After graduating, Kristersson did military service as a platoon commander at Uppland Regiment from to [ 9 ] and completed a degree in economics at Uppsala University. He soon becomes a vocal critic of the government's crisis agreement with Social Democrats.
All this erupted at the congress in Lycksele , which came to be known as the Battle of Lycksele. It is said that his loss caused his withdrawal from front-line politics and he was subsequently known as part of the "Lost Generation" of the Moderate Party. From to , Kristersson was chief of marketing at Timbro , a free market think-tank, while also working in parliament.
In he also released the book Non-working Generation at Timbros publishing company. In the book Kristersson argues against the welfare institutions in Sweden and compares these to apartheid because he considered these institutions to force people into passivity. Kristersson left his parliamentary seat in April , feeling that the new party leader Bo Lundgren had declined his services. Kristersson was chairman of the Swedish Adoption Centre Adoptionscenter.
During his time as chairman, information emerged that the centre handled adoptions of children trafficked from China. During this time Kristersson got a rental contract for a five-room apartment in central Stockholm from Ersta Diakoni [ sv ]. Ersta Diakoni describes its basic purpose as "to be a support for people in vulnerable situations, to take social responsibility and to offer care. An investigation was started and Kristersson and another person in the associations leadership were suspected of bribery.
The investigation was closed with the motivation that Kristersson did not have direct influence over the aid that the association could give.
