Mattias Karlsson | |
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Leader of the Sweden Democrats in the Swedish Riksdag |
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Assumed office 29 September 2014 |
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Leader | Jimmie Åkesson |
Preceded by | Björn Söder |
Leader of the Sweden Democrats (acting) |
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In office 17 October 2014 – 27 March 2015 |
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Preceded by | Jimmie Åkesson |
Succeeded by | Jimmie Åkesson |
Member of the Riksdag | |
Assumed office 4 October 2010 |
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Constituency | Skåne County North and East |
Personal details | |
Born |
Rottne, Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden |
17 August 1977
Political party | Sweden Democrats |
Alma mater | Lund University |
Hans Kennert Mattias Hedarv Karlsson (born 17 August 1977) is a Swedish politician of the Sweden Democrats. He is the group leader of the Sweden Democrats in the Swedish Riksdag since 2014.
He has been a Member of the Swedish Riksdag for Skåne County North and East since 2010, and served as deputy leader of the Sweden Democrats in the Swedish Riksdag from 2012 to 2014.
Nordic Studies professor Benjamin R. Teitelbaum has written the most extensive biography of Karlsson to date. Karlsson was born in Rottne, Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden.
At age 16 he moved to the nearby city of Växjö to begin secondary school at Katedral gymnasium. He reported having gained his political convictions during his years in Växjö as a result of conflicts with immigrant "kickers" gangs and resentment towards the lack of Swedish pride and solidarity in society, and he describes having been inspired by Swedish Viking rock band Ultima Thule. Karlsson claims to have never associated with the sizable neo-Nazi skinhead scene that mobilized during his youth, and claims to have been called a "meatball patriot" by racist skinheads for his moderate and more accepting ideology.
Karlsson joined the Sweden Democrats in 1999. Following secondary studies, he moved to Madrid, Spain where he studied during one year before moving to Lund, Skåne County in 1999 where he studied history and political science at Lund University. During his studies at the university he met Jimmie Åkesson, incumbent Leader of the Sweden Democrats, and Björn Söder.