ANALYSIS: "Lövin is tired and has lost his appetite"

Isabella Lövin has only been a spokesperson for four years. Therefore, her departure is surprising, as is the choice of time to communicate the news, in the midst of ongoing budget negotiations.

At the same time, Isabella Lövin certifies that she was not dismissed but leaves of her own free will. That may be so, but it is just as obvious that Isabella Lövin had difficulty adapting to the role of top politician.

She has often felt uncomfortable in political debates and has had difficulty taking political initiatives. During the corona crisis, she has also been increasingly overshadowed. At the same time, the Green Party's cancer in public opinion has continued. In more and more polls, the party has ended up under the parliamentary blockade.

Despite the fact that the climate issue is ranked highly by voters, the Green Party has thus failed to grow in public opinion. It is a rejection of the party's strategy, and may be one of several reasons why Isabella Lövin is leaving.

Isabella Lövin has emerged as a pragmatic politician who primarily wanted to profile climate policy. At the same time, she seems to have lacked allies within the party. One explanation may be that she entered party politics relatively late in life, unlike most other party leaders and spokesmen who often also have a background in youth unions.

In addition, antagonisms with the Social Democrats have grown recently. These have been difficult issues for the Green Party, such as more money for the airline SAS, a new, tighter migration policy and a permit process for a new oil refinery in Lysekil.

Migration policy in particular has created turbulence within the Green Party in recent times. Heavy environmentalists have demanded that the party leave the government if the Social Democrats take seriously the plans to push through a more restrictive refugee policy. In this context, Isabella Lövin has appeared less belligerent, but has been forced to adapt to internal public opinion.

Given the lousy public opinion situation for the Green Party, it does not feel unreasonable that Isabella Lövin is tired of taking the internal battles in a situation where she obviously has difficulty influencing the outcome.

However, she leaves in a sensitive political situation when several difficult issues are on the way to a decision. This probably also makes Prime Minister Stefan Löfven nervous. A party that is to elect a new leader appears less likely to compromise on difficult issues.

At the same time, it is unclear who will succeed Isabella Lövin. Either it will be a mouthpiece that wants to continue the more pragmatic line, or a mouthpiece that would rather pursue a more activist policy, perhaps preferably in opposition

No matter what, Stefan Löfven has reason to be concerned about the mouthpiece process.

There is also no given successor. Favorite EU parliamentarian Alice Bah Kuhnke has already said she is not interested. Minister of Culture Amanda Lind is another possible candidate but has been politically damaged by the criticism of the government's corona handling.

State Secretary Maria Ferm or Minister for Gender Equality Åsa Lindhagen are more unknown candidates and have not profiled themselves on the climate issue, which is a disadvantage. Former Minister of the Environment Karolina Skog can therefore be an alternative, but made a pale impression during her years as Minister of State.