Labour Party (Norway)
Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | A/Ap |
Leader | Jonas Gahr Støre |
Parliamentary leader | Rigmor Aasrud |
Founded | 22 August 1887 |
Headquarters | Youngstorget 2 A, 5th floor, Oslo |
Youth wing | Workers' Youth League |
Membership (2019) | 50,067[1] |
Ideology | Social democracy |
Political position | Centre-left |
European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
Nordic affiliation | SAMAK The Social Democratic Group |
Colours | Red |
Slogan | "Trygghet, muligheter, fellesskap" ("Safety, opportunity, community") |
Storting | 48 / 169 |
County councils[2] | 277 / 777 |
Municipal councils[3] | 2,023 / 10,620 |
Sámi Parliament | 7 / 39 |
Website | |
arbeiderpartiet | |
Part of a series on |
Organized labour |
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The Labour Party (
The Labour Party is officially committed to social-democratic ideals. Its slogan since the 1930s has been "everyone shall take part" (alle skal med) and the party traditionally seeks a strong
Its youth wing is the
Founded in 1887, the party steadily increased in support until it became the largest party in Norway at the
History
Founding and early years
The party was founded in 1887
From the establishment of
From its roots as a radical alternative to the political establishment, the party grew to its current dominance through several eras. The party experienced a split in 1921 caused by a decision made two years earlier to join the Comintern and the Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway was formed. In 1923, the party left the Comintern while a significant minority of its members left the party to form the Communist Party of Norway. In 1927, the Social Democrats were reunited with Labour. Some Communists also joined Labour whereas other Communists tried a failed merger endeavor which culminated in the formation of the Arbeiderklassens Samlingsparti. The same year, Helga Karlsen became the party's first Member of Parliament.[18]
In 1928,
Post-war period
Immediately following the end of the
The Labour Party later formed government in the periods of 1971–1972, 1973–1981, 1986–1989, and 1990–1997. Labour prime ministers in this period included party veterans Oscar Torp, Trygve Bratteli, and Gro Harlem Brundtland, and the party remained the largest in Norway throughout the remainder of the 20th century.
21st century
In the year 2000, the centre-right coalition led by Kjell Magne Bondevik of the Christian Democrats was toppled in a confidence vote, and the Labour Party returned to power under Jens Stoltenberg, who became prime minister. However, after a period of intense infighting between Stoltenberg and former prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland, and a turbulent spell in government, the party collapsed to only 24.3% of the vote in the 2001 Norwegian parliamentary election, marking its worst result since 1924. The party returned to the opposition under Stoltenberg's leadership, before later recovering to 32.7% in the 2005 Norwegian parliamentary election. The Labour Party subsequently formed its first ever peace-time coalition government along with the Socialist Left and Centre parties. Their cooperation was dubbed the Red-green coalition, in emulation of similar constellations in Germany.
In 2011, the party changed its official name from the Norwegian Labour Party (Det norske arbeiderparti) to the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet). The party claimed there had been confusion among voters at polling stations because of the difference between the official name and the common use name of Labour Party. The name change caused Arbeiderpartiet to appear on the ballot, eliminating any potential confusion.[20][21] On 22 July 2011, a terrorist opened fire at the Labour Party's youth camp (ages 13–25), killing 69 people and killing eight more in Oslo with a bomb towards a government building (which was led by the Labour Party). Stoltenberg's initial response to the 22 July attack was well received by the Norwegian public. As he reaffirmed his government's commitment to the values of openness and tolerance in the face of adversity or intolerance his approval rating soared as high as 94%, only to decrease sharply after the 22 July Commission report highlighted the laggard response time of police cost dozens of lives.[22][23]
In the 2013 Norwegian parliamentary election, the Red-green coalition lost its majority in the Storting, but the Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting. Jens Stoltenberg, who had served as prime minister for 10 of the past 13 years, remained party leader until he stepped down in 2014 after being appointed Secretary General of NATO. Later, Jonas Gahr Støre, a prominent profile in the Stoltenberg government, was chosen as new party leader on 14 June 2014.[24] In the 2017 Norwegian parliamentary election, he led the party to a surprise defeat, as Labour fell 3.4 percentage points to 27.4%, and from 55 to 49 seats in the Storting, while the Conservative Party managed to retain a majority along with its smaller centre-right partners. Erna Solberg, Conservative prime minister since 2013, remained in office throughout the 2017—2021 term. In the same year, the Labour Party was targeted by hackers suspected to be from Russia.[25]
In 2021, the Labour Party returned to government after eight years in opposition, following the
Organisation
The Labour Party organisation is divided into county- and municipality-level chapters, numbering approximately 2,500 associations in total.[29] Historically, the party has maintained a close association with the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), and until the mid-1990s, a dual-membership agreement existed between the two organizations, with LO members automatically holding (indirect) membership in the Labour Party as well. The party had about 200,500 members at its peak in 1950.[30] No records were kept about direct membership or indirect membership figures.[31] The dual-membership clause was scrapped in 1995, and that year its membership level fell to just over 72,500 from 128,000 in 1990.[32] In 1997, that figure dropped to 64,000 in 1997.[33] In 2021, the party comprised 45,553 members according to its own official website.[34] Since 2005, the party has maintained a policy requiring full gender parity at every level of organisation above ordinary membership.[35]
The supreme body of the party is the Party Congress which is held every two years. The most senior body between these congresses is the National Delegate's Meeting which is made up of the party's Executive Board and two delegates from each of the 19 counties.[29] The Executive Board itself consists of 16 elected members as well as the leadership of the party.[29] The party is headed by a single leader, while the number of deputy leaders has fluctuated between one and two in different periods. As of 2022, the party leadership is made up of leader Jonas Gahr Støre, who has held the position since 2014, and deputy leader Bjørnar Selnes Skjæran, who was first elected to the position in 2021.
The party's youth organisation is the
Prominent party members
Party leaders
- Anders Andersen (1887–1888)
- Hans G. Jensen (1888–1889)
- Christian Holtermann Knudsen (1889–1890)
- Carl Jeppesen (1890–1892)
- Ole Georg Gjøsteen (1892–1893)
- Gustav A. Olsen-Berg (1893–1894)
- Carl Jeppesen (1894–1897)
- Ludvig Meyer (1897–1900)
- Christian Holtermann Knudsen (1900–1903)
- Christopher Hornsrud (1903–1906)
- Oscar Nissen (1906–1911)
- Christian Holtermann Knudsen (1911–1918)
- Kyrre Grepp (1918–1922)
- Emil Stang jr.(1922–1923)
- Oscar Torp (1923–1945)
- Einar Gerhardsen (1945–1965)
- Trygve Bratteli (1965–1975)
- Reiulf Steen (1975–1981)
- Gro Harlem Brundtland (1981–1992)
- Thorbjørn Jagland (1992–2002)
- Jens Stoltenberg (2002–2014)
- Jonas Gahr Støre (2014–present)
Labour Party prime ministers
- Christopher Hornsrud (January–February 1928)
- Johan Nygaardsvold (1935–1945)[a]
- Einar Gerhardsen (1945–1951)
- Oscar Torp (1951–1955)
- Einar Gerhardsen (1955–1963), (1963–1965)
- Trygve Bratteli (1971–1972, 1973–1976)
- Odvar Nordli (1976–1981)
- Gro Harlem Brundtland (February–October 1981, 1986–1989, 1990–1996)
- Thorbjørn Jagland (1996–1997)
- Jens Stoltenberg (2000–2001, 2005–2013)
- Jonas Gahr Støre (2021–present)
Electoral results
Graphical summary
Parliamentary elections
Date | Votes | Seats | Position | Size | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | % | ± pp | # | ± | |||
1894 | 520 | 0.3 | New | 0 / 114
|
New | Extra-parliamentary | 4th |
1897 | 947 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0 / 114
|
Extra-parliamentary | 4th | |
1900 | 7,013 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 0 / 114
|
Extra-parliamentary | 4th | |
1903 | 22,948 | 9.7 | 6.7 | 5 / 117
|
5 | Opposition | 5th |
1906 | 43,134 | 15.9 | 6.2 | 10 / 123
|
5 | Opposition | 3rd |
1909 | 91,268 | 21.5 | 5.6 | 11 / 123
|
1 | Opposition | 4th |
1912 | 128,455 | 26.2 | 4.7 | 23 / 123
|
12 | Opposition | 2nd |
1915 | 198,111 | 32.0 | 5.8 | 19 / 123
|
4 | Opposition | 3rd |
1918 | 209,560 | 31.6 | 0.4 | 18 / 123
|
1 | Opposition | 3rd |
1921 | 192,616 | 21.3 | 10.3 | 29 / 150
|
11 | Opposition | 3rd |
1924 | 179,567 | 18.4 | 2.9 | 24 / 150
|
5 | Opposition | 3rd |
1927 | 368,106 | 36.8 | 18.4 | 59 / 150
|
35 | Opposition[b] | 1st |
1930 | 374,854 | 31.4 | 5.4 | 47 / 150
|
12 | Opposition | 1st |
1933 | 500,526 | 40.1 | 8.7 | 69 / 150
|
22 | Opposition (1933–1935) | 1st |
Minority (from 1935) | |||||||
1936 | 618,616 | 42.5 | 2.4 | 70 / 150
|
1 | Majority | 1st |
1945 | 609,348 | 41.0 | 1.5 | 76 / 150
|
6 | Coalition (1945, Ap–H–V–Sp–NKP) | 1st |
Majority | |||||||
1949 | 803,471 | 45.7 | 4.7 | 85 / 150
|
9 | Majority | 1st |
1953 | 830,448 | 46.7 | 1.0 | 77 / 150
|
8 | Majority | 1st |
1957 | 865,675 | 48.3 | 1.6 | 78 / 150
|
1 | Majority | 1st |
1961 | 860,526 | 46.8 | 1.5 | 74 / 150
|
4 | Minority (1961–1963) | 1st |
Opposition (1963) | |||||||
Minority (from 1963) | |||||||
1965 | 883,320 | 43.1 | 3.7 | 68 / 150
|
6 | Opposition | 1st |
1969 | 1,004,348 | 46.5 | 3.4 | 74 / 150
|
6 | Opposition (1969–1971) | 1st |
Minority (1971–1972) | |||||||
Opposition (from 1972) | |||||||
1973 | 759,499 | 35.3 | 11.2 | 62 / 155
|
12 | Minority | 1st |
1977 | 972,434 | 42.3 | 7.0 | 76 / 155
|
14 | Minority | 1st |
1981 | 914,749 | 37.1 | 5.2 | 65 / 155
|
11 | Opposition | 1st |
1985 | 1,061,712 | 40.8 | 3.7 | 71 / 157
|
6 | Opposition (1985–1986) | 1st |
Minority (from 1986) | |||||||
1989 | 907,393 | 34.3 | 6.5 | 63 / 165
|
8 | Opposition (1989–1990) | 1st |
Minority | |||||||
1993 | 908,724 | 36.9 | 2.6 | 67 / 165
|
4 | Minority | 1st |
1997 | 904,362 | 35.0 | 1.9 | 65 / 165
|
2 | Opposition (1997–2000) | 1st |
Minority (2000–2001) | |||||||
2001 | 612,632 | 24.3 | 10.7 | 43 / 165
|
22 | Opposition | 1st |
2005 | 862,456 | 32.7 | 8.4 | 61 / 169
|
18 | Coalition (Ap–Sp–SV) | 1st |
2009 | 949,060 | 35.4 | 2.7 | 64 / 169
|
3 | Coalition (Ap–Sp–SV) | 1st |
2013 | 874,769 | 30.8 | 4.6 | 55 / 169
|
9 | Opposition | 1st |
2017 | 801,073 | 27.4 | 3.4 | 49 / 169
|
6 | Opposition | 1st |
2021 | 783,394 | 26.3 | 1.1 | 48 / 169
|
1 | Coalition minority (Ap–Sp) | 1st |
Notes
- ^ During the German occupation of Norway from 1940 to 1945, Johan Nygaardsvold was in exile in London.
- vote of no confidence. See Hornsrud's Cabinet.
References
- ^ "Medlemstall" [Members number]. Arbeiderpartiet (in Norwegian). 25 March 2020.
- Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Archived from the originalon 24 September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
- ISBN 978-82-00-12799-4.. Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
- Nordsieck, Wolfram (2021). "Norway"
Last year, hackers targeted the country's Labour Party—currently in opposition but a staunch supporter of Norway's NATO membership—in an attack believed to have been orchestrated from Russia.
External links
- Arbeiderpartiet – official website (in Norwegian)
- Norwegian Labour Party – official website (in English)
- Election results for the Labour Party in the 2011 local elections