{"id":175231,"date":"2026-07-30T14:37:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/?p=175231"},"modified":"2026-07-30T14:40:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T12:40:02","slug":"tung-l-profil-och-tidigare-minister-lamnar-riksdagen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/prominent-figure-and-former-minister-leaves-the-riksdag\/","title":{"rendered":"Prominent L-Party figure and former minister leaves the Riksdag"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Mats Persson (L), former Minister of Education and Labor, is leaving the Riksdag one month before the election. This is yet another sign of how experienced figures are stepping down when the party is in the midst of a deep crisis.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mats Persson<\/strong> (L), former Minister of Education and Labor, will leave the Riksdag on August 7, 2026\u2014just over a month before the election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Persson has served in the Riksdag since 2014 and was one of the Liberal Party\u2019s leading figures. He stepped down from the government as early as 2025, explaining that it was time to do something else after ten years in national politics. Now he is taking the plunge and leaving the Riksdag as well. According to him, the baton is being passed to his replacement. <strong>Camilla M\u00e5rtensen<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a post, Persson writes that it feels logical to step down after the summer. He describes the role as meaningful but adds that he won\u2019t miss budget negotiations, debates, or TV interviews\u2014though he will miss the people he\u2019s worked with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201d<em>I\u2019ve always viewed the role of an elected official as something temporary; the fact that it lasted so many years is a testament to how meaningful I\u2019ve found it to be. Sure, life as an elected official isn\u2019t always a bed of roses, but it\u2019s also incredibly rewarding to work in the heat of political debate. And the best part of all is listening to friendly, curious people who have ideas about how society can be improved. My strongest memories are of unexpected\u2014and sometimes comical\u2014encounters with Swedes all across our vast country.<\/em>\u201d, he writes on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-1024x513.jpg\" alt=\"Mats Persson. Photo: Government Offices of Sweden\/Kristian Pohl\" class=\"wp-image-95941 lazyload\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.9961925068534876;width:399px;height:auto\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"513\" src=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-1024x513.jpg\" alt=\"Mats Persson. Photo: Government Offices of Sweden\/Kristian Pohl\" class=\"wp-image-95941\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.9961925068534876;width:399px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-1024x513.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-768x385.jpg 768w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-150x75.jpg 150w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-696x349.jpg 696w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-1068x535.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696-600x301.jpg 600w, https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/mats-persson_3-scaled-e1725535535696.jpg 1145w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mats Persson. Photo: Government Offices of Sweden\/Kristian Pohl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When the ship begins to sink<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pattern is familiar. When a political party is in the midst of a deep crisis, when its poll numbers are falling and the risk of losing its seats in the Riksdag is increasing, it\u2019s not uncommon for experienced and more established figures to step down before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a classic move: leave before the worst happens. That way, you avoid being there when the ship goes down, when bankruptcy is a reality, or when the extent of the failure becomes clear. Someone else gets to take the fall. You, on the other hand, can point out that you\u2019ve already left and move on with your reputation more or less intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Liberals have long struggled with low poll numbers and internal divisions. The fact that a former minister and prominent figure has now chosen to leave so close to the election can be interpreted in that light\u2014as a sign that more people are seeing the party\u2019s decline.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A senior L Party minister is leaving Parliament before the election. When the ship starts to sink, the experienced ones jump ship\u2014and let someone else take the fall.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2017,"featured_media":166176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206,1520,205],"tags":[158,3916,472],"class_list":["post-175231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-inrikes","category-stor","category-nyheter","tag-liberalerna","tag-mats-persson","tag-riksdagen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2017"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frihetsnytt.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}