Maud Elisabeth Olofsson (born ''Olsson'', 9 August 1955) is a former Swedish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who was the leader of the

Swedish Centre Party The Centre Party ( sv, Centerpartiet ; C) is a liberal political party in Sweden, founded in 1913. The party's major issues are the national economy, the environment, political decentralisation and social integration. It is represented in al ...

from 2001 to 2011, Minister for Enterprise and Energy from 2006 to 2011 and

Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden The deputy prime minister of Sweden ( sv, Ställföreträdande statsminister) is the deputy head of government of Sweden. The incumbent deputy prime minister is Ebba Busch. The Swedish constitution allows the prime minister to appoint one of ...

from 2006 to 2010. She was a member of the Riksdag from 2002 to 2011.

Biography

Maud Olofsson was born in

Arnäsvall Arnäsvall is a locality situated in Örnsköldsvik Municipality, Västernorrland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is ...

, and grew up in Högbyn, in

Örnsköldsvik Municipality Örnsköldsvik Municipality (, ) is one of Sweden's 290 municipalities, in Västernorrland County in northern Sweden. Its seat is in the town Örnsköldsvik. The present municipality was created in 1971 by the amalgamation of the ''City of Örnsk ...

, Västernorrland. She started her political career as an ombudsman of the youth organisation of the Centre Party in 1974, and served as a member of the local council in Luleå from 1976. From 1978 to 1981 she held the same job with the party. From 1992 to 1994, during the

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affair ...

centre-right government, she worked as Special Adviser to Minister Börje Hörnlund at the Department of Labour. From 1996 she has been a member of the Centre Party board. From 1997 to 2001 she worked as Managing Director for the

Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

(''Hushållningssällskapet'') in

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), known in English as West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in the north of Sweden, bordering Ångermanland, Lapland, North Bothnia, and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is known for the cheese named after the pro ...

. She was elected Party Leader on 19 March 2001, succeeding Lennart Daléus. After the 2002 election, the Centre Party's first electoral upturn since 1973 was attributed to the "Maud effect." Olofsson's political standpoint could be seen as a traditional Centre Party position, with an emphasis on rural Sweden and the survival of rural communities, combined with centre-right economic policies. It was however a remarkable new feature in the history of the Centre Party, when Olofsson characterized her party's ideology as

Social Liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

. Although the Centre Party in history has sometimes cooperated with the governing

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

, under Olofsson the party opted for a clear oppositional role, strengthening its alliance with the Liberals, the Christian Democrats and the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liber ...

. Olofsson modernised the party, making it more open to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and

market liberalism The term market liberalism is used in two distinct ways. In the United States, the term is used as a synonym to classical liberalism. In this sense, market liberalism depicts a political ideology, combining a market economy A market econo ...

. She was involved in the construction of the right-wing coalition Alliansen. Following its victory in the elections in 2006, this alliance was able to form a new government under

Fredrik Reinfeldt John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, and former politician who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014, and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He ...

. Olofsson was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Energy. Olofsson announced her intent to step down as

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a political ...

on 17 June 2011 and was succeeded by

Annie Lööf Annie Marie Therése Lööf (, ; born 16 July 1983) is a Swedish politician and lawyer. She has been a Member of the Riksdag, representing her home constituency of Jönköping County, since 2006, and leader of the Centre Party since 2011. Lö� ...

on 23 September 2011. Following her retirement, she faced criticism after it was revealed that the Swedish state-owned energy company

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational power company owned by the Swedish State. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The company's name is Swedish for " waterfall", a ...

had paid too much for

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

energy company Nuon in 2009 when she was the responsible minister.

Bibliography

* ''Rapport från kvinnoprojektet: Robertsfors kvinnor mot år 2000'' (1992) * ''Min dröm för Sverige'' (2006) * ''Ett land av friherrinnor : mina rötter, värderingar och drömmar för Sverige'' (2010) * ''Jag är den jag är'' (2014)

References

External links

Centre PartySwedish Parliament: Maud Olofsson
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Olofsson, Maud 1955 births Living people Members of the Riksdag from the Centre Party (Sweden) Deputy Prime Ministers of Sweden People from Örnsköldsvik Municipality Swedish feminists Leaders of political parties in Sweden Women members of the Riksdag Women government ministers of Sweden Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006 Members of the Riksdag 2006–2010 Members of the Riksdag 2010–2014 21st-century Swedish women politicians