Speaker of the Riksdag

Speaker of the Riksdag Riksdagens talman
The three crowns, as used by the Riksdag
Flag of Sweden
Incumbent Urban Ahlin since September 29, 2014
The Riksdag
Style	Mister Speaker Swedish: Herr talman
Residence	no official residence
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Alderman (longest serving member), following a vote in the Riksdag
Term length	Four years (de facto) a vote is always held after a general election
Inaugural holder	Henry Allard
Formation	1627
Deputy	First deputy speaker Second deputy speaker Third deputy speaker
Website	www.riksdagen.se

The speaker of the Riksdag (Swedish: Riksdagens talman) is the presiding officer of the national unicameral legislature in Sweden.

The Riksdag underwent profound changes in 1867, when the medieval Riksdag of the Estates was abolished. The new form of the Riksdag included two elected chambers, each with its own speaker. Since the de facto introduction of parliamentarism in 1917, the Riksdag has properly functioned as the institution to which the Prime Minister and the Government are held accountable. In 1971 the institution was transformed into a unicameral legislature with 349 members. Since 1975, in accordance with the Instrument of Government of 1974, it is the speaker and no longer the Monarch who appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister.

The current speaker is Urban Ahlin, who has held the gavel since 2014.

Duties of the speaker

The speaker is the head and presiding officer of the Riksdag, and is elected by the chamber as the first order of business when the Riksdag re-convenes following a general election. As such he coordinates the work that takes place in the Riksdag. The office is mandated in the Swedish constitution and the duties of the office are set out on the Instrument of Government (1974) and the Riksdag Act.

The speaker does not take part in the debates, nor does he participate in the parliamentary committees. While the Speaker is one of the elected representatives of the Riksdag, he is expected to remain unbiased and objective with regards to the political issues that are debated. The speaker has no vote in the Riksdag, but the incumbent could use his vote as a member of the Riksdag if a tie appears.

The position of speaker is the second highest ranked public position in Sweden. In terms of protocol, the Monarch outranks the speaker since he is the head of state. However, since that position is hereditary a person cannot be elected to become the monarch. The Speaker outranks the Prime Minister of Sweden.

Appointment and Dismissal of Prime Minister

One of the more important aspects of the work of the speaker is to head the negotiations concerning the forming of a new government in case there is a shift of power after an election. The speaker proposes the new prime ministerial candidate to the chamber, and following a positive vote, the speaker signs the commission (Swedish: förordnande) on behalf of the Riksdag. The Prime Minister appoints and dismisses his own cabinet ministers, forming the Government (Swedish: Regeringen), without the involvement of the Speaker.

The Prime Minister hands his letter of resignation to the speaker, following either a voluntary resignation or a vote of no confidence.

In most other parliamentary systems, including other constitutional monarchies, these duties are instead handled by the head of state. Relieving the Swedish Monarch from exercise of political powers, although not the key objective from the outset, became nevertheless an important part on the constitutional reform in the 1970s.

Deputy speakers

The speaker is assisted by three deputy speakers who are also elected by the chamber. Traditionally, the second, third and fourth largest parties gets to name of one of their members for these offices. There is some disagreement whether the largest party or the leading party of the largest party bloc should hold the speakership (and thus also the position of First deputy speaker). Unlike the speaker (and cabinet ministers), the deputy speakers are not replaced by an alternate and remain members of the Riksdag with voting rights.

Regent ad interim

In case all adult members of the Swedish Royal Family who are in the line of succession to the Throne, as prescribed in the Act of Succession, are out of the country, the Speaker assumes the role of Regent ad interim (Swedish: Riksföreståndare). This would also be the case if they were all to decease.

Riksdag Board

The Speaker chairs the Riksdag Board (Swedish: Riksdagsstyrelsen), which deliberates on the organisation of the work of the Riksdag, directs the work of the Riksdag Administration (Swedish: Riksdagsförvaltningen) and decides upon matters of major significance concerning the international contacts programme.

War Delegation

The Speaker chairs the War Delegation (Swedish: Krigsdelegationen), when it is deemed necessary to convene.

List of Speakers

Speakers of the bicameral Riksdag (1867-1970)

Speakers of the First Chamber (upper house)

• Gustaf Lagerbielke (1867–1876)
• Henning Hamilton (1877)
• Anton Niklas Sundberg (1878–1880)
• Gustaf Lagerbielke (1881–1891)
• Pehr von Ehrenheim (1891–1895)
• Gustaf Sparre (1896–1908)
• Christian Lundeberg (1909–1911)
• Ivar Afzelius (1912–1915)
• Hugo Hamilton (1916–1928)
• Axel Vennersten (1928–1936)
• Johan Nilsson (1937–1955)
• John Bergvall, Liberal (1956–1959)
• Gustaf Sundelin, Liberal (1959–1964)
• Erik Boheman, Liberal (1965–1970)

Speakers of the Second Chamber (lower house)

• Anton Niklas Sundberg (1867–1872)
• Ferdinand Asker (1873–1875)
• Arvid Posse (1876–1880)
• Olof Wijk (1880–1890)
• Gustaf Ryding (1891)
• Carl Herslow (1892–1893)
• Robert De la Gardie (1894–1902)
• Axel Swartling (1903–1912)
• Carl Bonde (1913)
• Johan Widén (1914–1917)
• Daniel Persson (1918)
• Herman Lindqvist, Social Democrat (1918–1921)
• Viktor Larsson, Social Democrat (1922–1923)
• Herman Lindqvist, Social Democrat (1924–1927)
• Viktor Larsson, Social Democrat (1927)
• Bernhard Eriksson, Social Democrat (1928–1932)
• August Sävström, Social Democrat (1933–1952)
• Gustaf Nilsson, Social Democrat (1953–1957)
• Sven Patrik Svensson (1958–1960)
• Fridolf Thapper, Social Democrat (1960–1968)
• Henry Allard, Social Democrat (1969–1970)

Speakers of the unicameral Riksdag (1971-present)

Portrait		Speaker (Born-Died)	Term			Political Party	Election Cycle	Constituency
			Took office	Left office	Duration
		Henry Allard (1911–1996)	15 January 1971	1 October 1979	8 years, 259 days	Social Democratic	1971–1973 1973–1976 1976–1979	Örebro County
		Ingemund Bengtsson (1919–2000)	1 October 1979	3 October 1988	9 years, 2 days	Social Democratic	1979–1982 1982–1985 1985–1988	Halland County
		Thage G. Peterson (born 1933)	3 October 1988	30 September 1991	2 years, 362 days	Social Democratic	1988–1991	Stockholm County
		Ingegerd Troedsson (1929–2012)	30 September 1991	3 October 1994	3 years, 3 days	Moderate	1991–1994	Uppsala County
		Birgitta Dahl (born 1937)	3 October 1994	30 September 2002	7 years, 362 days	Social Democratic	1994–1998 1998–2002	Uppsala County
		Björn von Sydow (born 1945)	30 September 2002	2 October 2006	4 years, 2 days	Social Democratic	2002–2006	Stockholm County
		Per Westerberg (born 1951)	2 October 2006	29 September 2014	7 years, 362 days	Moderate	2006–2010 2010–2014	Södermanland County
		Urban Ahlin (born 1964)	29 September 2014	Incumbent	1 year, 92 days	Social Democratic	2014–2018	Västra Götaland County

See also

• Marshal of the Realm
• County Governors of Sweden

Historical predecessor

• Lantmarskalk, the presiding officer of the Estate of the Nobility in the Riksdag of the Estates before 1866.

References

• The Instrument of Government, in English (as of 2012) (PDF), The Riksdag (2012). Retrieved on 2012-11-13.

External links

• The Speaker - At the Riksdag