Thomas Bodström

---

title: "Thomas Bodström" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1962-births", "living-people", "politicians-from-uppsala", "men's-association-football-defenders", "swedish-men's-footballers", "spånga-is-players", "aik-fotboll-players", "20th-century-swedish-lawyers", "ministers-for-justice-of-sweden", "swedish-sportsperson-politicians", "members-of-the-riksdag-from-the-social-democrats", "stockholm-university-alumni", "members-of-the-riksdag-2002–2006", "20th-century-swedish-sportsmen", "allsvenskan-players", "enköpings-sk-fk-players"] description: "Swedish politician (born 1962)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Bodström" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Swedish politician (born 1962) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Thomas Bodström
image	Almedalen 2014 (17550252642).jpg
caption	Bodström in 2014
office	Minister for Justice
primeminister	Göran Persson
term_start	11 October 2000
term_end	6 October 2006
predecessor	Laila Freivalds
successor	Beatrice Ask
birth_name	Thomas Lennart Bodström
birth_date
birth_place	Uppsala, Sweden
party	Social Democratic
alma_mater	Stockholm University
father	Lennart Bodström
module	{{Infobox football biography
embed	yes
height	1.87 m
position	Defender
years1	1982–1985
clubs1	Spånga IS
years2	1986
clubs2	Enköpings SK FK
years3	1987–1989
clubs3	AIK
caps3	48
goals3	3
::

|name = Thomas Bodström |image = Almedalen 2014 (17550252642).jpg |caption = Bodström in 2014 |office = Minister for Justice |primeminister = Göran Persson |term_start = 11 October 2000 |term_end = 6 October 2006 |predecessor = Laila Freivalds |successor = Beatrice Ask |birth_name = Thomas Lennart Bodström |birth_date = |birth_place = Uppsala, Sweden |death_date = |death_place = |party = Social Democratic |alma_mater = Stockholm University |father = Lennart Bodström | module = {{Infobox football biography | embed = yes | name = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | fullname = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | height = 1.87 m | position = Defender | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = | years1 = 1982–1985 | clubs1 = Spånga IS | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1986 | clubs2 = Enköpings SK FK | caps2 = | goals2 = | years3 = 1987–1989 | clubs3 = AIK | caps3 = 48 | goals3 = 3

Thomas Lennart Bodström (born 9 April 1962) is a Swedish former politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. He served as the Swedish Minister for Justice in the two governments of Prime Minister Göran Persson, from 2000 to 2006. Prior to politics he had a career in association football, representing Allsvenskan side AIK between 1987 and 1989.

Football career

Bodström played professional football in the 1980s as a defender and represented Allsvenskan club AIK between 1987 and 1989, making a total of 48 league appearances and scoring three goals for the club. Prior to representing AIK, he also played for Spånga IS and Enköpings SK FK.

Political career

In 1990, Bodström graduated from Stockholm University with a Degree of Master of Laws, LL.M. After that, he worked as a lawyer for ten years. During his career, he took interest in international affairs, and in 1999, he joined the board of the Swedish branch of the international organisation Lawyers Without Borders.

However, when Prime Minister Göran Persson announced his new cabinet appointment on 11 October 2000, Bodström was a completely unknown face to most of the political journalists attending the press conference. At the time, he was not even a member of the Social Democratic Party. Although Bodström was a newcomer to national politics, he remained in his post until 2006 in two Persson cabinets, surviving calls for his resignation after several high-profile prison breaks during summer 2004. During his term in office, Bodström was heavily criticized by advocates of privacy and liberal think tanks, for acting to give the police the opportunity to monitor those who might be involved in minor crimes, as well as other things they argued were intrusive to privacy. He has written a book, 700 dagar i Rosenbad (700 days in Rosenbad), about his experiences as a newcomer in the government.

From October 2006 until October 2010, he was the chairman of the Riksdag committee for judicial issues. When the new parliament was elected in 2010, Bodström lost his position as a committee chairman. Shortly after that, he requested half-time leave of absence from his seat in parliament, combined with half-time parental leave, in order to relocate to the United States with his family. His part-time parental leave was already granted from the Swedish Social Insurance Administration, but his request for leave of absence was denied by the Social Democratic group leader in the parliament, and Bodström thus resigned his seat in the Parliament.

Since mid-2011, Bodström has been an expert commentator on law on the crime reality TV show Efterlyst on TV3.

Controversy

At the time of his appointment, Bodström revealed in an interview that he had used hashish in his youth, and also, that he on several occasions had employed a person in his home without paying the appropriate taxes.

On 23 August 2010, during an interview by Swedish Radio, in light of the current drug testing debate, the reporter asked Bodström if he was willing to participate in a drug test. Bodström at first agreed, but when the nurse explained that he would be tested for amphetamines, hashish, opiates, and benzodiazepines, he changed his mind, and said, "I don't feel like doing it now. I am sweating too much." The Pirate Party defended his right not to take the test in reference to their views on privacy.

Personal life and family

Thomas Bodström is the son of Lennart Bodström, who was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1985 in the Olof Palme government.

Football career statistics

::data[format=table title="Appearances and goals by club, season and competition{{Cite web|title=500 AIK:are - Thomas Bodström|url=https://www.aik.se/sektioner/fotboll/historik/500aikare/thombods.html|access-date=2021-02-10|website=www.aik.se}}{{Cite web|title=Säsongen 2005|url=http://www.aik.se/fotboll/2005/herrar/lasvart/041223bodstrom.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041229075111/http://www.aik.se/fotboll/2005/herrar/lasvart/041223bodstrom.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 December 2004|access-date=2021-02-10|website=www.aik.se}}"]

Club	Season	Division	League	Svenska Cupen	Europe	Total	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Career total	48	3	3	2	0	53	3
AIK	1987	Allsvenskan	15	1			2	0	17	1
1988	Allsvenskan	15	0			—	15	0
1989	Allsvenskan	18	2			—	18	2
::

Bibliography

• (2004) 700 dagar i Rosenbad Biography, Albert Bonniers Förlag, .
• (2008) Rymmaren crime fiction, Norstedts Förlag
• (2009) Idealisten crime fiction, Norstedts Förlag
• (2010) Lobbyisten crime fiction, Norstedts Förlag
• (2013) Populisten
• (2014) Det man minns

References

References

1. {{Worldfootball.net. thomas-bodstroem
2. "500 AIK:are - Thomas Bodström".
3. (28 June 2006). "Marchen mot Bodströmsamhället". [[Timbro]].
4. (15 October 2010). "Bodström i natt: Jag lämnar riksdagen". [[Dagens Nyheter]].
5. Stockholm TT Spektra. (9 December 2011). "Thomas Bodström till "Efterlyst" | Kultur | SvD". Svd.se.
6. (14 October 2000). "Han har prövat hasch och haft svart hemhjälp". [[Aftonbladet]].
7. (23 August 2010). "Former justice minister refuses a drugs test". [[The Local]].
8. [http://www.piratpartiet.se/feed-item/piratpartiet-st%C3%B6djer-thomas-bodstr%C3%B6ms-r%C3%A4tt-att-v%C3%A4gra-drogtest] {{webarchive. link. (1 September 2010)
9. "500 AIK:are - Thomas Bodström".
10. "Säsongen 2005".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::