Lotta Edholm

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Lotta Edholm
Minister for Schools
Assumed office
18 October 2022
Prime MinisterUlf Kristersson
Member of Parliament
In office
1992–1994
Personal details
Born (1965-02-08) 8 February 1965 (age 59)
Västerås, Sweden
Political partyLiberals
SpouseLars Leijonborg
Alma materStockholm University

Charlotta "Lotta" Kristina Johansdotter Edholm (born 8 February 1965) is a Swedish politician for the Liberals. Since 18 October 2022 she has been the Minister for Schools in the Ulf Kristersson cabinet.

Early life, education and career[edit]

Edholm was born in Västerås, and has a BA in political sciences from Stockholm University. She served as a member of the Riksdag (statsrådersättare) from 1992 to 1994.[1] She was municipal commissioner (borgarråd) for schools in Stockholm from 2006 to 2014, and 2018 to 2020 as well as in opposition from 2014 to 2018.[2] She has been on the board of the freeschool group Tellusgruppen.[3]

Minister for Schools[edit]

On 18 October 2022 she was appointed the Minister for Schools in the Ulf Kristersson cabinet.[4][5]

In 2023, she launched an investigation into state-supported friskolor (Free Schools), after calling into question its profit-making model. In recent years there had been a drop in educational standards with inequality rising. 15% of primary pupils (up to 16-year-old) and 30% of all upper school pupils went to friskolor. One major issue was the claim that some friskolor awarded pupils grades that were too high, distorting the grading system.[3]

Personal life[edit]

She was married to former Liberal party leader, Lars Leijonborg, with whom she has one son.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Lotta Edholm (L) - Riksdagen". Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b Claus Granath (23 April 2007). "Leijonborg avgår i höst". Sydsvenskan. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b Bryant, Miranda (10 November 2023). "Sweden's schools minister declares free school 'system failure'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Sweden's new Government". Government of Sweden. 18 October 2022. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  5. ^ Sweden, Radio (18 October 2022). "Ulf Kristersson names ministers in his three-party government". Sveriges Radio. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.