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

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who was the leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 2001 to 2011, Minister for Enterprise and Energy from 2006 to 2011 and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2010. She was a member of the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

from 2002 to 2011.

Biography

Maud Olofsson was born in Arnäsvall, and grew up in Högbyn, in

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

, 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 Luleå ( , , locally ; ; ) is a Cities in Sweden, city on the coast of northern Sweden, and the County Administrative Boards of Sweden, capital of Norrbotten County, the northernmost county in Sweden. Luleå has 48,728 inhabitants in its urban ...

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 served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He led the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, appearing as its lead candidate in four general elections, b ...

centre-right government, she worked as Special Adviser to Minister

Börje Hörnlund Börje Hörnlund (born 17 June 1935) is a Swedish retired politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, ...

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 (''Hushållningssällskapet'') in

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...

. She was elected Party Leader on 19 March 2001, succeeding

Lennart Daléus Lennart Daléus (born 25 June 1946) is a Swedish politician, who was the leader of the Swedish Centre Party from 1998 to 2001. Born in Stockholm, Daléus was the leader of the Option 3 campaign for the 1980 referendum on nuclear power in Swede ...

. 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 is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

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

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, 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 ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

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

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and market liberalism. 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, former Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015. He was the last rotating Presi ...

. 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 politica ...

on 17 June 2011 and was succeeded by Annie Lööf 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 corporation, multinational electrical power industry, power company owned by the List of government enterprises of Sweden, Swedish state. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germa ...

had paid too much for Dutch energy company Nuon in 2009 when she was the responsible minister.

Awards

AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 2nd Class BAR

Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria (2007)

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 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