Ola Ullsten

Ola Ullsten
28th Prime Minister of Sweden
In office 18 October 1978 – 12 October 1979 (359 days)
Monarch	Carl XVI Gustaf
Deputy	Sven Romanus
Preceded by	Torbjörn Fälldin
Succeeded by	Torbjörn Fälldin
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 12 October 1979 – 8 October 1982 (2 years, 361 days)
Prime Minister	Thorbjörn Fälldin
Preceded by	Hans Blix
Succeeded by	Lennart Bodström
Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
In office 1 August 1980 – 8 October 1982 (2 years, 68 days)
Prime Minister	Thorbjörn Fälldin
Preceded by	Ingemar Mundebo
Succeeded by	Ingvar Carlsson
In office 7 March 1978 – 18 October 1978 (225 days)
Prime Minister	Thorbjörn Fälldin
Preceded by	Per Ahlmark
Succeeded by	Sven Romanus
Personal details
Born	23 June 1931 Umeå, Västerbotten County
Political party	Liberal People's Party
Spouse(s)	Evi Esko (1961-1981; divorced) Louise Beaudoin (1989-present)
Children	With Evi Esko: Maria Ullsten Katarina Ullsten With Louise Beaudoin: Nicolas Beaudoin-Ullsten Christian Beaudoin-Ullsten

Stig Kjell Olof (Ola) Ullsten (born 23 June 1931) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1978 to 1979 and leader of the Liberal People's Party from 1978 to 1983.^[1] He also served as Deputy Prime Minister briefly in 1978 and then again from 1980 to 1982 and served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1982.

Background and early career

He was born in Teg, Västerbotten, a small town that would ultimately be annexed as a part of county capital Umeå. In his youth he made several travels to the United States, and in 1959 took an active part in the successful campaign to elect liberal republican Nelson Rockefeller governor of New York. He served as the head of the Liberal Youth of Sweden between 1962 and 1964 and was elected to parliament in 1964.

Ministerial and political appointments

Upon the formation of the first non-socialist government in Sweden in 40 years, 1976, he was appointed Minister for International Development. Upon the resignation of Liberal Party leader Per Ahlmark in 1978, Ullsten was elected party leader.

Prime Minister of Sweden

Upon the downfall of the center-right government the same year, he succeeded to the post of Prime Minister of Sweden the same year, heading a minority government consisting of Liberal party and independent ministers. The breakup mainly consisted of disagreements over energy policy. After the successful survival of the coalition in the 1979 parliamentary elections he resigned as prime minister in favor of Thorbjörn Fälldin, his predecessor.

Later career

He then went on to serve as Minister for Foreign Affairs under the new three-party government of Thorbjörn Fälldin. He has later served as the Swedish Ambassador to Canada, also accredited to The Bahamas and Italy, also accredited to Albania.

Bibliography

• Folkpartiet och reformerna : liberala riksdagsinitiativ 1902-1960 (1960)
• Guide-lines for international development co-operation (1978)
• Liberaler om utveckling (1978)
• Sweden and the developing countries (1979)
• Vad ska vi göra med kulturpolitiken? : anföranden och kommentarer kring den svenska kulturpolitikens "fem-årsdag" (1979)
• Lättsinnet i siffror : en sammanfattning av socialdemokraternas ställningstaganden till de 15 viktigaste besparingsförslagen (1982)
• Kämpande liberalism : anförande (1982)
• Ola Ullsten : partiledaren, demokraten, internationalisten, folkpartisten, statsministern, idédebattören (1983)
• Så blev det (2013)

See also

• Ullsten Cabinet

References

1. "Ola Ullsten". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 May 2010.