Tobias Andersson (politician) explained

Tobias Andersson
Office:Member of the Riksdag
Term Start:24 September 2018
Constituency:Västra Götaland County East
Office1:Chairman of the Young Swedes SDU
Term Start1:1 October 2015
Term End1:15 October 2022
Predecessor1:Office established
Successor1:Emil Eneblad
Birth Name:Tobias Joachim Friden Andersson
Birth Date:7 May 1996
Birth Place:Skövde, Sweden
Party:Sweden Democrats

Tobias Joachim Friden Andersson (born 7 May 1996) is a Swedish politician. He has been Member of the Riksdag since September 2018, representing the constituency of Västra Götaland County East for the Sweden Democrats party.[1]

Andersson graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics at the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law in 2018.[2] In 2014, at the age of 18, Andersson was elected to the Skövde municipal council for the Sweden Democrats, and then became group leader for the party in the municipality. At the time he was a member of the Sweden Democratic Youth (SDU).[3] In 2015, he ran for chairman of the SDU against Jessica Ohlson and was seen as a more moderate candidate but narrowly lost the election. After the Sweden Democrats announced it was to break ties with the SDU due to repeated controversies, Andersson became the national spokesperson of the new Young Swedes SDU on 1 October 2015, and was the first person to hold the position.[4]

In autumn 2021, he was appointed the Sweden Democrats' legal policy spokesperson and committee chairman in the justice committee in the Riksdag.[5] In 2022, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Industry and Trade in the Riksdag.

In August 2022, Andersson received criticism from the leaderships of the Centre Party and Swedish Liberal Party leader Johan Pehrson after he Tweeted a picture of a Stockholm Metro train on which the SD had paid to feature a campaign advertisement with the caption "Repatriation train. You have a one-way ticket. Next stop Kabul!” SD leader Jimmie Åkesson denied that Andersson's comment was intended to be racist.[6] Andersson later elaborated in an interview that his Twitter post had been a sarcastic response to people who claimed to be offended by the SD's subway advertising and were calling for it to be removed.[7]

Notes and References

  1. https://data.val.se/val/val2018/slutresultat/R/rvalkrets/20/valda.html Tobias Andersson elected Member of the Riksdag
  2. Web site: Han blir yngst i riksdagen – nästan. Skövde Nyheter. 2018-09-20. 2019-11-06.
  3. Web site: SD vill stoppa tiggeri. Hagström. Thomas. Skaraborgs Allehanda. 2015-03-25. 2019-11-06. sv.
  4. https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/sd-lanserar-sin-nya-ungdomsverksamhet/ Sweden Democrats launches new youth league
  5. Web site: Hela listan – SD:s nya talespersoner. Altinget.se. 2022-03-04. sv-SE.
  6. Web site: 'Next stop Kabul': Sweden Democrat slammed for 'racist' tweet . 17 August 2022 .
  7. Web site: SD-toppen om kritiserade tweeten: "Lekte med deras kränkthet" . 17 August 2022 .