Paulina Brandberg took office as a minister less than three years ago. Now she is leaving, she tells TT.
Brandberg notes that the ministerial job comes with a very high price for private life.
I have a family that I feel I have been away from very much during this time, she says.
Moreover, next year is an election year, which would require even more time away from the family, according to her.
I have come to realize that I do not have that extra gear in me, which Liberalerna and also Sweden need. Then it is better to let someone else take over, she says.
Has two children
Brandberg has two children, nine and eleven years old. According to her, there is no particular event that makes her leave now, but the decision has grown.
TT: Is it harder to be a mom and minister than a dad and minister?
I would like to believe that both mothers and fathers have the same responsibility for their children and that children have the same great need for mothers as for fathers, so this is a price that one has to pay regardless of whether one is a man or woman in politics, says Brandberg.
There, one has to make a balance where one's personal limit goes, how much time one is willing to be away from one's family.
TT: Has the ministerial job required more than expected?
I think it is difficult to foresee what the ministerial job entails before one enters into it. It is a lot of travel and a lot of focus on oneself as a person.
Focus on person
In November, Paulina Brandberg's phobia of bananas received much attention in the media.
On a general level, it is clear that there is a lot of focus on oneself as a person when one is a minister. And it affects the whole family as well, but it is not that I am leaving because of the writings in the autumn, she says.
Despite her short time as a minister, Brandberg thinks she has achieved much of what she wanted to do.
She came into politics from her job as a prosecutor and has focused on preventing men's violence against women, violence in close relationships, and honor-related violence and oppression. Brandberg has, among other things, been involved in developing an action program with 132 points, which she considers one of her most important contributions.
Brandberg is primarily proud of having been involved in setting a greater focus on honor-related violence and driving through an increased victim perspective in the view of men's violence against women.
It is important that we in Sweden really hold on to equality, that we do not back down a millimeter here in Sweden, says Brandberg.
There, I believe that my successor will have to be very much on their toes to handle the backlash that we see globally and which we are not exempt from in Sweden.
Born 1983
Lives in Stockholm
Is married and has two children
Career:
2010–2013 Prosecutor in Malmö
2013–2018 Prosecutor in Stockholm
2018–2019 Departmental Secretary in the Government Offices
2019–2022 Senior Prosecutor, National Unit against International and Organized Crime
2022 Legal Policy Expert, The Liberals
2022–2024 Minister for Gender Equality and Deputy Minister for Employment
Source: Government Offices
