Preceded by Mikael Jansson Occupation Politician Nationality Swedish Name Jimmie Akesson Parents Stefan Akesson | Spouse(s) Louise Eriksson Role Swedish Politician Children Nils Akesson Partner Louise Eriksson | |
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Similar People Stefan Lofven, Bjorn Soder, Fredrik Reinfeldt, Mattias Karlsson, Gustav Fridolin | ||
Bbc news hardtalk jimmie akesson swedish immigration is extreme
Per Jimmie Åkesson ([ˈjɪmɪ ˈoːkɛ.ˈsɔn], YIM-ee AW-kə-sən; born 17 May 1979) is a Swedish politician. He is the leader of the Sweden Democrats and a member of the Swedish parliament following the 2010 general election.
Contents
- Bbc news hardtalk jimmie akesson swedish immigration is extreme
- Jimmie akesson sweden democrats vs goran hagglund christian democrats in swedish parliament
- Early life
- Political career
- Personal life
- References
Jimmie akesson sweden democrats vs goran hagglund christian democrats in swedish parliament
Early life
Jimmie Åkesson was born in Ivetofta, Sweden, but grew up in Sölvesborg, Blekinge County.
He was a member of the Moderate Youth League, the youth wing of the Moderate Party, for a short while before he joined the old Sweden Democratic Youth Association (the youth wing of the Sweden Democrats) in 1995. The same year he also co-founded a local chapter of the Sweden Democratic Youth Association. In 1997 he was elected as a deputy member of the party board. The party's policies that he claims he was most attracted to at first were its view on the European Union, and its policy on immigration.
Political career
In 1998, at the age of 19, Åkesson was elected to public office as a councilman in Sölvesborg Municipality. The same year, he also became deputy chairman of the newly established Sweden Democratic Youth (Sverigedemokratisk Ungdom), and later, from 2000 to 2005, was chairman of the organization. In 2005, he defeated party leader Mikael Jansson in a party election to become the party leader of the Sweden Democrats.
In the 2010 general election the Sweden Democrats for the first time crossed the election threshold and entered the Swedish parliament with 5.70% of the votes. Åkesson, who was placed first on the party's national ballot, was elected as a Member of Parliament together with 19 of his fellow party members.
Prior to working full-time in politics, Åkesson worked as a web designer at the company BMJ Aktiv, which he co-founded with, among others, Björn Söder, the current party secretary of the Sweden Democrats. He studied political science among other subjects at Lund University.
In September 2014 Sveriges Radio (SR) reported that Åkesson had spent upwards of 500,000 kronor ($70,000) in 2014 alone on online betting. The sum is more than the politician would have earned all year, after tax, reported SR. The revelation caused an uproar, both among people who view Åkesson as unreliable and those who opposed SR's decision to publish the information. Among the latter were former Green Party spokesperson Maria Wetterstrand and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Åkesson himself called SR's actions an attempt at character assassination.
Following the 2014 election, Åkesson announced he will be on sick leave due to burnout. In early 2015, Åkesson was named Sweden's most important opinion leader for the calendar year 2014 by the Swedish magazine DSM in their annual rankings.
On 27 March 2015, Åkesson publicly announced that he would be returning to his duties as party leader for the Sweden Democrats, albeit initially in a somewhat reduced role, on the SVT program Skavlan, as well as in an open letter on his Facebook page.
Personal life
Åkesson is engaged to fiancée Louise Erixon, a secretary working for Björn Söder, Sweden Democrats' former party secretary and Riksdag vice-speaker. On 12 December 2013, the pair welcomed their first child, Nils (born 12 December 2013).