.

Märta Stenevi is a Swedish politician who served as the Minister for Housing as well as the Minister for Gender Equality from 5 February 2021 to 30 November 2021. An important member of the Green Party, Märta Stenevi also served as the Secretary-General of the party from 2019 to 2021.

Ulla Lofven is a Swedish trade unionist and politician. She is the wife of Stefan Löfven who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 2014 to 2021. Prior to her husband's election as party leader in 2012, Ulla was serving as an assistant under Carin Jämtin, the former party secretary of the Swedish Social Democratic Party.

Laila Freivalds is a Swedish politician who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2006. She also served as the Minister for Justice on two occasions; from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 2000.