Hans Karlsson 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...

. From 2002 to 2006, he served in the Cabinet of Göran Persson

Cabinet of Göran Persson

Göran Persson served as Prime Minister of Sweden between March 22, 1996 and October 6, 2006. Persson took over after Ingvar Carlsson, who retired as party leader and Prime Minister...

 as Minister for Employment in the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications

Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications (Sweden)

The Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications is a ministry within the government of Sweden. Its areas of responsibility include business development and competition, electronic communications, energy, forestry, information technology , postal communications and cashier service, primary...

 of the Swedish government

Government of Sweden

The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...

. His responsibilities included health and work injury insurance and sick pay.

A painter by profession, Hans Karlsson came into politics through the Swedish Painters' Union

Swedish Painters' Union

-External links:* official site....

, a trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 affiliated to LO, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation

Swedish Trade Union Confederation

The Swedish Trade Union Confederation , commonly referred to as LO, is a national trade union centre, an umbrella organisation for fifteen Swedish trade unions that organise mainly "blue-collar" workers...

. In 1975 he became branch chairman for the Örebro County

Örebro County

Örebro County is a county or län in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Värmland, Dalarna, Västmanland, Södermanland and Östergötland.- Province :...

 branch, and in 1978 he started to work for the union. In 1986 he became Organising Secretary at LO, where he later held other posts, including Collective Bargaining Secretary.

In 1993, Karlsson was elected to the National Board of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. In 2002, 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...

 made him Minister for Employment.

Karlsson holds no university degree, but has studied labour market issues and labour legislation at Örebro University College (now Örebro University

Örebro University

Örebro University is a state university in Örebro, Sweden.University-level education in Örebro started in 1960s, when Uppsala University started to give some courses in Örebro. On the basis of these activities, an independent högskola was created in 1977 under the name Högskolan i Örebro...

) in the 1970s.

Hans Karlsson is married with five children.

External links

• Hans Karlsson - Information page on the Swedish Government web site