Ebba Busch

Ebba-Elisabeth Busch[1] (née Ebba-Elisabeth Busch-Christensen; born 11 February 1987) is a Swedish Christian Democrats politician who has served as Leader of the Christian Democrats since April 2015. She is a candidate in the 2018 Riksdag (Parliament) election, for Uppsala County and almost all other constituencies.[2] Between 2013 and 2020, she was commonly known as Ebba Busch Thor due to her marriage to Niklas Thor.

Ebba Busch

KD
Ebba Busch in September 2015
Leader of the Christian Democrats
Assumed office
25 April 2015
Party secretaryAcko Ankarberg Johansson
Peter Kullgren
Preceded byGöran Hägglund
Member of the Riksdag
Assumed office
23 September 2018
ConstituencyVästra Götaland County East
Personal details
Born
Ebba Elisabeth Busch-Christensen

(1987-02-11) 11 February 1987
Gamla Uppsala, Sweden
Political partyChristian Democrats
Spouse(s)Niklas Thor (m. 2013, div. 2020)
Children2
Alma materUppsala University
Ebba Busch speaking at Sergels Torg in Stockholm the day before the Swedish election in 2018

Early life and education

Born to a Swedish mother and Norwegian father, Busch identifies as both Norwegian and Swedish.[3] Growing up in Gunsta, near Uppsala, she was a student at the Christian Livets Ord primary school. She later studied the IB Diploma Programme at Katedralskolan in Uppsala, and peace and conflict studies at Uppsala University.[4]

She is a member of the Church of Sweden.[5]

Political career

Busch was the municipal party political secretary for the Christian Democrats councillor Gustaf von Essen in the Uppsala Municipality. In 2009, she assumed responsibility for the budget when Essen went on sick leave, and at the age of 22 she became a substitute municipal councillor.[6] Ahead of the election for municipal councillors in Uppsala in 2010, the party suggested that Busch should be placed third on the election ballot, while the incumbent councillor Gustav von Essen would be first.[7] The party youth organization chairman Charlie Weimers, who did not get to vote in the election, wrote that he thought the party should have Busch at the top of the ballot.[8]

In the end, a closed vote within the party decided the top name on the ballot, and Busch beat Essen by a margin of two votes.[9][10] At the election, Busch received 1,679 votes, against only 220 for Essen.[11] Busch served as vice chairman of the Christian Democrat youth organisation until 5 June 2011.

Busch made several comments to the media during 2010 criticizing the then party chairman Göran Hägglund, and what she perceived as his weak leadership following the 2006 General Election. Ahead of the January 2012 leadership election within the party, she supported Hägglund's opponent Mats Odell.[12] She was also herself a candidate for the post of deputy party chairman at the same election, but lost to Maria Larsson.[12] Previous top names in the party have stated that they strongly disagree with Busch making the party into a right wing party instead of a Christian party and have even threatened to leave their party as a result of Busch's nomination, while perhaps the most popular ex-leader of the party, Alf Svensson, has described his disappointment with Busch's worldview.[13]

Party Leader

In 2015, Busch was announced as the suggested successor of Göran Hägglund as party leader of the Christian Democratic party, and was formally elected on 25 April.[14] Her time as leader was long characterized by an uncertainty on how to profile the party, and consistent low numbers in opinion polls. Her early attempts to gain votes by adopting tougher positions on immigration and law and order were thwarted when the Moderate Party usurped that space. This was followed by a return to a focus on more traditional Christian Democratic issues, such as healthcare and family politics. At the same time, Busch continued to position the party in a more conservative direction on other issues like the opposition to Mosque prayer calls and gender science at preschools.[15][16][17] At the same time, she also came under attack from social conservatives inside her own party for participating in the Stockholm Pride Parade.[18]

The Christian Democrats received only 2,9% in a big opinion poll published in May 2018, and the party's fortunes looked bleak. But support quickly grew as the election campaign got under way with the first debate in mid-August. Busch's strong performance in this and other debates was credited in large part for the party's surge in the polls.[19][20] She ended up leading her party to its best electoral performance in 12 years, finishing well above the 4% threshold. In March 2019, Busch announced that her party was ready to start negotiations with the Sweden Democrats in the Riksdag, making her the first party leader to express a willingness to cooperate with the SD.[21]

Personal life

In 2013, Ebba Busch married footballer Niklas Thor.[22] She has a son, Birger, born in May 2015[23] and a daughter, Elise, born in February 2017.[24]

On 5 December 2019, Busch announced on her Instagram account that she and her husband had filed for divorce.[25]

References
  1. "Ebba-Elisabeth Busch". Upplysning.se. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  2. "Ebba Busch Thor har valts till ny KD-ledare" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 25 April 2015. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  3. "Hurra for syttende mai!!". ebbabusch.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  4. Karl-Anders Lindahl (11 March 2015) 8 snabba fakta som ger dig allt du behöver veta om Ebba Busch Thor Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine (in Swedish) Nyheter24.se
  5. Jacob Zetterman (23 April 2015). "Ebba Busch Thor: Den kristna tron passar bra för partiledare" (in Swedish). Dagen. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  6. direktpress Ebba Busch Archived 8 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 11 February 2015
  7. Segersam (4 February 2010). "Segersams blogg". Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  8. "Ebba Busch for Mayor!". Charlie Weimers. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  9. Segersam (13 February 2010). "Segersams blogg". Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  10. "Busch i täten för kristdemokrater". 13 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  11. Uppsala - Busc i täten för Kristdemokraterna Archived 3 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 11 February 2015
  12. Världen idag. "LIVE: Kristdemokraternas extra riksting har startat". Världen Idag. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  13. "KD-profiler kritiska till högervridning". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  14. Sveriges Radio. "Ebba Busch Thor to lead the Christian Democrats". Sveriges Radio. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  15. "Ebba Busch Thor tar ställning mot böneutrop". Smålandsposten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  16. "Ebba Busch Thor kritisk till "genusflum"". Dagen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  17. "KD: Inför särskild hedersbrottslag". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  18. "Ebba Busch Thor kritiseras internt". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  19. "Analyser: Busch Thor vann – var ettrig och skicklig". Omni (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  20. "Tittarnas dom: Ebba Busch Thor vann debatten". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  21. Hamidi-Nia, Gilda (21 March 2019). "KD-ledaren öppnar för SD-samarbete" (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  22. "Nu har vi fått tillbaka en av stans bästa spelare". 8 October 2013. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
  23. "KD-ledaren Ebba Busch Thor har blivit mamma". svt Nyheter. 10 May 2015. Archived from the original on 13 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  24. "Ebba Busch Thor har blivit mamma". Expressen. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  25. "Ebba Busch Thor och Niklas Busch Thor skiljer sig". 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019 – via www.svt.se.
Political offices
Preceded by
-		 Municipal Commissioner for Christian Democrats in Uppsala Municipality
2010 –2015		 Succeeded by
Jonas Segersam
Party political offices
Preceded by
Göran Hägglund		 Leader of the Christian Democrats
2015 – present		 Incumbent
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