CIVICUS discusses the results of Norway’s recent election with Johannes Bergh, Research Director for Politics, Democracy and Civil Society at the Institute for Social Research, an independent research institute based in Oslo.
On 8 September, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s Labour Party claimed victory in the parliamentary election. With 28 per cent of the vote, it won 53 seats in the 169-member parliament, and the red-green bloc’s 88 seats gave Støre a majority to continue as prime minister. The main challenge came from the right-wing populist Progress Party, which surged to 47 seats on an anti-immigration platform. The election was shaped by debates over the cost of living, wealth tax reform and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund investments in Israel.