Jan Björklund
Minister for Education
Incumbent
Assumed office  7 September 2007
Prime Minister	Fredrik Reinfeldt
Preceded by	Lars Leijonborg
Minister for Schools
In office 6 October 2006 – 7 September 2007
Prime Minister	Fredrik Reinfeldt
Preceded by	Ibrahim Baylan
Succeeded by	Himself as Minister for Education
Leader of the Liberal People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office  7 September 2007
Preceded by	Lars Leijonborg
Born	18 April 1962 (1962-04-18) (age 47) Skene, Sweden
Political party	Liberal People's Party
Occupation	Politician, military officer

Jan Arne Björklund (born 18 April 1962) is a Swedish politician. He is the leader of the Liberal People's Party and serves as Minister for Education in the Swedish government.

Contents 1 Education and career 2 Political career 3 Political views 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Education and career

Jan Björklund was born in Skene (today a part of Mark Municipality), Älvsborg County (today Västra Götaland County), Sweden. His father was the owner of a hardware store and his mother came to Sweden from Norway as a war refugee in 1945.

Björklund served as an officer in the Swedish Armed Forces from 1982 to 1994. He started as an Officer Cadet at Älvsborg Regiment (I15) in Borås and later became a Major at the Royal Life Guards in Stockholm.

[edit] Political career

Björklund early became active in the Liberal Youth of Sweden, the youth wing of the Liberal People's Party. He served as chairman of the Southern Älvsborg district in the early 1980s and as second deputy chairman of the organization from 1985 to 1987. He was elected to the board of the Liberal Party as a representative of the youth wing in 1987, and as an independent in 1990. Björklund then engaged in Stockholm local politics and served as opposition councillor (Swedish: oppositionsborgarråd) in Stockholm Municipality from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2006. From 1998 to 2002 he served as Stockholm Municipal Commissioner for Schools (Swedish: skolborgarråd). He was elected second deputy chairman of the Liberal Party in 1997 and first deputy chairman in 2001.

Prior to both the 2002 and 2006 general elections, Björklund was chairman of the centre-right alliance's working group on education policy. Following the victory in the 2006 election, Björklund was appointed Minister for Schools in the new cabinet. His areas of responsibility include the pre-school system, primary and upper secondary schools, adult education, vocational education and training, and popular adult education.

Following Lars Leijonborgs decision to retire as party leader at the Liberal Party's national meeting in September 2007, Björklund was unanimously nominated by the party's election committee as new party leader.^[1] He was elected new party leader on 7 September 2007. At the same time he also overtook Leijonborg's position as head of the Ministry of Education and Research and as Minister for Education. However, the change in minister title was merely formal as his areas of responsibility are still those that he had as Minister for Schools.

[edit] Political views

Björklund is often seen as a representative of the more right-wing, hard-edged faction of the Liberal Party.^[1] He has focused most on school issues, where he is known for his support for orderliness and discipline. He has criticized the Swedish schools system for being too "dopey" and not focusing enough on knowledge. Among other things, he has advocated more frequent assessments and a reformed grade system.

In 2002, as first deputy chairman of his party, Björklund expressed his support for the coming U.S. invasion of Iraq and urged for Swedish participation in the multinational coalition.^[2]

In January 2009 Björlund criticised the recent years downsizing of the Swedish defence. "After the last years development in Russia and the war in Georgia Sweden must be able to mobilize more soldiers than we can today" he stated during an interview in Swedish news program SVT.^[3]

[edit] Personal life

Jan Björklund is married and has two sons. He lives with his family in Bromma, Stockholm.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jan Björklund at the Swedish government's website (English)
• Jan Björklund at the Liberal People's Party's website (Swedish)

Political offices
Preceded by Ibrahim Baylan	Minister for Schools 2006 – 2007	Succeeded by Himself as Minister for Education
Preceded by Lars Leijonborg	Minister for Education 2007–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Lars Leijonborg	Leader of the Liberal People's Party 2007–present	Incumbent

v • d • e Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt Current ministers Reinfeldt · Malmström · Ask · Billström · Bildt · Björling · Tolgfors · Carlsson · Hägglund · Larsson · Husmark Pehrsson · Borg · Odell · Krantz · Björklund · Adelsohn Liljeroth · Erlandsson · Carlgren · Olofsson · Torstensson · Littorin · Sabuni Former ministers Borelius (2006) · Stegö Chilò (2006) · Odenberg (2006–2007) · Leijonborg (2006–2009)

Persondata
NAME	Björklund, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Bjorklund, Jan (English); Björklund, Jan Arne (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Politician
DATE OF BIRTH	18 April 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH	Skene, Sweden
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH