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This article lists political parties in Norway.
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
has a
multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coal ...
with numerous
political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
, in which no party can easily gain a majority of the 169 legislative seats. Parties may cooperate to form
coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
s.


History


1884–1905

The oldest political party in Norway is the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
, which was formed in 1884. Shortly afterwards, the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
was formed in opposition. The main political cleavage at the time was the issue of
parliamentarism A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
, with Liberals in favor and Conservatives in opposition. Until 1903, Norway was, for all intents and purposes, a two-party system; the smaller
Moderate Liberal Party The Moderate Liberal Party ( no, Moderate Venstre, literally "Moderate Left") was a political party in Norway that emerged from the moderate and religious branches of the Liberal Party in 1888. The party's turn towards cooperation with the Conser ...
joined the Conservatives in a ''de facto'' permanent electoral coalition from the 1891 election.


1905–1945

During the first years of the 20th century, major electoral shifts took place. In 1903, the leftist Labour Party gained its first 5 MPs, after having captured 10% of the national vote. For the 1921 elections, the former two-round, single-member district system was replaced with
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
, allowing for further gains for medium-sized parties such as Labour and the Farmers' Party, which had been formed the previous year. In 1927, Labour surged to first place nationally, a position it has held in every single election since then. In 1928, they formed their first government, ending the decades-long power-alteration between Liberals and Conservatives. This government, headed by
Christopher Hornsrud Christopher Andersen Hornsrud (15 November 1859 – 12 December 1960) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as leader of the Labour Party from 1903 to 1906 and became a member of the Storting in 1912. In 1928, he became the f ...
, was short-lived, however; it lasted a mere 18 days. The Farmers' Party followed suit, sitting in government briefly from 1931 to 1933, under
Peder Kolstad Peder Ludvik Kolstad (28 November 1878 – 5 March 1932) was a Norwegian politician from the Agrarian Party. He was the 19th prime minister of Norway from 1931 until his death in 1932. Early life and education Born to a farmer's family in Bo ...
and
Jens Hundseid Jens Valentinsen Hundseid (6 May 1883 – 2 April 1965) was a Norwegian politician from the Agrarian Party. He was a member of the Norwegian parliament from 1924 to 1940 and the 20th prime minister of Norway from 1932 to 1933. Hundseid felt for ...
. Despite the surge of previously minor parties, the Liberals and Conservatives retained significance, with
Johan Ludwig Mowinckel Johan Ludwig Mowinckel (22 October 1870 – 30 September 1943) was a Norwegian statesman, shipping magnate and philanthropist. He served as the 16th prime minister of Norway during three separate terms. Biography Johan Ludwig Mowinckel was born ...
(1933–1935) serving as the last Liberal prime minister to date. With the onset of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
Johan Nygaardsvold Johan Nygaardsvold (; 6 September 1879 – 13 March 1952) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party who served as the 21st prime minister of Norway from 1935 to 1945. From June 1940 until May 1945, he oversaw the Norwegian Government-in-ex ...
from the Labour Party served as ''de jure'' prime minister for a decade, from 1935 to 1945. During the
Nazi occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...
, political opposition to the collaborationist regime of
Vidkun Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling (, ; 18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945) was a Norwegian military officer, politician and Nazi collaborator who nominally headed the government of Norway during the country's occupation by Nazi Germ ...
and the
Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...
party was silenced and prosecuted; Nygaardsvold's cabinet went into exile in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1940, and did not return before 1945.


1945–2001

From the first post-war elections in
1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...
until the 1961 elections, the Labour Party held an absolute majority in parliament, with its
Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was the 22nd prime minister of Norway for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With totally 17 years in ...
serving as prime minister for, in total, 17 years and 17 days. For most of this period, Norway was generally regarded as a
dominant-party system A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a political occurrence in which a single political party continuously dominates election results over running opposition groups or parties. Any ruling party staying in power for more th ...
, with the divided opposition, consisting of Liberals, Conservatives,
Centrists Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
,
Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
and occasionally
Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
, unable to match Labour. It was first in 1963, in the aftermath of the
Kings Bay Affair The Kings Bay Affair (''Kings Bay-saken'') was a political issue in Norway that reached its apex in 1963 and brought down the government of Einar Gerhardsen and formed the basis for non-socialist coalition politics in Norway that persisted to the e ...
, that the Conservative
John Lyng (22 August 1905 – 18 January 1978) was a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He was the 24th prime minister of Norway from 28 August to 25 September 1963 in a coalition government consisting of the Conservative, Centre, Christ ...
was able to take power with support from the other non-socialist groups. With the gradual decline of the Labour Party, opposition figures such as
Per Borten (3 April 1913 – 20 January 2005) was a Norwegian politician from the Centre Party and the 25th prime minister of Norway from 1965 to 1971. Per Borten is credited for leading the modernization of what was then named Bondepartiet (the Agrarian ...
(Centrist),
Lars Korvald (29 April 1916 – 4 July 2006) was a Norwegian educator and school headmaster. He became associated with the Christian Democratic Party and was elected to the Norwegian Parliament. He served as the 27th prime minister of Norway from 1972 to 197 ...
(Christian Democrat) and
Kåre Willoch Kåre Isaachsen Willoch (; 3 October 1928 – 6 December 2021) was a Norwegian politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Norway from 1981 to 1986 and as leader of the Conservative Party from 1970 to 1974. He previously served as the ...
served as prime ministers at various points during the latter half of the 20th century. 1973 saw the advent of anti-establishment parties such as Anders Lange's Party and the
Socialist Electoral League The Socialist Left Party of Norway ( no, Sosialistisk Venstreparti or SV) was founded in 1975. Its history shows a long-term rise in political influence, resulting in part from its emergence from older left-wing parties, especially the Socialist ...
, which would later become the right-wing Progress Party and Socialist Left, respectively. Both of these groups remained relatively isolated on the political scene for the subsequent decades; the Socialist Left did not enter government before 2005, while the Progress Party was not included in a centre-right pact before in 2013.


2001–present day

The parliamentary election in 2001 saw the collapse of the Labour Party's traditionally constantly large lead over non-socialist parties; they took a mere 24% of votes – a loss of 11 points – against 21% for the Conservatives of
Jan Petersen Jan Petersen (born 11 June 1946, in Oslo) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. Petersen was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus in 1981, and was re-elected on six occasions. He had previously served as a deputy re ...
. The short-lived Cabinet Stoltenberg I, a Labour government in office since 2000, stepped down in favor of a centre-right coalition of Liberals, Conservatives and Christian Democrats, led by the latter's
Kjell Magne Bondevik Kjell Magne Bondevik (; born 3 September 1947) is a Norway, Norwegian Lutheranism, Lutheran Religious minister, minister and Politics of Norway, politician. As leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Norway), Christian Democratic Party, he serv ...
. Following the 2005 election, the centre-left Red-Green Coalition won a majority in parliament, with
Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...
returning as prime minister, and serving until 2013. The 2013 election provided the bloc of the Conservative
Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004. Solberg w ...
a clear parliamentary majority, with 96 of the 169 seats in parliament. She formed a government with the Progress Party of
Siv Jensen Siv Jensen (born 1 June 1969) is a Norwegian who served as the leader of the Progress Party from 2006 to 2021. She also held the position as Minister of Finance from 2013 to 2020 in the Solberg Cabinet. She was also a member of the Norwegian ...
, breaking the latter's decades-long isolation from the other centre-right parties. Four years later the centre-right parties managed to retain the majority in parliament with 88 of the 169 seats. Solberg continued to serve as prime minister, with different combinations of government coalition partners, all four parties at some time were part of Solberg Cabinet. In the most recent election of 2021, the result swung in strong favour of the centre-left parties who gathered 100 of 169 seats in the Storting. This led to a new government with
Jonas Gahr Støre Jonas Gahr Støre (; born 25 August 1960) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the prime minister of Norway since 2021 and has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of For ...
as prime minister, consisting of the Labour party and the Centre party.


Political parties


Parties currently in Parliament


Non-parliamentary parties with elected local representatives


Non-parliamentary parties with no elected representation


Defunct parties


Major/parliamentary parties

*
Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
(''Centrum'') (1893–1903) * Coalition Party (''Samlingspartiet'') (1903–09) *
Free-minded Liberal Party The Free-minded Liberal Party ( no, Frisinnede Venstre) was a political party in Norway founded in 1909 by the conservative-liberal faction of the Liberal Party. The party cooperated closely with the Conservative Party and participated in severa ...
(''Frisinnede Venstre'') (1909–45) *
Future for Finnmark People's Action Future for Finnmark ( no, Folkeaksjonen Framtid for Finnmark), also popularly called the Aune List (''Aunelista''), was a Norwegian political party which ran for the 1989 parliamentary election as a protest party against the more e ...
(''Framtid for Finnmark'') (1989–93) * Labour Democrats/Radical People's Party (''Arbeiderdemokratene''/''Radikale Folkeparti'') (1906–36) * Liberal People's Party (''Det Liberale Folkepartiet'') (1972–88) * Liberal People's Party (''Det Liberale Folkepartiet'') (1992–2017) *
Moderate Liberal Party The Moderate Liberal Party ( no, Moderate Venstre, literally "Moderate Left") was a political party in Norway that emerged from the moderate and religious branches of the Liberal Party in 1888. The party's turn towards cooperation with the Conser ...
(''Moderate Venstre'') (1888–1906) *
Nasjonal Samling Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norwegian far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of supporters such a ...
(1933–45), collaborationist party, only legal party 1940–45, banned *
Red Electoral Alliance Red Electoral Alliance ( nb, Rød Valgallianse, nn, Raud Valallianse, RV) was an alliance of far-left groups formed into a Norwegian political party to promote revolutionary socialism ideals into the Norwegian parliament. The party dissolved itse ...
(''Rød Valgallianse'') (1973–2007) *
Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway The Social Democratic Labour Party of Norway (in Norwegian ''Norges Socialdemokratiske Arbeiderparti'') was a Norwegian political party in the 1920s. Following the Labour Party's entry into the Comintern in 1919 its right wing left the party to ...
(''Norges Socialdemokratiske Arbeiderparti'') (1921–27) * Socialist People's Party (''Sosialistisk Folkeparti'') (1961–76) * Society Party (''Samfundspartiet'') (1932–49)


Minor parties

*
National Socialist Workers' Party of Norway The National Socialist Workers' Party of Norway ( no, Norges Nasjonalsocialistiske Arbeiderparti, NNSAP) was a minor extraparliamentary political party in Norway. The party was founded in 1930, and dissolved in May 1940. History Ideologically m ...
(''Norges Nasjonalsocialistiske Arbeiderparti'') (1930–40), extraparliamentary * Fatherland League (''Fedrelandslaget'') (1933–40 as political party) * Democratic Party of Norway (''Norges Demokratiske Parti'') (1965–1979) * Workers' Communist Party (''Arbeidernes Kommunistparti'') (1973–2007), extraparliamentary * Reform Party (''Reformpartiet'') (1974–75) * Norwegian Front/National People's Party (''Norsk Front/Nasjonalt Folkeparti'') (1975–91), extraparliamentary * Stop Immigration (''Stopp Innvandringen'') (1987–95),
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
* Christian Conservative Party (''Kristent Konservativt Parti'') (1989–98) * National Democrats (''Nasjonaldemokratene'') (1990–1991),
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
* Fatherland Party (''Fedrelandspartiet'') (1990–2008), county representation,
Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
,
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
*
Natural Law Party The Natural Law Party (NLP) is a transnational party founded in 1992 on "the principles of Transcendental Meditation", the laws of nature, and their application to all levels of government. At its peak, it was active in up to 74 countries; it con ...
(''Naturlovpartiet'') (1993, last active 2001) *
New Future Coalition Party The New Future Coalition Party ( no, Samlingspartiet Ny Fremtid, SNF) was a Norwegian political party, which was founded by Member of Parliament Finn Thoresen in 1993. The party was never successful in elections, and merged with the Christian Conse ...
(''Samlingspartiet Ny Fremtid'') (1993–98) *
White Electoral Alliance White Electoral Alliance (Bokmål: ''Hvit Valgallianse'', Nynorsk: ''Kvit Valallianse'') was a short-lived political party in Norway, founded by Jack Erik Kjuus in September 1995 after the merging of Stop Immigration (''Stopp Innvandringen'') and ...
(''Hvit Valgallianse'') (1995–97),
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
*
Non-Partisan Deputies The Non-Partisan Deputies ( no, Tverrpolitisk folkevalgte, TVF), was a minor political party in Norway and the predecessor of the Coastal Party of Norway. The party emerged from the relatively small stratum of conservative EU critics during the 19 ...
(''Tverrpolitisk folkevalgte'') (1997, last active 2009) * Norwegian People's Party (''Norsk Folkeparti'') (1999, last active 2003),
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
* National Alliance (1999–2006),
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
* The Political Party (''Det Politiske Parti'') (2001) * Reform Party (''Reformpartiet'') (2004–09) * Abortion Opponents' List (''Abortmotstandernes Liste'') ( 2005, last active 2009) *
Norwegian Patriots The Norwegian Patriots ( no, NorgesPatriotene, NP) was a short-lived political party in Norway led by Øyvind Heian whose sole aim was to stop non-western immigration to Norway. The party ran for election limited to the county of Vestfold in the ...
(2007–08),
Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...
* Vigrid (2008–09 as political party)


See also

*
List of political parties by country This is a list of ruling political parties by country, in the form of a table with a link to an overview of political parties in each country and showing which party system is dominant in each country. A political party is a political organizat ...
*
Parliament of Norway 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 ...
*
Politics of Norway The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power ...


References


External links


w2.brreg.no


{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Political Parties In Norway
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
Political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...