Thomas Östros

Thomas Östros

Östros with his wife at the Royal Wedding in 2010.
Minister for Enterprise and Energy
In office
21 October 2004 – 6 October 2006
(1 year, 350 days)
Prime Minister Göran Persson
Preceded by Leif Pagrotsky
Succeeded by Maud Olofsson
Minister for Education
In office
4 October 1998 – 21 October 2004
(6 years, 17 days)
Prime Minister Göran Persson
Preceded by Carl Tham
Succeeded by Leif Pagrotsky
Personal details
Born Björn Thomas Waaranperä
(1965-01-26) 26 January 1965
Gällivare, Norrbotten County
Political party Social Democrats
Spouse(s) Susanne Östros
Children 3
Alma mater Uppsala University

Thomas Östros (born 26 January 1965 in Gällivare, Norrbotten County) is a Swedish economist, former Social Democratic politician and CEO of the Swedish Bankers' Association. In 2015 he was named Executive Director for Northern Europe at the International Monetary Fund.

Early life

Östros was born in Malmberget, as Björn Thomas Waaranperä, the son of an explosives worker and a housewife. His parents changed their Tornedalian family name to Östros when they moved from Norrland to Västerås, because it was easier to pronounce.[1][2]

Östros has a licentiate degree (a graduate degree in the Swedish university system) in economics from Uppsala University.[1] During his time at university, he was an active member of the local branch of Social Democratic Students of Sweden. He also served as a councillor in the Uppsala Municipal Council.[2]

Political career

In 1994 he was elected to the Riksdag as a Member of Parliament. In 1996, he became the Minister for Taxation at the age of 31, under the Cabinet of Göran Persson, and later served as Minister for Education from 1998 to 2004. In 2004 he switched posts with Leif Pagrotsky and became Minister for Enterprise and Energy, a position he held on to until the Social Democratic defeat at the general elections of 2006. Östros was also the deputy chairman of the Riksdag's committee for Industry and Trade from 2006 to 2008.[2][3]

In 2008 he was appointed economic policy spokesperson for his party, following a leadership dispute between his predecessor Pär Nuder and the newly appointed party chairman Mona Sahlin; a post he was forced to resign from in March 2011,[4] coinciding with the ascension of Håkan Juholt as chairman, a candidate he refused to endorse or publicly support.[5][6] Östros left the party executive committee at about the same time,[7] and subsequently left the Riksdag in July 2012, having spent a total of 17 years as an MP.[3][8]

It has often been said that former Prime Minister Göran Persson has a lot of confidence in Thomas Östros, and he was mentioned in speculations about possible successors to Persson.

Professional career

Östros was appointed CEO of the trade association Swedish Bankers' Association in 2012,[9] a position he resigned from in 2015,[10] only to later be named Executive Director for Northern Europe at the IMF.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Wahlin, Erik (4 January 2013). "Östros: Jag har kvar mina värderingar" (in Swedish). Affärsvärlden. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Weman Thornell, Kerstin (5 July 2012). "Thomas Östros: Från Tornedalen till toppjobb i bankvärlden" (in Swedish). Hemmets Journal. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Thomas Östros (S) - riksdagen.se" (in Swedish). The Riksdag. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Waidelich - ekonomisk talesperson" (in Swedish). Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå/Svenska Dagbladet. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Östros utspel om Juholt förvånar" (in Swedish). Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå/Svenska Dagbladet. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Martikainen, Rebecka (18 October 2012). "Östros om varför han vägrade stödja Juholt" (in Swedish). Expressen. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Östros lämnar VU" (in Swedish). Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå/Svenska Dagbladet. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Thomas Östros lämnar politiken" (in Swedish). Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå/Dagens Nyheter. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Holmqvist, Anette (2 May 2012). "Östros får nytt toppjobb" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  10. ↑ "Thomas Östros lämnar vd-jobb" (in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  11. ↑ "Löfven ger toppjobb till Thomas Östros" (in Swedish). Expressen. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
Preceded by
Leif Pagrotsky		 Minister for Enterprise and Energy
2004—2006 		Succeeded by
Maud Olofsson
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