Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden
Statsråd och chef för utrikesdepartementet
Lesser coat of arms of Sweden
Incumbent Tobias Billström since 18 October 2022
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Style	Excellency was used up to the 1970s in Sweden; but is still used in diplomatic writing[1]
Member of	The Government
Seat	Arvfurstens palats, Stockholm, Sweden
Appointer	The Prime Minister
Term length	No fixed term Serves as long as the Prime Minister sees fit
Formation	6 June 1809 (as Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs) 20 March 1876 (as Minister for Foreign Affairs) 6 June 1974 (as Councilor of State and Head of the Foreign Department)
First holder	Oscar Björnstjerna
Deputy	State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Website	www.sweden.gov.se

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Swedish: utrikesminister) is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Tobias Billström of the Moderate Party.

History

The office was instituted in 1809 as a result of the constitutional Instrument of Government promulgated in the same year. Until 1876 the office was called Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs (Swedish: statsminister för utrikes ärendena, commonly known as utrikesstatsminister), similar to the office of Prime Minister for Justice (Swedish: justitiestatsminister). The Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs initially served as head of the Cabinet of Foreign Mail Exchange at the Royal Office. Following the ministry reform in 1840, the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs became head of the newly instituted Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In 1876 the office proper of Prime Minister of Sweden was created and at the same time the Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs was nominally demoted to a mere Minister. The holder of the office did however continue to be styled as "Your excellency", until 1974 when the new Instrument of Government came into force. Before the parliamentary breakthrough in the early 20th century, that title had been granted exclusively to members of the most prominent noble families.

Office holders

Prime Ministers for Foreign Affairs (1809–1876)

Ministers for Foreign Affairs (1876–present)

Parties

Status

No.	Portrait	Minister (Born–Died)	Tenure			Political party	Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Duration
1		Oscar Björnstjerna (1819–1905)	20 March 1876	19 April 1880	4 years, 30 days	Independent		De Geer Sr. (II)
2		Carl Hochschild (1831–1898)	27 April 1880	25 September 1885	5 years, 151 days	Independent		Posse
								Thyselius
3		Albert Ehrensvärd the Elder (1821–1901)	25 September 1885	12 June 1889	3 years, 260 days	Independent		Themptander
								Gillis Bildt
4		Gustaf Åkerhielm (1833–1900)	12 June 1889	12 October 1889	122 days	Protectionist Party
5		Carl Lewenhaupt (1835–1906)	12 October 1889	1 June 1895	5 years, 232 days	Independent		Åkerhielm
								Boström (I)
6		Ludvig Douglas (1849–1916)	1 June 1895	13 October 1899	4 years, 134 days	Independent
7		Alfred Lagerheim (1843–1924)	20 December 1899	7 December 1904	4 years, 353 days	Lantmanna Party		von Otter
								Boström (II)
8		August Gyldenstolpe (1849–1928)	22 December 1904	2 August 1905	223 days	Independent		Ramstedt
9		Fredrik Wachtmeister (1855–1919)	2 August 1905	7 November 1905	97 days	Protectionist Party		Lundeberg
10		Eric Trolle (1863–1934)	7 November 1905	17 March 1909	3 years, 130 days	Independent		Staaff (I)
								Lindman (I)
11		Arvid Taube (1853–1916)	30 April 1909	7 October 1911	2 years, 160 days	General Electoral League
12		Albert Ehrensvärd the Younger (1867–1940)	7 October 1911	17 February 1914	2 years, 133 days	Liberal Coalition Party		Staaff (I)
13		Knut Wallenberg (1853–1938)	17 February 1914	30 March 1917	3 years, 41 days	National Party		Hammarskjöld
14		Arvid Lindman (1862–1936)	30 March 1917	19 October 1917	203 days	General Electoral League		Swartz
15		Johannes Hellner (1866–1947)	19 October 1917	10 March 1920	2 years, 143 days	Liberal Coalition Party		Edén
16		Erik Palmstierna (1877–1959)	10 March 1920	27 October 1920	231 days	Social Democrats		Branting (I)
17		Herman Wrangel (1857–1934)	27 October 1920	13 October 1921	351 days	Independent		De Geer Jr.
								von Sydow
18		Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925)	13 October 1921	19 April 1923	1 year, 188 days	Social Democrats		Branting (II)
19		Carl Hederstierna (1861–1928)	19 April 1923	11 November 1923	206 days	General Electoral League		Trygger
20		Erik Marks von Würtemberg (1861–1937)	11 November 1923	18 October 1924	342 days	General Electoral League
21		Östen Undén (1886–1974)	18 October 1924	7 June 1926	1 year, 232 days	Social Democrats		Branting (III)
								Sandler
22		Eliel Löfgren (1872–1940)	7 June 1926	2 October 1928	2 years, 117 days	Liberal Party		Ekman (I)
23		Ernst Trygger (1857–1943)	2 October 1928	7 June 1930	1 year, 248 days	National Party		Lindman (II)
24		Fredrik Ramel (1872–1947)	7 June 1930	24 September 1932	2 years, 109 days	Independent		Ekman (II)
								Hamrin
25		Rickard Sandler (1884–1964)	24 September 1932	19 June 1936	3 years, 269 days	Social Democrats		Hansson (I)
26		Karl Gustaf Westman (1876–1944)	19 June 1936	28 September 1936	101 days	Farmer's League		Pehrsson-Bramstorp
27		Rickard Sandler (1884–1964)	28 September 1936	13 December 1939	3 years, 76 days	Social Democrats		Hansson (II)
28		Christian Günther (1886–1966)	13 December 1939	31 July 1945	5 years, 230 days	Independent		Hansson (III)
29		Östen Undén (1886–1974)	31 July 1945	19 September 1962	17 years, 50 days	Social Democrats		Hansson (IV)
								Erlander (I)
								Erlander (II)
								Erlander (III)
30		Torsten Nilsson (1905–1997)	19 September 1962	30 June 1971	8 years, 284 days	Social Democrats		Erlander (III)
								Palme (I)
31		Krister Wickman (1924–1993)	30 June 1971	3 November 1973	2 years, 126 days	Social Democrats
32		Sven Andersson (1910–1987)	3 November 1973	8 October 1976	2 years, 340 days	Social Democrats
33		Karin Söder (1928–2015)	8 October 1976	18 October 1978	2 years, 10 days	Centre Party		Fälldin (I)
34		Hans Blix (born 1928)	18 October 1978	12 October 1979	359 days	People's Party		Ullsten
35		Ola Ullsten (1931–2018)	12 October 1979	8 October 1982	2 years, 361 days	People's Party		Fälldin (II)
								Fälldin (III)
36		Lennart Bodström (1928–2015)	8 October 1982	17 October 1985	3 years, 9 days	Social Democrats		Palme (II)
37		Sten Andersson (1923–2006)	17 October 1985	4 October 1991	5 years, 352 days	Social Democrats		Palme (II)
								Carlsson (I)
								Carlsson (II)
38		Margaretha af Ugglas (born 1939)	4 October 1991	7 October 1994	3 years, 3 days	Moderate Party		Carl Bildt
39		Lena Hjelm-Wallén (born 1943)	7 October 1994	7 October 1998	4 years, 0 days	Social Democrats		Carlsson (III)
								Persson
40		Anna Lindh (1957–2003)	7 October 1998	11 September 2003	4 years, 339 days	Social Democrats
–		Jan O. Karlsson (1939–2016)	11 September 2003	10 October 2003	29 days	Social Democrats
41		Laila Freivalds (born 1942)	10 October 2003	21 March 2006	2 years, 162 days	Social Democrats
–		Bo Ringholm (born 1942)	21 March 2006	27 March 2006	6 days	Social Democrats
–		Carin Jämtin (born 1964)	27 March 2006	24 April 2006	28 days	Social Democrats
42		Jan Eliasson (born 1940)	24 April 2006	6 October 2006	165 days	Social Democrats
43		Carl Bildt (born 1949)	6 October 2006	3 October 2014	7 years, 362 days	Moderate Party		Reinfeldt
44		Margot Wallström (born 1954)	3 October 2014	10 September 2019	4 years, 342 days	Social Democrats		Löfven (I)
								Löfven (II)
45		Ann Linde (born 1961)	10 September 2019	18 October 2022	3 years, 38 days	Social Democrats		Löfven (II) · (III) Andersson
46		Tobias Billström (born 1973)	18 October 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 121 days	Moderate Party		Kristersson

Timeline

Statistics