Culture is rarely brought up in election debates. Previously, cultural issues have not even reached the two percent needed to be at the bottom of voters' most important election issues, notes Roger Blomgren, professor at the Cultural Policy Center at the University of Borås.
But being small doesn't have to be a disadvantage. Some people think that if it were a larger policy area, politicians would get more involved, he says.
Politicians whom Blomgren has interviewed have shied away from the post of Minister of Culture.
People themselves don't care that much, but it will have a big impact in the media if you make a fuss.
Answers yes
Parisa Liljestrand was booed after a speech at the Gothenburg Film Festival in which she explained, among other things, that she does not see it as the task of culture ministers to be "the best friends of the various industries."
Now she will answer yes if asked to be Minister of Culture again:
"If my party were to give me the confidence to continue in my current role, I am of course at your disposal," she writes to TT.
At the same time, SD demands ministerial posts in the event of a Tidö victory, and given the size of the party, there should be "quite a few", according to Andreas Johansson Heinö.
There is a lot that M cannot give them - in addition to Prime Minister, M will want Finance and Justice. Then I think Culture is one of the ministerial posts that M may consider letting go of.
SD's Mattias Karlsson could be a candidate, Johansson Heinö suggests, as could Alexander Christiansson, SD's spokesperson on cultural policy issues. He tells Magasin K that he will become a candidate "the day he gets the question".
I feel that culture is often characterised by the left, which makes my role as a Sweden Democrat a bit special. Culture is not a place where I feel appreciated when I meet the industry. That's something that triggers me in it, he tells Magasin K.
Stop
Roger Blomgren thinks that so far it has not played much of a role in which bloc has held the post of Minister of Culture.
If the opposition wins, I don't think they would give the student unions their funds back overnight. They say that now, but then the economy grinds to a halt.
S has handed over culture to MP after the last two election victories.
I think S wants to take it back, says Andreas Johansson Heinö, who is betting on a comeback for former Minister of Education Anna Ekström (S).
She appears in cultural debates and is well-liked.
Bengt Göransson (S) was Minister of Culture and Education from 1982 to 1989 and is sometimes described as a Minister of Culture who went home to the practitioners.
When asked, he demanded that culture be spared the announced savings in order for him to accept the position of minister. Olof Palme agreed, which caused great irritation - something Kjell Olof Feldt wrote about in his autobiography "Alla dessa dagar", says Roger Blomgren, who is currently writing a biography of Göransson.
Even during his time there were cuts, he had to take some crap, but he could talk and argue, he always had a book with him, every time he traveled he went to the theater. He showed interest in the cultural sector, and I think that is important for having good relationships.
Parisa Liljestrand (M) 2022–
Jeanette Gustafsdotter (S) 2021–2022
Amanda Lind (MP) 2019–2021
Alice Bah Kuhnke (MP) 2014–2019
Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth (M) 2006–2014
