Eva Kristin Hansen (born 5 March 1973 in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
) is a Norwegian politician for the
Labour Party. She briefly served as the President of the Storting from October to November 2021. She has also served as an MP for
South Trøndelag since 2005. She was also leader of the
Workers' Youth League from 2000 to 2002.
Career
Youth League
From 2000 to 2002, she was the leader of the
Workers' Youth League, the youth wing of the Labour Party.
Parliament
She was elected to the
Norwegian Parliament
The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
from
Sør-Trøndelag in 2005.
Following the
2017 election, she was proposed as the Labour Party's candidate for
President of the Storting
The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
as an alternative to incumbent
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Olemic Thommessen, who had faced harsh criticism for his handling of the budget in regards to renovations of the Storting. Hansen was eventually not elected, but became First Vice President instead.
She was again the party's candidate for the same position following the
2021 election, which the Labour Party parliamentary group unanimously agreed to. The Storting voted to confirm her to the post on 9 October, with 160 in favour and 8 abstaining. Hansen is the first Storting president to hail from
Trøndelag
Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...
since
Guttorm Hansen
Guttorm Hansen (3 November 1920 – 2 April 2009) was a Norwegian writer and politician for the Labour Party. He started his career as a mechanic, but after 1945 he was a journalist and editor of magazines and newspapers. Via local politics in hi ...
in 1973.
President of the Storting
Upon becoming President of the Storting, Hansen vowed to clean up in the cases where Storting representatives benefited from economical goods. She expressed fear that it might lead to further disdain for politicians in Norway. She also stressed the importance a lot of the political work would happen in the Storting rather through government ministries, saying it would "really become a revitalization of the Storting's work".
After
Olaug Bollestad
Olaug Vervik Bollestad (born 4 November 1961) is a Norwegian nurse and politician for the Christian Democratic Party who is a member of Parliament for Rogaland since 2013 and party leader since 2021, having been deputy leader from 2015 to 2021. Sh ...
called for a change in the rules to allow breastfeeding in the Storting chamber, Hansen said she never said it wasn't allowed and nothing in the rules explicitly said anything for or against it. She said it would be a topic at an upcoming meeting with the parliamentary leaders.
''
Verdens Gang
''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...
'' revealed in November, that Hansen had violated the parliamentary commuter home rules. She resided in
Ski
A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...
, while living in
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
. Hansen issued an apology, and admitted that she had misunderstood the rules. Hansen further stated that she wasn't a "crook" and that she hadn't intended to do anything wrong.
After the Oslo police launched an investigation into the breach of rules from multiple MPs, Hansen announced that she would resign as president of the Storting, also assuming that she was one of the said MPs. She formally resigned on 23 November.
The police later confirmed that Hansen was not a suspect in their investigation. Her lawyer,
John Christian Elden, stated that the selection of a new President of the Storting should be postponed, and that Hansen had resigned on wrong premises. The police provided her with a security detail after she had received death threats as a result of the investigation. The Oslo public prosecutor dropped the case on 21 December 2022.
Local politics
On the local level she was a member of
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
city council from 2003 to 2005. From 1995 to 1999 she was a deputy member of Sør-Trøndelag
county council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...
.
Other
She has worked for
Nei til EU
Nei til EU ( en, No to the EU) is the main Norwegian interest group opposing a future Norwegian accession to the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic uni ...
and the
Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national union ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Eva Kristin
1973 births
Living people
Labour Party (Norway) politicians
Members of the Storting
Politicians from Trondheim
Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni
Women members of the Storting
21st-century Norwegian politicians
21st-century Norwegian women politicians
Presidents of the Storting