Sven Otto Julius Littorin (born 1966) is a Swedish former politician and architect of major structural reforms. As

Minister for Employment Minister for Employment may refer to: * Minister for Employment (Victoria), Australia * Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia * Department for Work and Pensions The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a Departments ...

in the cabinet of

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 ...

, he was in charge of the major overhaul of Swedish labor policies between 2006-2010. As President of the European Council of Ministers, in its Epsco formation, he oversaw the European Union response to labor market effects during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. As

party secretary In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader (or party chairman). In s ...

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 ...

2002-2006, he played a major role in restructuring the party. As chief of staff to Minister for Fiscal and Financial Affairs during the Swedish banking crisis of 1992, he was one of the architects behind the

Swedish banking rescue 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 ...

that

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He ...

later proposed as a model for solving the

. He was born and grew up in

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

, where he was active in the

Moderate Youth League The Moderate Youth League ( ; MUF), officially known in English as the Swedish Young Conservatives, is the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party. Of the political youth organizations that received financial support from the Swedish Agency ...

from an early stage. He was national chairman of the Moderate School Youth, a part of the youth league, 1984-1985. He has a B.Sc. in economics and business administration at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

. His résumé formerly also listed an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

unaccredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

Fairfax University Fairfax University was an unaccreditedSeOregon Office of Degree Authorization List of Unaccredited colleges anInstitutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas distance-learning institution established in Louisiana in 1986 and discontinued ...

(at the time licensed in Louisiana), but that degree was removed from his list of qualifications after it aroused controversy in June 2007 In 2011, Littorin was a visiting scholar at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Since 2011 he has been a political affairs consultant, based in London, England. Between 1991 and 1993, he was chief of staff to Minister for Fiscal and Financial Affairs,

Bo Lundgren Bo Axel Magnus Lundgren (born 11 July 1947) is a Sweden, Swedish politician who served as the leader of the Moderate Party from 1999 to 2003.Kreab. In 1997, he co-founded Momentor AB, a venture capital company, and worked as a senior partner until 2002. In 2002, he was appointed party secretary by

Bo Lundgren Bo Axel Magnus Lundgren (born 11 July 1947) is a Sweden, Swedish politician who served as the leader of the Moderate Party from 1999 to 2003.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 ...

's team. He has played an integral part in the subsequent modernisation of the party. After the success of the Moderate Party in the 2006 general election, he resigned as secretary general, and was later named Minister for Employment in the cabinet presented by Prime Minister Reinfeldt on 6 October 2006. Until 31 December 2006, this ministerial post was located within the Ministry of Enterprise, after which a separate Ministry of Employment. On 7 July 2010, he announced his immediate resignation, citing personal circumstances.Sveriges Radio: "Sven Otto Littorin avgår"

Reforms

As Sweden's Minister for Employment, Littorin was in charge of USD 12bn of the government budget; the second largest part of public spending, covering areas such as the unemployment insurance system, active labor market programs, and nine government agencies, including the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Work Environment Authority, and the Labor Court. Littorin was in charge of some of the major policy reforms introduced during the first government of Prime Minister

. These reforms included a major overhaul of the unemployment insurance system and a complete renovation of the Public Employment Service, introducing new instructions, a new board of directors, a new management team, a new structure and organization, new targets and incentives, as well as opening up for private competition. He has the current record of having answered the highest number of questions in Parliament - 337 - during one single term. As a Minister, he gave over 4.000 interviews, and made numerous public appearances domestically and internationally; among others for the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, and

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. During the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in autumn 2009, Littorin was also President of the European Council of Ministers, in its Epsco formation (Ministers for Employment, Social Policy, Health, and Consumer Affairs). As such, he oversaw European Union response to labor market effects caused by the

. Littorin was also member of the Swedish Government's Globalization Council.

Resignation

On 7 July 2010, Littorin announced his immediate resignation. He had the day before been confronted by a reporter for the Swedish newspaper ''

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

'' whether it was true that he had purchased sex."Aftonbladet: Anna, 30: Jag sålde sex till Sven Otto Littorin"
Littorin denied the allegations, but nevertheless resigned from the government. The official reason that he stated was the "harshness" of the media against him and his children, as well as "for private reasons", following divorce and a custody battle over his children.

Personal life

Littorin divorced from his first wife and has children from this marriage. He married Therése Evling in 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Littorin, Sven Otto 1966 births Living people Moderate Party politicians People using unaccredited degrees Ministers for employment of Sweden Swedish male bloggers People from Mjölby Municipality