John Fredrik Reinfeldt (pronounced [ˈfrěːdrɪk ˈrâjnːfɛlt] ⓘ; born 4 August 1965) is a Swedish economist, lecturer, former Prime Minister of Sweden from 2006 to 2014 and chairman of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 2003 to 2015.

His premiership was characterised by "Arbetslinjen" (English: Working line), a focus on getting more people into the workforce, and by management of the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession, which resulted in one of the world's strongest public finances and top rankings in climate and health care.

[3][4] At the age of 11, Reinfeldt became chairman of the student council (Swedish: elevrådet) in his school, and became a fan of the football club Djurgårdens IF, a passion he maintains to this day.

[10] Reinfeldt later stated that although the effects of that deep ideological division and battle in the party lingered on within the Moderate Youth League, he also felt that it was a defining moment in his life.

"[a][11] The book later haunted Reinfeldt, when he faced criticism for phrases such as "The Swedes are mentally handicapped and indoctrinated to believe that politicians can create and guarantee welfare.

[4] In 1995 Reinfeldt co-authored the book Nostalgitrippen ('The Nostalgic Trip'), which described several persons in the Moderate Party leadership, including Gunnar Hökmark and Bo Lundgren, as "Carl Bildt-lookalikes."

Bildt was described as being the perfect leader for the opposition to satirize; a nobleman living in the affluent Östermalm with a boyish expression and a better-than-you attitude.

To reflect these changes, the party's unofficial name was altered to "The New Moderates" (Swedish: De nya Moderaterna) in order to emphasize the break with the past.

He instead proposed reforms to Sweden's welfare state, which included cutting taxes for the lowest income earners and reducing unemployment benefits, in order to encourage the jobless to return to work.

[18] Reinfeldt even extended an invitation to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, traditional supporter of the Social Democrats and opponent of the Moderate Party.

[20] In a series of radio and television debates, the then-Social Democrat leader and Prime Minister Göran Persson portrayed his opponent as a classic conservative in disguise.

Persson stated that, if put into power, the conservatives would tamper with Sweden's successful formula of high taxes, a large public sector and generous benefits.

[24] There was also some criticism within the party; former Moderate Youth League chairman Christofer Fjellner called Reinfeldt's political reform "leftist rhetoric" (Swedish: vänsterretorik).

Mats Lindström, a staff member in the Social Democratic Party headquarters, admitted to sending e-mails accusing Reinfeldt of tax fraud, false financial declarations and only attaining his position because of his father's influence.

Ardalan Shekarabi, the former chairman for the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League, stated that "the Moderates were right strategically to focus on unemployment".

[citation needed] Reinfeldt became the Prime Minister of Sweden on 6 October 2006 when he was confirmed by king Carl XVI Gustaf having been approved by the Riksdag the previous day, serving concurrently as Leader of the Moderate Party.

[citation needed] At a press conference prior to his appointment, Reinfeldt commented that "this feels historic in many ways" partly because it was the first time in 36 years there would be a majority government in Sweden.

The Cabinet received criticism for holding to hard in the public finances, with limited investments, and the support of Reinfeldt's policies dropped to one of the lowest ever seen for an incumbent Government.

Sweden was noted for having proved to overcome the crisis better than any other developed countries, and this was highlighted by the Government as a force in the run-up to the 2010 Swedish general election.

The political debate came from 2013 to be highly dominated by issues where the Government came in a defense mode, in particular for the poor performance of Swedish pupils in the international study of school performance, the Programme for International Student Assessment, and profits gained in private welfare, especially after the economic collapse that had preceded the closure of school group JB Education AB and questions of how key people in the Government, including himself, acted in the N.V. Nuon Energy affair.

In early 2011 an agreement between the Alliance and the Green Party was reached, which would among other things, give undocumented immigrants access to universal healthcare and lessen the requirements for family reunification.

Reinfeldt was also responsible in this role to put EU's efforts to get into a binding agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 but this did not succeed.

[62] On 15 March 2016 it was announced that Reinfeldt had been hired by Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a senior adviser for its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

[64] In December 2024, he was accused of threatening SFA employees not to voice their scrutiny of Saudi Arabia's human rights, after the country was awarded the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

[65] Reinfeldt has been called a "Swedish David Cameron," insofar as he succeeded in shifting the public perception of the Moderate Party from a clear right-wing position to a more centrist one.

[16][18] Reinfeldt has been criticized for supposedly anti-Swedish commentary such as "The native Swedish culture is only barbaric" (a paraphrase on a line from a poem by Esaias Tegnér from 1836[69]) which referred to the positive effect the inflow of people and influences had on the development of Sweden.

[73] SVT published an article of Reinfeldt's commentary on Twitter speaking of low unemployment among "ethnic swedes" for which he received severe criticism.

[74] Blekinge Läns Tidning published an article criticizing Reinfeldt for being narrow minded stating that "migration can save the pension system".

[76] Breakit criticized Reinfeldt after the "Ipred-lagen" (online piracy law) was passed in Sweden, since he stated that young file-share users would not be chased by the authorities but failed to mention that private corporates could force ISPs to release data.

[88] During the 2006 election, it was brought to attention that Reinfeldt's paternal great-great-grandfather, John Hood, was an African American circus director from New York who had a son with Emma Dorotea Reinfeld, a maid from Eckau (now Iecava in present-day Latvia).