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Norway Politics 2017

Norway is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary representation. The King heads the executive branch, although executive power is wielded in practice by a Council of State (cabinet) comprised of ministers selected by the prime minister and formally appointed by the King. Legislative authority is vested in the unicameral parliament (Stortinget or Storting). Nine parties were elected to the Storting in the 2017 parliamentary elections, namely the Labour Party (49 seats), Conservative Party (45 seats), Progress Party (27 seats), Centre Party (19 seats), Socialist Left Party (11 seats), Christian Democratic Party (8 seats), Liberal Party (8 seats), Green Party (1 seat), and Red Party (1 seat). The coalition between the Conservative Party and the Progress Party remained in government, ultimately receiving support from the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party. Norway’s conservative parties won a majority in 11 September 2017 general election, though reelected PM Erna Solberg could face a tricky negotiating task forming an effective government. Solberg became the first right-wing prime minister to win re-election since 1985.

The four ‘blue bloc’ parties – Solberg’s Conservatives, the nationalist Progress Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, have 89 seats between them, ten more than the red-green total of 79. But the Christian Democrats stated that they no longer wish to work with the right-wing, strictly anti-immigration Progress Party.

Jonas Gahr Støre’s Labour party was by far the worst performer in the election. The party, traditionally Norway’s largest, retained the largest single share of the vote over the Conservatives – but its 27.4 percent showing represented the worst election for the party since 2001. Stoere, who comes from a wealthy background, claims to champion the fight against inequality. He held key portfolios in his mentor and former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's cabinets, serving as foreign minister and health minister.

The Red Party, founded in 2007 and never before represented in parliament, was projected a 3.1 point gain in Oslo, where Labour, the Conservatives, Progress and the Christian Democrats all lost support. The Socialist Left and Centre parties did gain ground in the capital, completing an apparent swing to the left in Norway’s biggest population centre. A party with a declared Marxist-Socialist ideology, the Norwegian Red Party seeks to replace capitalism with democratic socialism, but does not support armed revolution. With 1.2 percent of the overall vote at the latest count, Red leader Bjørnar Moxnes is likely to enter parliament as a representative for Oslo.

The outcome of this election was likely to have a major impact on Norway's crucial oil industry as one or more smaller parties in each of the coalitions are seeking to impose limits on exploration in the Arctic Ocean off Norway's coast.