Mats Persson will formally request his resignation from Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (The Moderate Party) on Thursday.
The decision has evolved during the spring and in consultation with the family, says the Minister for Labour and Integration.
I want to spend more time with my family, I have an eight-year-old at home. So it's something that has evolved and which now feels completely natural and fairly obvious.
At the same time, the parties' nomination processes for the 2026 election have begun, and Persson has decided that he will not run again. He will also eventually leave The Liberals' leadership and party board.
Then it feels natural to give our newly elected party leader Simona Mohamsson the opportunity to form her team when a government reshuffle is to take place, he says.
”Clear bourgeois line”
Mats Persson was elected to the Riksdag in 2014 and has for most of the time been The Liberals' economic policy spokesperson. After the election victory in 2022, he became Minister for Education, but in September 2024, he switched places with Johan Pehrson and became Minister for Labour and Integration.
When asked what Persson's political legacy will be, he says that he is proud to have formed a liberal bourgeois government that takes strong measures against Sweden's major integration problems.
I have stood for a very clear bourgeois line and bourgeois economic policy. I am proud that we are now tackling the separatist forces in our suburbs. We are pushing them back. We are banning foreign ownership of mosques, for example.
Believes in a boost in opinion
At the same time, unemployment in Sweden is a bit over eight percent.
We have received many people from other countries with low education. This means that there are too many who cannot take the available jobs. That's why we're making enormous investments in vocational training and putting an end to the laxity that has existed in the benefit systems.
The Liberals are getting around 2-3 percent in the opinion polls and would lose their seats in the Riksdag if there were an election today. Mats Persson believes that the new party leader can lift the party.
I am convinced of that, she shows a very strong self-confidence. She is very clear that we should have a bourgeois government and that The Liberals stand for a bourgeois Prime Minister.
He is not leaving the party entirely, but can imagine taking on assignments and campaigning on his home turf in Lund.
Born November 27, 1980, in Markaryd.
Has a doctoral degree in economic history from Lund University.
Regional councillor in Skåne between 2009 and 2014.
Member of the Riksdag since the 2014 election.
Member of the Tax Committee 2014-2016. Member of the Finance Committee 2016-2022 and then the party's economic policy spokesperson.
Was The Liberals' group leader in the Riksdag between April and October 2022.
Was appointed Minister for Education in 2022, switched to Minister for Labour and Integration in September 2024.
