Ulf Kristersson – the adult in the room

When order and order seem to be most important to others

Scenes from Ulf Kristersson's political career

The Moderates often talk about order, cleanliness and responsibility.

Compared to the Social Democrats, Ulf Kristersson has publicly called himself "the adult in the room".

There are several concrete episodes in political history.

Strängnäs: savings package and red numbers

In 2002, Ulf Kristersson took office as finance councillor in Strängnäs. The following year, the municipality went from surplus to deficit. 

The municipality is introducing a halt to hiring, investments and purchases.

Schools and social activities are being cut. The municipality is raising fees for transport services. Pensioner organisations are losing their grants. At the same time, the municipality is selling properties to private companies and then renting them back. 

The municipality saves 30 million SEK.

Despite this, the result ends up at minus 18 million SEK. 

Stockholm: 81,7 million becomes 3,4

After Strängnäs, Kristersson will move on to Stockholm as a social city councilor.

In 2008, the city sold preschools and nursing homes with market values ​​of SEK 81,7 million for SEK 3,4 million. The Supreme Administrative Court later rejected parts of the deals as illegal. 

When the issue reaches the Riksdag, the then Minister of Justice Beatrice Ash the question of why the deals do not lead to legal consequences.

She answers:

“It is not illegal to be stupid or to make bad deals or to have bad judgment.” 

Folkungagatan

During his time in Stockholm, Kristersson gets access to a floor on Folkungagatan in central Stockholm. Ersta Diakonie works for the homeless and seriously ill and intended this apartment for students and new employees.

At the same time, Ersta has a multi-million contract with the City of Stockholm within his political area of ​​responsibility. 

668 taxi rides

In 2015–2016, Kristersson traveled by taxi for 113,000 kronor of public funds.

The trips are to and from work, but also to restaurants and private addresses.

A review shows that only 3 out of 668 trips require a car. The rest can be done by public transport.

In 2018, Ulf Kristersson takes the Holocaust survivor by the hand Hedi Fried and promises never to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats. Four years later, he builds government power on the Tidö Agreement with the same party.

In this series of documented episodes, something else is visible.

Strängnäs receives savings package and negative results.

Stockholm sells businesses for 3,4 million despite values ​​of 81,7.

The Supreme Administrative Court rejects the deals.

A floor on Folkungagatan intended for critical care personnel for the sick and homeless ends up on Folkungagatan.

668 taxi trips cost 113,000 SEK.

The facts are openly in the public domain.

Landerholm who was careless with the secrets of the kingdom

Kristersson handpicked friend Henrik Landerholm for top job in the security of the kingdom. Then Landerholm forgot secret NATO documents in an unlocked cabinet. The prosecutor said he had acted grossly negligently, but the district court acquitted him because the court did not see gross negligence. The controversial thing is crystal clear: an ordinary employee would probably have been crushed professionally. Landerholm escaped both prison and fine. Kristersson's handling reeks of friendly recruitment, late control and the elite's special justice for their own.

Conflict situation regarding sister-in-law in spring 2026

Ulf Kristersson's defense of his possible conflicts in spring 2026 becomes weaker the more you look at the numbers. The government gave Teach for Sweden an additional 12 million kronor, in addition to the 15 million that the foundation had already received for the year. At the same time, the government reduced the allocation for integration and equality by the same amount. At the same meeting, the government also determined that special expenses within universities and colleges would be reduced by 44 million kronor. Yet the foundation where Kristersson's sister-in-law Marita Bildt sits on the board received more money. Aftonbladet reports that support for the foundation has gone from 12 to 28 million kronor since her sister-in-law joined the board. Kristersson says that he "doesn't think" he knew about her mission. It's a lousy defense. He demands strict control of the sick and unemployed, but when millions go to an organization with family connections, ignorance suddenly serves as an excuse. Either he lacked control. Or he participated in a decision he should have left.

Yes, exactly. Here is a revised, tougher and more concrete version. I have included a source-critical caveat where necessary: ​​not everything can be causally attributed to Kristersson, but the pattern in politics can be substantiated.

Kristersson's Sweden: tougher on the poor, weaker as an economy

Ulf Kristersson's government promised order, cleanliness and responsibility. The result was a Sweden where the state places tougher demands on the unemployed, the sick, the indebted and migrants – while unemployment persists, bankruptcies remain at crisis levels and climate policy has lost momentum.

Poverty has become an everyday problem in one of the world's richest countries. Sweden's City Missions highlights SCB figures showing that 729,000 people lived in material and social poverty in 2025. This corresponds to 6,9 percent of the population and approximately a doubling since 2021. Oxfam Sweden also refers to a Verian survey in which one in four adults in Sweden reports financial anxiety, with stress, sleep problems, panic attacks and worries about unexpected expenses. It is not just a social problem. It is a demand problem. When people with small margins receive less money, consumption disappears directly from the local community. (Oxfam Sweden)

Pressure on the unemployed without results

Unemployment shows the same failure. Statistics Sweden reported 8,8 percent unemployment for the full year 2025 and called the level high in a 25-year perspective. In March 2026, Statistics Sweden's key figure was 9,7 percent. The Public Employment Service shows lower levels because the agency measures registered job seekers, but Ekonomifakta also writes that unemployment is high both historically and internationally. The government has thus put more pressure on the unemployed, but has not solved unemployment. (Statistics Sweden)

The The new unemployment insurance fund and the changes in activity support tightens the tapering. The government describes it as a restructuring. In practice, this often means lower compensation over time. The employment service also requires an activity report every month, and anyone who does not look for a job or report activities can lose compensation. The system drives mass applications even when there are no jobs. Companies can receive piles of applications from people who have to apply, while unemployment still remains. That is the absurd core of the work line: the state measures activity, not actual matching. (Parliament)

Retroactive decisions against interest deductions, migrants and the unemployed

Hard retroactive logic is visible in the interest deduction for unsecured loans. The government and the Riksdag are phasing out the deduction: halving for the income year 2025 and abolishing the deduction from 2026. The rule also applies to old loans, regardless of when the loan was taken out. It is not retroactive criminal legislation in the strict legal sense, but the effect will be retroactive for household planning. People who took out loans under a set of financial conditions will have their calculations changed afterwards. The Left Party also called the proposal retroactive in a Riksdag motion. From a legal perspective, this will be controversial because predictability is weakened: the state is changing the rules of the game for financial commitments that have already been made. (Government Offices)

Heartless and legally uncertain immigration policy

The government's migration policy has made Sweden more legally uncertain and stricter. The Institute for Human Rights rejects the proposal to be able to revoke permanent residence permits for certain groups and warns that several parallel migration proposals make the consequences difficult to see. The University of Gothenburg has also criticized the proposal to retroactively revoke PUT and warned that it is contrary to fundamental principles of the rule of law. So it is not just about stricter rules. It is about people who have been granted security in Sweden being able to have that security reviewed afterwards. (mrinstitutet.se)

The human consequences are already visible. 95-year-old Rabea Allah Wais is threatened with deportation to Iraq after just over 20 years in Sweden. Dmitriy and Elena Gaffarov are to be deported to Uzbekistan after 22 years in Sweden, while their son Alexander, born and raised in Sundsvall, is allowed to stay. Young adults have also found themselves in a legal loophole: when they turn 18, they are no longer considered children in connection cases, and the Swedish Migration Board has therefore waited for a decision while waiting for new legislation. (Migration Board) It is a cold order. Families that have lived here for years can be split up because someone turns 18, gets old, gets sick or no longer fits into an increasingly narrow legal text. (ETC.se)

Retroactive claims against the unemployed

The government has against the unemployed tightened control without unemployment disappearing. From 1 June 2026, participants in the Public Employment Service's program can be suspended from compensation the first time for certain violations of the rules, for example if they do not apply for training that the authority specifies. This creates a system where people chase activities in order to avoid being punished, while companies can receive a lot of applications that reflect more government requirements than real matching. The work line will then be tough on the individual but weak on unemployment.

Expensive and ineffective electricity policy

Electricity policy shows the same gap between promise and result. The EU Council writes that high gas prices have driven up electricity prices even in systems with a lot of renewable electricity. The EU has therefore reformed the electricity market to reduce price fluctuations. The Social Democrats are demanding that the government push to decouple Swedish electricity prices from European gas prices. The Left Party has gone further and accused the government of having contributed to stopping an EU proposal that would protect electricity prices from the price sensitivity of gas in the event of geopolitical crises. The last is a political accusation, but the point is clear: the government promised lower electricity prices, but has not pushed the fastest way out of the grip of gas prices. (consilium.europa.eu)

Record number of bankruptcies

The bankruptcies show how weak the economy has become from below. Ekonomifakta reports 10,731 corporate bankruptcies in 2025. This was lower than the record year of 2024 but still a level that belongs in a crisis year. Dagens PS wrote in February 2026 that the number of bankruptcies only increased marginally in 2025, but that larger companies that fail threaten significantly more jobs. Therein lies the dangerous turn: the wave of bankruptcies is no longer just about small companies. When larger companies are knocked out, the damage spreads to subcontractors, municipalities, local labor markets and already pressured households. (Today's PS)

High inflation and weak purchasing power

Inflation requires source criticism. Sweden had low inflation in the spring of 2026. But it is not certain that this shows a healthy economy. Denmark brought inflation down much earlier; the OECD already wrote about how Danish inflation fell in the first half of 2023, and Denmark's statistics reported 1,4 percent in April 2026. Sweden, on the other hand, had high inflation and weak purchasing power, high unemployment and pressured consumption for a long time. When prices finally stop rising in the spring of 2026 because people can't afford to buy, then you haven't won the fight against inflation. Then you've cooled down society. (OECD)

Swedish productivity growth has slowed down

Productivity is another underrated factor. The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Development wrote in 2025 that Sweden has had relatively low productivity growth compared to other countries in recent years. SNS also describes how Swedish productivity growth has slowed down and threatens both prosperity and competitiveness. This means that the government's hard line of work does not even deliver what it promises: more truly productive jobs, stronger industry and higher value creation. It puts pressure on people, but it does not necessarily build capacity. (The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth)

Crashed climate policy

At the same time, climate policy has crashed in a concrete sense. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency reported that Sweden's territorial emissions increased by 7 percent in 2024, the largest increase since the recovery from the financial crisis in 2010. The agency links the increase in road traffic and work machinery primarily to the reduced reduction obligation. Europaportalen summarized the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's figures as follows: emissions from road traffic increased by 24 percent and emissions from work machinery by 32 percent compared to 2023. This is not symbolic politics. These are measurable emissions here and now. (The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency)

The Climate Policy Council concluded in 2026 that Sweden will not reach the climate goals by 2030 and 2040 with current policies and that the gap to the goals has increased during the mandate period. The government has lowered the reduction obligation, lowered taxes on fossil fuels, leaned heavily towards electrification and nuclear power and postponed necessary decisions. This makes the policy doubly dangerous: emissions are increasing now, while the solutions are placed in a future that will not have time to deliver. (climatepolicyreport.se)

Nuclear power not a successful goal

Electricity policy fits into the same pattern. The EU's electricity market reform is intended to provide more stable prices and better protection against price shocks. But the government has prioritized nuclear power rhetoric and long-term future projects over faster price pressure through energy efficiency, grid expansion, wind power and smarter market rules. One should be precise here: nuclear power can play a role in a future system, but it could never quickly solve the electricity prices for households and companies during the mandate period. It was rather fortunate that the government's nuclear power promises could not be implemented as quickly as they sounded during the election campaign. (climatepolicyreport.se)

Harder for people with small margins

The summary is striking but factual: Kristersson's government has made life harder for people with small margins without delivering a stronger economy. Poverty has increased. Economic anxiety has become widespread. The unemployed are pressured by control systems while unemployment persists. Indebted households are having their terms changed retrospectively. Companies are failing by the thousands. Major bankruptcies are threatening more jobs. Productivity growth is weak. Climate policy has already led to increased emissions.

Order and order were supposed to apply to Sweden when the adult in the room, Ulf Kristersson, was prime minister. In practice, the government has shifted the risks downwards – to the unemployed, the sick, poor households, small business owners, the indebted, migrants and future generations.