Mona Sahlin

Mona Sahlin
Mona Sahlin 1 May 2010.
Chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Worker's Party
In office 17 March 2007 – 25 March 2011
Party secretary	Marita Ulvskog Ibrahim Baylan
Preceded by	Göran Persson
Succeeded by	Håkan Juholt
Member of the Swedish Parliament for
In office 2002–2011
In office 1982–1996
Personal details
Born	Mona Ingeborg Andersson (1957-03-09) 9 March 1957 (age 60) Sollefteå, Västernorrland County
Political party	Social Democrats
Spouse(s)	Bo Sahlin
Signature

Mona Ingeborg Sahlin (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈmoː.ˈna saˈliːn] née Andersson; born 9 March 1957) is a Swedish politician who was leader of the opposition and leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2011.

Sahlin was a Member of Parliament, representing , from 1982 to 1996 and again from 2002 to 2011. She has also held various ministerial posts in the Swedish government from 1990 to 1991, from 1994 to 1995 and from 1998 to 2006. Sahlin was elected new leader of the Social Democratic Party on 17 March 2007, succeeding Göran Persson who resigned as leader following the defeat in the 2006 general election. Sahlin is the first female leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and became in 2011 the first since Claes Tholin in 1907 to leave that position without having served as Prime Minister of Sweden. In 2012, her successor Håkan Juholt joined her as the second now living person to do so.

On 14 November 2010, following another electoral defeat for the Social Democrats, she announced her intent to step down as party chairman, which she did in early 2011.

Sahlin was born Mona Ingeborg Andersson in Sollefteå, Västernorrland County, Sweden. Her father, Hans Andersson, worked at different ungdomsvårdsskolor (community homes or reformatories), forcing the family to move frequently. In the mid 1960s they moved to Järla in where they remained. Her father later became an advisor to former Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson.