At a hastily convened press conference, Johan Pehrson says he informed The Liberals' election committee of his decision in the morning. He made up his mind to resign about a week ago.
This is my decision. I feel that I have 8-10 years of professional life left and then I want to do something else, says the 56-year-old.
I'm not extremely old, but I'm newly married and have led the party through two election campaigns. I have fulfilled my political duty.
The Liberals' party board will gather this evening and call for an extraordinary national meeting on June 24, where the new party leader will be elected.
Supported by SD
It's been 35 years since Johan Pehrson got involved in the then-Folkpartiet, which later became The Liberals. Three years ago, the party decided to support the Sweden Democrats and join a bourgeois government.
It was a snowstorm there in April 2022 when I took on the task of being the party leader for The Liberals - not just outdoors, but also in politics, he says.
The Liberals have simultaneously been struggling with low opinion polls for a while. In two measurements from April, L stands at 2.5 and 2.8 percent, a good bit below the parliamentary threshold.
I'm proud of The Liberals, which for the time being is a too small party in some opinion polls, but we carry Sweden and have influence.
What he will do next remains to be seen. He will continue to be a member of L, distribute flyers, and knock on doors during the election campaign, he says.
And maybe invite some of you to a hot dog.
Pehrson will also continue as Minister of Education until the new party leader takes office.
He adds that his successor will get more time to prepare for the 2026 election than he did. He took office as acting party leader in April 2022 after Nyamko Sabuni resigned. In November the same year, he was elected party leader.
Three Heavy Defections
The Liberals have also been hit by three heavy defections in recent weeks: Minister for Gender Equality Paulina Brandberg, party secretary Jakob Olofsgård, and head of the party office Oscar Wåglund Söderström.
All those who have left have explained why, the important thing now is to focus forward, says the new party secretary Simona Mohamsson.
Johan Pehrson says his resignation has nothing to do with the three other defections. He understands if there is some criticism of him.
If you read some internal chat, there might be someone who thinks I'm bad.
Johan Pehrson was born in 1968. He grew up in Längbro in Örebro.
As a young man, he was the student council chairman.
He was elected to the Riksdag for the Folkpartiet in 1998 and was the party's group leader in the Riksdag from 2008 to 2014. From 2001 to 2002, he was party secretary. He has mainly worked with justice policy.
He took office as acting party leader in April 2022 after Nyamko Sabuni resigned. In November the same year, he was elected party leader.
After the 2022 election, he became Minister for Employment and Integration and in October took over as Minister of Education.
In the 2022 election, The Liberals, under Pehrson's leadership, received 4.6 percent of the votes.
