Gunnar Hedlund

Gunnar Hedlund (1 October 1900 – 26 November 1989) was a Swedish politician. He was chairman of the Centre Party 1949–1971, Minister of the Interior 1951–1957 and member of the Riksdag (parliament) 1942–1976.[1]

Gunnar Hedlund
Gunnar Hedlund in 1966
Minister of the Interior
In office 1951–1957
Prime Minister	Tage Erlander
Preceded by	Eije Mossberg
Succeeded by	Rune B. Johansson
Leader of the Centre Party
In office 1949–1971
Preceded by	Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp
Succeeded by	Thorbjörn Fälldin
Personal details
Born	(1900-10-01)1 October 1900 Sollefteå, Sweden
Died	26 November 1989(1989-11-26) (aged 89) Stockholm, Sweden
Political party	Centre Party

Hedlund was born in Helgum, Sollefteå Municipality, Ångermanland,[2] and in 1926 Hedlund became a member of the municipal council of Helgum and in 1930 he became its chairman. He was very active in associations connected with silviculture. In 1938 he defended a dissertation at Uppsala University and became Juris Doctor.[3]

In 1942 he was elected to the lower chamber of the Riksdag (parliament), representing the Centre Party, or Bondeförbundet (The Farmers' League) as it was known until 1957.[2] In 1948 he took over the leadership of the party temporarily (when the former leader Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp had suffered a stroke) and was formally elected to the post in 1949.[4]

In 1951 the Centre Party entered into a coalition government with the Social Democrats, and Hedlund became Minister of the Interior, succeeding Eije Mossberg.[5] In the end, the parties could not agree on a new pension system, and after a referendum in 1957 on the matter the Centre Party and the Social Democrats went their separate ways.[6]

The Centre Party grew steadily from 1958 and in 1968 they had become the second largest party in Sweden. In 1971 Hedlund resigned as chairman and was succeeded by Thorbjörn Fälldin. Hedlund retained a seat in the Riksdag until 1976.