Hanna ''Sofia'' Margareta Arkelsten (born 6 December 1976) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

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 ...

of 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 ...

. She served as

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Swedish Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, f ...

from 2006 to 2018, representing her home constituency of

Stockholm Municipality Stockholm Municipality () or the City of Stockholm () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It has the largest population of the 290 municipalities of the country, but one of the smallest areas, making it the second most ...

. Arkelsten served as Secretary of the Moderate Party from 2010 to 2012 and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2012 and again from 2013 to 2014.

Career

Early career

Arkelsten previously worked on Svensk Handel and on ICA Sweden as director of communications. She was previously active in municipal politics in Stockholm, including the Environment and Health Committee, Maria-Gamla Stan District and the City Council.

Parliament

Upon joining parliament in 2006 she was a deputy to

Beatrice Ask Eva Carin Beatrice Ask (born 20 April 1956) is a Swedish politician and a member of the Moderate Party. She served as Governor of Södermanland County from 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2025. Ask served as a member of the Swedish Riksdag for Sto ...

then deputy for Prime Minister

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 ...

a month later in November. She was not a regular member of parliament until 17 September 2007, when she stopped being deputy. From 26 April 2012 to 18 November 2012, she was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, repeating this role from 1 April 2013 to 29 September 2014. She officially left parliament on 24 September 2018.

Party Secretary

On 1 October 2010 she replaced

Per Schlingmann Per Schlingmann (; born 16 October 1970 in Borås) was the party secretary of the Swedes, Swedish Moderate Party between 28 September 2006 and 1 October 2010 (succeeding Sven Otto Littorin), and a prominent figure in its political reorientation fo ...

as party-Secretary of the

. On 20 April 2012 she resigned of her own accord.

Personal life

Sofia Arkelsten was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. In April 2011 she married Olof Torvestig and she is an outspoken vegetarian. Her first child, a daughter, was born on 25 November 2012. On 16 October 2014, Arkelsten made public that she was diagnosed with chronic disease

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

(MS).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkelsten, Sofia 1976 births Living people Members of the Riksdag from the Moderate Party Women members of the Riksdag 21st-century Swedish women politicians People with multiple sclerosis Politicians from Stockholm