The speaker’s gender equality group in the Swedish parliament – a toothless tiger?

A recent wave of research has engaged with gender-focused bodies within parliament studying their status, organization, and function. One type of body scarcely studied is issue-based parliamentary groups such as the Speaker’s Gender Equality Group in the Swedish Parliament. This article focuses on the form and function of this body, as well as its potentials and pitfalls. On the basis of secondary sources, two waves of interviews with men parliamentarians (MPs) and inside observations the Speaker’s gender equality group is analyzed from the 1990s until today. We conclude that despite lacking formal legislative power, this body has a key symbolic and informal role, manifested in the political will and engaged leadership to ensure that equal working conditions for women and men MPs are promoted. We also find constraints in terms of the limited and general (rather than expert) administrative support as well as the need for consistent authorization.