Persson was first elected to the Swedish Parliament in 1979, representing Södermanland County but left in 1985 to serve as Municipal Commissioner of Katrineholm, which he did from 1985 to 1989.

But after implementing welfare cuts and tax increases, it fell to a projected 2.6 per cent of GDP in 1997, which placed Sweden in a position to qualify for the European Economic and Monetary Union.

He has in recent years revealed that he wanted to become a priest as a young man;[1] however, he applied to the college in Örebro where he took courses in social science (main sociology).

Pär Nuder wrote in his book Stolt men inte nöjd ("proud but not satisfied"), released in 2008, that Persson had fallen while riding his bicycle because he was drunk after consuming large amounts of alcoholic beverages.

He chose to go through Sweden's public health-care system instead of seeking private treatment; he was put on a waiting list, and finally received a hip replacement operation in June 2004.

Persson was in office for more than ten years, making him the second-longest continuously-governing prime minister of Sweden second to Tage Erlander.

During his time, he has faced several shocking incidents, such as the Gothenburg riots in June 2001, the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh in September 2003, Asian tsunami disaster in December 2004 during the Boxing Day, and the conflict over the publication of satirical Muhammed cartoons in Danish newspapers, leading to threats of violence against Scandinavians and burning of embassies in the Middle East and the resignation of Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds.

In the early seventies he worked for the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League (SSU), and was a member of the national board from 1972 to 1975.

In 1989, he was made Minister of Schools in the Ministry of Education during the first Ingvar Carlsson cabinet, until the election in 1991 when the Social Democrats were voted out of office.

Sweden at the time still suffered from the recession which began during the early nineties, high unemployment rates and a huge budget deficit.

Persson began where he left off as finance minister – by continuing to spearhead government efforts to alleviate Sweden's chronic budget deficit.

But, after implementing welfare cuts and tax increases, it fell to a projected 2.6 per cent of GDP in 1997, which put Sweden in a position to qualify for the European economic and monetary union.

The year 1999 was seen by the Social Democrats as the vindication for the tough fiscal policies pursued since they came to office in 1994: GDP growth was estimated at 3.6 per cent, well above the European average, inflation remained subdued, and the budget was in surplus for the first time in the 1990s.

Instead, the smaller Left Party, a Social Democrat ally, picked up support with its program of increased public spending and opposition to Swedish membership in the European single currency.

Ericsson, the world's largest producer of mobile telecommunications equipment, shed thousands of jobs, as did the country's once fast-expanding Internet consulting firms and dot-com start-ups.

Exports were also expected to pick up in 2002, helped by the weakness of the Swedish krona, which hit record lows against both the dollar and the Euro in 2001.

In 2001, Persson became the first Western leader to visit North Korea when heading European Union delegation talks with then-leader Kim Jong-Il.

[12] On 13 April 2007, Persson also announced his resignation from the Riksdag (where he had served 1979–1985 and from 1991) to be succeeded by Caroline Helmersson Olsson from his native Vingåker.

[1] In March 2007 a documentary series consisting of four one-hour episodes aired on SVT, chronicling Persson's time in office.