Annika Strandhäll is today a member of the Riksdag, chairman of the S-women and was previously Minister for Social Affairs. Now she announces that she will not be running for another period in the Riksdag and during the period until the next election, she will phase out her political assignments.
That she tells about her decision now is because the party has started the nomination process for the next election. Strandhäll thinks it's "fair" to announce that she is not available, she tells DN.
More polarized
She explains her departure from politics by saying that her political assignments have had a clear price. She admits herself that she may have contributed to the debate climate becoming more polarized, but that she still does not regret having had a confrontational line.
I have for a pretty long time been at the forefront of various political assignments and I have also myself chosen a profile that has been quite confrontational. It has a very clear price, she says to DN.
According to Strandhäll, she could not have chosen another way, especially when she sees the successes of the Sweden Democrats and the growing right-wing extremism.
This is such an alarming and dangerous development both democratically and politically in Sweden, she says.
Party leader Magdalena Andersson comments on the departure on X and writes that Strandhäll is a "straight-backed person with strong ideological strength" and that "she will create a void after her in Swedish politics".
Cleared vote of no confidence
Strandhäll entered politics when she was unexpectedly appointed Minister for Social Insurance in Stefan Löfven's (S) government in 2014. She later became Minister for Social Affairs.
Strandhäll cleared a vote of no confidence in the Riksdag in 2019, which was requested by The Moderate Party, after Strandhäll had fired the Director-General of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency Ann-Marie Begler in sensational forms.
