Hans Göran Persson (Swedish: [ˈjœ̂ːran ˈpæ̌ːʂɔn] ; born 20 January 1949) is a Swedish former politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and as Leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Since 2019, he has served as chairman of the banking group Swedbank.
Persson was first elected to the Riksdag for Södermanland County in 1979, but left in 1985 and became a Municipal Commissioner of Katrineholm, serving until 1989. In 1991, he was re-elected to Parliament for the same constituency. He served as Minister for Schools from 1989 to 1991 in Ingvar Carlsson's first and second cabinets. From 1994 to 1996, Persson served as the Minister for Finance in Carlsson's third cabinet.
After Carlsson announced his retirement as head of government, Persson was selected to become his successor. Persson began his premiership from where he left as Minister for Finance — by continuing to spearhead government efforts to alleviate Sweden's chronic budget deficit. In 1994, the annual shortfall was about thirteen percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). But after implementing welfare cuts and tax increases, it fell to a projected 2.6 percent of GDP in 1997, which placed Sweden in a position to qualify for the European Economic and Monetary Union. However, the cost was high: unemployment rose, hovering persistently around thirteen percent, then suddenly fell to about 6.5 that same year. In the 1998 general election, the Social Democrats gained even fewer votes than in the 1991 general election, in which they lost their government position. Persson could remain as prime minister due to the support of the Green Party and the Left Party. In the 2002 general election, the Social Democrats increased their number of seats in the parliament. Following the 2006 general election defeat, Persson immediately filed a request for resignation, and declared his intentions to resign as party leader after the party congress in March 2007.
Since leaving office, Persson has been a consultant for the Stockholm-based PR firm JKL. He published a book in October 2007, "Min väg, mina val" (My path, my choices). In 2008, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Sveaskog by the Swedish Government. He has been a member of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation since 2007, and a member of the board of World Resources Institute since 2010.
Persson was born in Vingåker in Södermanland, Sweden, in a working-class home. He has in recent years revealed that he wanted to become a priest as a young man; however, he applied to the college in Örebro where he took courses in social science (main sociology). He completed 80 college credits (120 ECTS credits) in the subject before he left the college in 1971 without graduating. As the college later received credentials as a full university, the renamed Örebro University gave him an honorary Ph.D. in medicine in February 2005, an award that provoked some controversy.
He first married Gunnel (née Claesson) in 1978, with whom he has two daughters. They divorced in 1994. On 10 March 1994, he married Annika Barthine, whom he divorced in December 2003. On 6 December 2003, Persson married Anitra Steen, who became his third wife. In 2004, Persson and Steen purchased the 190-hectare agricultural property, Övre Torp, by Lake Båven in Södermanland. During 2006 the couple started the construction of a large house on the property.
Besides his native Swedish, Persson also speaks English.
He has maintained his Christian faith and is a member of Swedish Association of Christian Social Democrats.
On 8 July 2002, Persson fell while riding his bicycle at Harpsund and broke his left clavicle. Following this accident he was unable to lift his left arm for some time and almost fainted during a speech in Almedalen on 10 July 2002 and after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on 15 July 2002. Present with him during the accident was Pär Nuder, Minister for Finance, and Sten Olsson, State Secretary. Pär Nuder wrote in his book Stolt men inte nöjd ("proud but not satisfied"), released in 2008, that Persson had fallen while riding his bicycle because he was drunk after consuming large amounts of alcoholic beverages. Persson said in response to these claims: "I can't exactly recapitulate the event but I can say as much that I'm surprised that Pär Nuder remembers anything".
In September 2003 Persson was diagnosed with hip osteoarthritis and surgery was recommended. He chose to go through Sweden's public health-care system instead of seeking private treatment; he was put on a waiting list, and finally received a hip replacement operation in June 2004. During that 9-month period, he walked with a limp and reportedly was on strong painkillers; he had to cancel several official trips due to the pain he was in.
Persson was in office for more than ten years, making him the second-longest continuously-governing prime minister of Sweden second to Tage Erlander. He is known for his oratorical prowess, often dispensing with prepared speeches or preparing them without the aid of his staff. During his time, he has faced several shocking incidents, such as the Gothenburg riots in June 2001, the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in September 2003, Asian tsunami disaster in December 2004 during the Boxing Day, and the conflict over the publication of satirical Muhammed cartoons in Danish newspapers, leading to threats of violence against Scandinavians and burning of embassies in the Middle East and the resignation of Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds.
In the early seventies he worked for the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League (SSU), and was a member of the national board from 1972 to 1975. Later, he served as a city council politician at the small municipality of Katrineholm. In 1979 he was elected Member of Parliament, but went back to local politics to serve as Municipal Commissioner (kommunalråd) of Katrineholm from 1985 to 1989.
In 1989, he was made minister of schools in the Ministry of Education during the first Ingvar Carlsson cabinet, until the election in 1991 when the Social Democrats were voted out of office. Persson was one of the brains behind the "Persson-plan" which was presented in 1994 targeting the prevailing economic situation. Sweden at the time still suffered from the recession which began during the early nineties, high unemployment rates and a huge budget deficit. Prime minister Carl Bildt relied at the time on a fragile coalition between the Moderate Party and three other liberal or conservative parties with a strained degree of cooperation. The outcome of the 1994 election proved a success for the Social Democrats when they gained more than 45 per cent of the votes.
Upon returning to government in 1994, Persson was made minister for finance, a post he held until 1996. As minister for finance much of his job was focused on attaining a sound financial balance in the economy. Persson often emphasizes that he "cleaned up" after the Bildt government.
During his time at the Finance Ministry he followed 10 "Commandments" as his guiding lights in his job. Of these "Commandments", one in particular which became famous in Sweden: "One who is in debt is not free." (in Swedish: "Den som är satt i skuld är icke fri.")
Party leader and Prime Minister
In 1996, Persson was chosen over Mona Sahlin, the Deputy Prime Minister, to lead the country after Carlsson retired. Persson began where he left off as finance minister – by continuing to spearhead government efforts to alleviate Sweden's chronic budget deficit. In 1994, the annual shortfall was about 13 per cent of GDP. But, after implementing welfare cuts and tax increases, it fell to a projected 2.6 per cent of GDP in 1997, which put Sweden in a position to qualify for the European economic and monetary union. However, the cost was high: unemployment rose, hovering persistently around 13 per cent, then suddenly fell to about 6.5 per cent the same year.
In the 1998 election the Social Democrats gained even fewer votes than in the 1991 election, when they got voted out of office. Thanks to support that came primarily from the Green and Left parties, he managed to retain office but had to rely on support from at least two parties in the parliament. Later the same year, the government announced proposals for far-reaching cutbacks in Sweden's military spending.