Bosse Ringholm
Encyclopedia
Falköping
Falköping is a locality and the seat of Falköping Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 15,821 inhabitants in 2005.-History:The city of Falköping most likely emerged during the 15th century but earlier the town was an important site of pilgrimage due to its 12th century church...
) is a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Social Democratic
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He held the titles of Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Policy Coordination, and Minister for Sport in the Persson administration
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...
.
Career
Ringholm was born in FalköpingFalköping Municipality
Falköping Municipality is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Falköping....
, a town in the west of Sweden, and grew up in a working-class family. He lacks higher education, and dropped out of high school after failing both Maths and English. Like many Swedish Social Democratic politicians of his generation, Ringholm started his political career in the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League
Swedish Social Democratic Youth League
The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League is a branch of the Swedish social democratic party Socialdemokraterna and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation...
, an organisation he led 1967–1972. As chairman of the Social Democratic Youth League, Ringholm was known for his radical left-wing views. Among other things, he advocated the nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
of private-owned Swedish bank institutions and Swedish economic support to the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam
National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam
The Vietcong , or National Liberation Front , was a political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam War . It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres who organized...
(FNL), the government of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
, the Pathet Lao
Pathet Lao
The Pathet Lao was a communist political movement and organization in Laos, formed in the mid-20th century. The group was ultimately successful in assuming political power after the Laotian Civil War. The Pathet Lao were always closely associated with Vietnamese communists...
in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
.
After stepping down from chairman of SSU, Ringholm worked as a political adviser at the Ministries of the Interior and Labour. He also became active in the local politics of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. From 1973 he was a member of the Stockholm County Council, and two years later he was elected to the executive committee of the Stockholm party branch. In 1976 he became a director at the Ministry of Education and Science, and worked in the government administration until he became Transportation Commissioner of the Stockholm County
Stockholm County
Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...
from 1983. From 1997 he was the director-general of the Swedish Labour Market Board (AMS), until Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
Göran Persson
Göran Persson
Hans Göran Persson was the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1996 to 2006 and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1996 to 2007. Conceding defeat in the September 2006 general election, he announced that he would resign as party leader, and Mona Sahlin was elected to succeed him as...
unexpectedly named him to succeed Erik Åsbrink
Erik Åsbrink
Erik Åsbrink is a Swedish politician and former minister in two Social Democratic governments led by Ingvar Carlsson and Göran Persson. Later Åsbrink took part in shaping the informal guidelines called the 'business code of ethics'.- External links :* at the Riksdag website...
as Minister for Finance in 1999.
On October 21, 2004, Göran Persson announced a restructuring of his government, in which Ringholm was moved from the Ministry of Finance to become Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Policy Coordination and Minister for Sport. The reason cited by Persson was Ringholm was not interested in continuing as Minister of Finance following the coming 2006 general elections. His successor was Pär Nuder
Pär Nuder
Pär Anders Nuder is a Swedish Social Democratic politician. He was the Minister of Finance between November 1, 2004 and October 6, 2006.Pär Nuder was born in Täby north of Stockholm, but grew up in Österåker, where he still resides...
.
Following the resignation of Laila Freivalds
Laila Freivalds
Laila Ligita Freivalds is a Swedish Social Democratic politician and a former Swedish Minister for Justice, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister....
on March 21, 2006, Ringholm was temporarily acting as Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.The office was instituted in 1809 as a result of the constitutional Instrument of Government promulgated in the same year. Until 1876 the office was called Prime Minister for Foreign...
until March 27, when he was replaced by Carin Jämtin
Carin Jämtin
Carin Jämtin is a Swedish Social Democratic politician and the party-Secretary of the Social Democratic Party since 26 March 2011. She was Minister for International Development Cooperation in the Swedish government between 2003 and 2006.-Early career:She has briefly studied at Stockholm...
who also held the post temporarily until the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan Eliasson
Jan Eliasson
Jan Kenneth Eliasson is a Swedish diplomat and Social Democratic politician.- Biography :Jan Eliasson was born in a working-class family in Gothenburg. He was an AFS exchange student in Indiana, United States, from 1957 to 1958 and was commissioned reserve officer after military training at the...
, took office on April 24.