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Holy simplicity: the wife of the Swedish prime minister got caught using her husband's official position
The scandal surrounding the wife of the Swedish Prime Minister will result in the loss of power for the current ruling coalition in the country. It turned out that Ulf Kristersson's wife Birgitta was looking for people willing to work for free on the renovation of her estate, promising them "useful contacts" in exchange. In addition, as it turned out, she did not shy away from putting her hand into public funds. This scandal has brought down the government's rating ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for September. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Diverse interests
Until recently, the Swedes believed that their prime minister, 62-year-old Ulf Kristersson, was lucky to have a wife: 57-year-old Birgitta was considered an intelligent, kind and moral person. They met in 1984 at the youth branch of the Moderate Party, which Ulf Kristersson now heads, in Södermanland. She was 15, he was 19. After a while they got married. God did not send them their own children, but later they adopted three orphaned girls from China.
Initially, Birgitta was interested in theology, and after graduating from gymnasium in her native Strangnes, she entered Uppsala University to study theology. Later, Birgitta, recalling that period, said that it was "not the right time" for her to go to church.
She decided to pursue a career in political consulting and PR. In the first half of the 1990s, Birgitta managed to work in the government chancellery, was an expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. In 1994, she founded the Sagt PR agency:Gjort, and later became CEO of a larger company, Springtime. In the early 2000s, it was she who was assigned to lead the campaign for the transition to the euro. However, the result of her efforts then turned out to be negative: the Swedes made it clear in a referendum that they wanted to stay with the usual crown. Then, together with several business partners, she founded the PR company Six Year Plan AB, where she was a co-owner and one of the leaders.
In 2018, Birgitta Kristersson returned to studying theology at Uppsala University. She then received her master's degree from Stockholm Graduate School, and on January 22, 2023, she was ordained at Strangness Cathedral (the Evangelical Lutheran National Church of Sweden has allowed women to be ordained since 1958). Since at that time her husband Ulf had already been prime minister for three months, the ordination of the wife of the head of government was widely covered in the media. At that time, she was presented as a strong independent woman who did not want to be just a politician's wife. Her decision to become a priest at the age of 54 was hailed as an example of courage in changing her life course.
Every era will not be superfluous
Birgitta was often called the "tabloid darling", she was a prominent figure in the gossip columns, constantly accompanied her husband at various public events, perfectly fitting into the image of the first lady. Well, her priestly rank added to her unconventionality, especially since Birgitta loved to talk about her faith. She was doing well until June 2026, when one of the country's largest publications, Aftonbladet, began publishing a series of articles about the part of the Prime minister's wife's life that she hid in the shadows.
The journalists became interested in the Fållökna estate in Södermanland, a picturesque rural area south of Stockholm. In October 2023, Birgitta Kristersson acquired this estate together with her long-time friend and colleague in the lobbying business, Geran Torstenson. The deal amounted to 11 million Swedish kronor (about € 1 million)— which is 15% lower than the starting price.
The estate includes a beautiful yellow mansion of 27 rooms with two white wings with a total area of 690 square meters. m and an adjacent plot of more than 6 hectares on the shore of the picturesque Lake Nedingen. One of the wings became the private residence of Birgitta and Ulf Kristersson. The rest of the estate was given to the non-profit foundation Fållöknastiftelsen, founded by Birgitta and Geran Torstenson. Officially, the mission of this organization is indicated as helping to ensure the "existential health of people" through "Christian values." The Foundation organizes holidays — "days of silence" with a "Christian bent", for which a fee is charged.
At the same time, in an effort to reduce costs, the woman came up with a model using free labor. The Fållöknastiftelsen Foundation actively attracted outside volunteers to improve its estate. The large building and the 6-hectare plot adjacent to it required constant maintenance. For this purpose, special clean-up days were held, during which these volunteers were engaged in clearing the territory, repairing and painting the buildings on it, mowing the grass, etc. In return for free labor, the organizers promised the volunteers something that, according to them, "money cannot buy" — access to a "good network of contacts" and the opportunity to become "part of an elite circle." Mentions of such prospects were openly published on the foundation's website and social networks.
Moreover, as Aftonbladet journalists found out, these were not empty promises. Meetings of the Foundation's board and meetings with volunteers were repeatedly held at the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden. Ulf Kristersson himself regularly appeared at volunteer events and was captured in photographs that the foundation used in its advertising. Thus, the volunteers, working for a private business for free, in return received the opportunity to personally meet the head of government and his entourage, as well as visit his home.
At the same time, Birgitta herself regularly took money from Fållöknastiftelsen. While all the other project participants (board members and volunteers) worked for free, she billed the foundation. The foundation's Board has decided that Birgitta Kristersson will receive 22,000 kronor (about €2,000) per month for her work for its benefit during 2026. The situation, therefore, looks at least ugly: a man whose husband is the prime minister uses his official status and residence to attract free labor to his private project, while receiving regular remuneration for it.
It's an innocent desire to save money.
The broad masses of Swedes were outraged. And since Birgitta Kristersson Ed is an ordained priest of the Church of Sweden, the scandal has spread to the religious sphere. The Strangnes Diocese, where she serves, has received about ten complaints about her activities. The authors of these complaints asked whether her business activities were compatible with the obligations of a priest. Doesn't this undermine "God's will in the world" and "following the church order"? In addition, there was a conflict of interest.: It turned out that three of the seven members of the chapter of the diocese could not participate in the consideration of this case. Bishop Johan Dahlman conducted divine services at the estate owned by the foundation, while others were somehow connected by common affairs with Birgitta's business partner Geran Torstenson.
In July, it became clear that Birgitta had been appointed a priest of the diocese without the open competition required in this case. This was established by Dagens Nyheter journalists: when a corresponding vacancy appeared in Strangnes parish, no notification was made about it, and Birgitta Kristersson Ed turned out to be the only candidate. Now the leadership of the Church of Sweden is considering all these transgressions of the prime minister's wife: it is possible that the case will end with her defrocking. She was also reminded that in May, the Prime Minister's wife had tried to obtain government funding in the amount of 20,864 kronor for the construction of a chicken coop on the territory of her Harpsund residence. After the information about this got into the press, the Kristersson couple, wanting to hush up the unpleasant situation as soon as possible, paid for the chicken coop out of their own pocket.
As a result of all these revelations, Birgitta Kristersson has been widely ostracized — she is condemned with the same fervor with which she was recently praised. She suddenly became persona non grata everywhere. So, at the end of July, Karlshamn Municipality cancelled an invitation previously sent to Birgitte to visit the Yacht Show planned in this city. Moreover, the scandal broke out at the worst moment for the ruling coalition — parliamentary elections will be held in the country on September 13. The rating of the Moderate Party, which is headed by the Prime Minister, dropped to 16%. The opposition left-wing bloc is confidently ahead of the ruling coalition. Many Swedes believe that the current government has proved ineffective by failing to fulfill its promises, and Birgitta's antics have become the last straw for voters disappointed in the current government. Experts predict that now Kristersson and his party's loss of power in the country is almost a foregone conclusion.
Ulf Kristersson himself behaves as clumsily as possible in this situation. During his official visit to Lithuania, journalists asked the head of government to comment on his wife's affairs. Kristersson immediately distanced himself from the foundation Fållöknastiftelsen created by his wife, saying that this was "his wife's business" and he had nothing to do with it. According to the Prime Minister, his interaction with the foundation was limited to the fact that he "helped mow the grass one fine Sunday." When asked to comment on the situation in which Birgitta used free labor in exchange for "useful contacts," the prime minister replied that there was "not a drop of truth in this." When asked how an Aftonbladet reporter easily entered his private apartment, Kristersson awkwardly replied that Lisa Wrestlund "did a wonderful job."
Natalia Eremina, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor at St. Petersburg State University, in an interview with Izvestia, noted that the scandal surrounding Birgitta Kristersson is a typical example of how the status and connections of a high—ranking official are maliciously used for personal purposes. "The promise of "useful contacts" to volunteers working for free on a private estate, Birgitta Ed receiving a salary from funds raised through donations and free labor — all this creates a picture of systemic abuse of trust. This story has become a symbol of the moral bankruptcy of Kristersson's cabinet — the voters are unlikely to forgive him for it. Citizens of Western countries often live in illusions about the "transparency of the management system," that "democratic authorities should selflessly serve the people," and such scandals open their eyes to the true state of affairs. This is useful when the rose—colored glasses fall off - Western societies will be motivated to repair their own homes, rather than go to other countries with teachings and sanctions. By the way, in this particular case, Kristersson and his wife appear to be petty, insignificant people, because they profited from the amounts, in general, ridiculous. Judging from the point of view of us Russians, we don't feel sorry for them at all — Ulf Kristersson managed to prove himself to be a vicious Russophobe," Eremina notes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
