Charlie Weimers

Charlie Andreas Weimers (born 12 November 1982) is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Sweden since 2019. He was re-elected in the 2024 European Parliament election in Sweden. He is a member of the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, part of European Conservatives and Reformists.

Weimers was born in 1982 in Karlstad, and currently lives in Hammarö. After finishing high school, he completed conscripted service in the Swedish Army as a group commander in the A9 Artillery Regiment. After his military service, he studied at the American University in Washington DC and pursued graduate studies in Karlstad University's political science program, graduating in 2007. He subsequently worked as a public relations consultant for a marketing company and then as a political secretary to former Christian Democrats chairman Göran Hägglund and as a staffer for Lars Adaktusson.

Weimers was a volunteer for the College Republicans during his studies in the United States. In Sweden, he was a member of the Moderate Party until 1998 after which he joined the Christian Democrats and the Young Christian Democrats. He served as the district chairman of KDU-Värmland from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2004. He was chairman of the Swedish Young Christian Democrats (Kristdemokratiska Ungdomsförbundet, KDU) between 2008–2011. He was elected vice president of the Youth of the European People's Party at the 6th YEPP Congress in Stockholm in May 2007. He was elected to the KDU national board in 2003. He lost a close race for chairmanship of the KDU in 2005 to Ella Bohlin, a more centrist candidate. Weimers was later elected first vice chairman of KDU at the national convention in 2005.

Weimers was elected to the Hammarö Municipal Council in 2002. He was elected again in 2006, and currently serves as party leader for the Christian Democrats in the council. He has also been a member of the Värmland Regional Council since 2006.

He was elected chairman of the KDU in 2008. During his time in the KDU, he was seen as part of a force along with future leader Ebba Busch Thor to shift the party to the right and in a more conservative direction by calling for stricter punishments for violent crime, preservation of Swedish culture and for Sweden to consider NATO membership.

After the 2010 general election, Hammarö switched majority from a socialist rule to blue-green one, consisting of five parties (Moderates, Liberal Peoples Party, Centre Party, Green Party and Christian Democrats), thus making Weimers Deputy Mayor of Hammarö. Because of this,^{[clarification needed]} Weimers declared in January 2011 that he would resign in June 2011, which he did.

In 2015, there was speculation that the Sweden Democrats wanted to recruit Weimers, although this news was disputed by Weimers at the time. This speculation increased in June 2018 when it was announced his wife had joined the Sweden Democrats. On 6 September 2018, Weimers announced he had joined the Sweden Democrats. His stated reason for leaving KD for SD was that: "Sweden needs a responsible migration policy and SD is the only party that stands up for this." At the same time, he was expelled from the Christian Democrats for stating his intention to vote for the Sweden Democrats in an upcoming election.

In the May 2019 Elections to the European Parliament Weimers was elected with c. 30,000 personal votes. During the campaign he highlighted the 40% proposed increase of the Swedish contribution to the EU budget and called on the Löfven II Cabinet to veto the proposed increase.