Håkan Juholt

Håkan Juholt (born 16 September 1962 in Oskarshamn) is a Swedish politician and was leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Labour Party (SAP) from March 2011 to January 2012.

Juholt followed in the footsteps of his artistically gifted and politically ambitious father, who worked as a graphic designer and was mayor of Oskarshamn in the 1970s. At grammar school Juholt opted for the social profile and, thanks to his self-confident, assertive manner, was elected chairman of the student council. He earned his first income as a self-trained photographer and journalist for the local newspaper Nyheterna. Early membership of the Swedish Young Socialists opened up many opportunities for Juholt to become politically involved nationally and even internationally. He was particularly interested in the liberation movement in Nicaragua and the Polish Solidarność.

Juholt's political rise began in 1984, when he was elected head of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth Association. The only higher post in the SAP youth organization at the time was held by Anna Lindh, who was considered a future Social Democratic party leader until her assassination in 2003. Juholt moved into the Riksdag in 1994, where he specialized in defense policy issues. For many years he chaired both the defence committee and the defence commission. In 2004 he was appointed one of the deputy party secretaries of the SAP. Behind the party leaders Göran Persson - Swedish Prime Minister between 1996 and 2006 - and Mona Sahlin - who failed to govern with the Social Democrats - Juholt remained a rather pale politician with symbolic side offices: Thus he headed the party-affiliated foundations Johan Lindgrens fredsfond, in memory of the famous Swedish labor historian, and the Tage Erlander minnesfond, in memory of the former Swedish Prime Minister.

It was only in 2010, after Sahlin's election defeat by the bourgeois electoral alliance around Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, that Juholt literally dared to come out of hiding and called for a renewal of the SAP's personnel. In this he found support above all among the party left and the chairwoman of the Young Socialists, Jytte Guteland. Sahlin gave in to the growing pressure and declared in the autumn of 2010 that she did not wish to run again for party chair. On 10 March 2011, the SAP election committee proposed Håkan Juholt as the new party leader. He was thus given preference over the incumbent party secretary Ibrahim Baylan, who at the same time announced his resignation, and his long-time predecessor Marita Ulvskog. On 25 March, Juholt was elected as the new chairman at the SAP's extraordinary party congress.

On 7 October 2011, the newspaper Aftonbladet reported that Håkan Juholt had been overpaid 90 000 Swedish kronor in housing costs by making false statements to the Riksdag administration. Later, this amount increased to 160 000 kronor. On 10 October 2011, a preliminary investigation was opened on suspicion of fraud. The investigation was later dropped. However, criticism, including from within his own party, did not abate, as Juholt also made controversial statements on other issues. On 21 January 2012, he therefore announced his immediate resignation from the post of party chairman.

Since 27 January 2012, the Labour Party has been led by Stefan Löfven as its new chairman. In August 2016 Juholt also resigned from his Riksdag mandate, ending his political career.

Juholt lives with his partner Åsa and his two sons from his first marriage in Oskarshamn and Mönsterås, where he owns a summer house.