Morgan Johansson

Early career

Johansson worked as a journalist and editorial writer for the social democratic daily newspaper Arbetet Nyheterna 1994-1997 and as a political expert in the Prime Minister's Office from 1997 to 1998.

In 2010, author Christer Isaksson described Johansson as a member of the left-leaning faction of the Social Democratic Party.^[2] He is also a member of the Swedish Humanist Association and has previously served on the association board.

Minister of Justice

Johansson was appointed minister of justice on 3 October 2014 in Stefan Löfven’s cabinet.

On 23 March 2015, Johansson was attacked at the Broby hospital asylum center in Broby, Östra Göinge Municipality, Skåne. A 25-year-old man charged at Johansson and sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. The attacker was quickly apprehended and Johansson was not injured in what was referred to as a premeditated assault.^[3]

In November 2019, the Sweden Democrats issued a vote of no confidence at Johansson due to the escalating gang crime and ongoing bombing campaign. No confidence vote was supported by Moderate Party and Christian Democrats, but at 151 votes against the needed 175, did not have enough votes in the Riksdag to carry. Although no confidence vote was interpreted as a signal from those three opposition parties that the government was losing control of the situation.^[4]

On 26 December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Johansson was seen shopping at Nova Lund, a small shopping mall in Lund. He was accompanied with several bodyguards. This was criticised because he violated the recommendations from the Public Health Agency of Sweden. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven condemned the act, saying it was "careless".^[5]

On 12 December 2021, Johansson stated that Stockholm police had failed in fighting crime. He also mentioned that municipalities that failed fighting crime could learn from those, who successfully did so. He also specified that there were boundaries for how far the government would go when it came to legislation. He also said he didn’t want to go further with body searches and raising the limit for exclude severe criminal gang members.^[6]

On 2 June 2022, Sweden Democrats announced a motion of no confidence in Johansson due to what they perceived as inaction against criminal gangs. The motion was supported by the Moderates, Christian Democrats, and the Liberals. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson called the motion "irresponsible" and could have "serious consequences", adding that if the motion is passed, the entire government would resign. Johansson himself stated that the opposition parties were utilising attacks on his person and argued that they did not have any better solutions to reduce the recruitment of people into criminal gangs.^[7] Ultimately, the motion failed with 174 votes in favour, one short of the required 175, with independent Amineh Kakabaveh being the key vote in abstaining.^[8]