Roland Utbult (born 24 May 1951) is a Swedish politician and musician. Prior to entering politics, Utbult had a successful musical career in the Christian genre of Swedish music. He is a politician serving Kristdemokraterna in the Swedish Riksdag using his musical ability in his service as a politician before the parliament.
Along with other influential Christian musicians, Utbult appeared on the Swedish version of Gaither Homecoming "Minns du sången".
Biography
Early years Roland Utbult was born to fisherman Vilhelm Utbult and his wife Annie, née Pettersson, in Öckerö in the inner Göteborg archipelago.Sveriges befolkning 1990, Version 1.01, Sveriges Släktforskarförbund: Utbult, Roland David
He attended Göteborg University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in History. He later was enrolled at the Göteborg Academy of Music and the Göteborg Teachers Academy, leaving in 1978.
Career
Utbult started out as a teacher of Music in Uddevalla from 1971–1974. He later returned to teach History and Music 1978–1989. Utbult has collaborated with Oslo Gospel Choir, Tomas Ledin, Andraé Crouch, Per-Erik Hallin, Triple & Touch, Gladys del Pilar, Janne Schaffer, Bandmaskien, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Utbult has appeared in the Swedish TV series Minns du Sången. His songs Om Sommaren and Längtan till havet both spent five weeks on The Svensktoppen, a Swedish weekly record chart, in the summers of 1998 and 2003 respectively.
From 1990–2000, he earned his keep as a freelance musician, before moving into the social works sector serving as a communications officer for Göteborgs Räddningsmission 2000–2009, and Erikshjälpen 2009–2010.
Political Career
Social Liberal candidate Roland Utbult made his debut in politics in 2005, when he joined Folkpartiet, a Swedish liberal political party with roots in the Free-minded movement and a social liberalism policy agenda. He stood for Parliament in the 2006 Swedish general election, failed to secure a seat but was elected alternate member for the 2006–2009 mandate. In the same election, he was a successful candidate to the municipal council of Uddevalla, and subsequently appointed to the municipal executive board and the social services board for the 2006–2009 mandate.
Conservative Member of Parliament In June 2009, he ran for European Parliament, again unsuccessfully. During the campaign, he was derided by the Leftparty as "a free-church musician who has strived to become known for his anti-abortion and family fundamentalist values", his "Christian conservatism" called an anomaly within a Liberal party. In August the same year, Utbult announced his defection to Kristdemokraterna, citing a better fit for his policy on marriage and family.
Utbult ran in the 2010 Swedish general election as a conservative, and was elected for the 2010–2014 mandate on the party list for Kristdemokraterna in the Västra Götaland County Western constituency. Having placed third in the party primaries, he won the preference vote with 17 % of the party vote, surpassing both top candidates. He was reelected in 2014, 2018 and 2022. In March 2026, Roland Utbult announced that he was not seeking reelection in the 2006 Swedish general election.
Discography
1975 Roland Utbult 1977 - Solkart 1978 - Sten Tuff - Single 1979 - Du är musiken 1982 - Kom och se 1982 - På din sida 1984 - Till vår Gud 1986 - Ansikte mot Gud 1988 - Den första kärleken 1991 - En sång inom mig 1993 - Längtan 1994 - Sjung sjung Halleuja 1995 - Stilla natt, heliga natt 1996 - Se dig om 1998 - Milstolpar 2003 - Längtan till havet 2003 - Små nycklar 2006 - Så skimrande var aldrig havet 2007 - Milstolpar 2 2009 - Roland Utbults bästa 2018 - KD-Låten 2020 - I Jesu armar 2022 - Vi är redo
References