Vidar Sveinung Kleppe (born 16 September 1963) is a Norwegian politician. He was a member of parliament and deputy leader of the
Progress Party until he was suspended and left the party in 2001. He was the leader of the
Democrats party from 2002 to 2012, and has since 2003 held office as a member of the
Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...
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 Irela ...
and the
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...
.
Early and personal life
Kleppe was born in
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
, Norway to CEO Erling Kleppe (1941–1989) and his wife Harriet Uthaug (1944–2018),
and was raised in
Fedje
Fedje is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fedje. The traditional economic activity of the inhabitants is fishing.
The municipality is ...
. He received education at a mechanical school from 1980 to 1981, and after this went to sea for a year. When he came back he worked as an
industrial labour
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
er in
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
for four years, until 1987 when he was a businessman for two years.
[ he is married and have three children, and is occupied as a seller.] For his wedding, Jan Simonsen
Jan Simonsen (3 March 1953 – 12 August 2019) was a Norwegian writer, freelance journalist and politician. He was a member of parliament from 1989 to 2005. He was a member of the Progress Party until he was expelled from the party in 2001. Fr ...
was his best man
A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...
.
Political career
Progress Party, 1980s–2001
Kleppe was a prominent politician for the Progress Party during the 1990s and was a member of their national board from 1989 to 1999. He was a member of parliament for two periods, from 1989 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2001. From 1995 to 1999 he was the second deputy leader of the party.[ He also held the office as a member of the Kristiansand municipal council from 1987 to 1999.] During electoral campaigns in 1999, Kleppe, together with his close party colleague Øystein Hedstrøm
Øystein Hedstrøm (born 7 August 1946) is a Norwegian politician. He was a Member of Parliament from Østfold for the Progress Party from 1989 to 2005, after which he declined renomination.
Early and personal life
Hedstrøm was born in Moss, N ...
, notably ran numerous campaigns together, popularly known as the "Hedstrøm & Kleppe Show", where they discussed issues regarding immigration and integration.
In early 2001 turmoil however erupted within the Progress Party, and Kleppe was suspended and soon left the party, in spite of strong opposition to the suspension in many local chapters of the party. Kleppe was seen by party chairman Carl I. Hagen as a "leader" of a rebellious faction of the party, as well as being controversial, because of his positions on immigration[ as well as other issues where he contradicted the official party policy. He was also accused of not being a "constructive team player." His earlier history was toppled when Kleppe attacked then deputy leader Terje Søviknes in the turmoil around the sex scandal he was involved with at the time, insinuating him of fooling around with young girls and possible ]sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
s.
2001 election
The suspension was restricted to a year only, but Kleppe chose to leave the party and contested the 2001 parliamentary election as a candidate for the Southern Norway List ''(Sørlandslista)''. His campaign failed and he received only 2.8% of the vote in Vest-Agder, a largely disappointing result as he was regarded as having a strong support there with a poll in March where 17.5% said they would vote for him.
In early 2001 he had also apparently been nominated as the top candidate for the Liberal People's Party in two counties, but conflict erupted over the party's status. The dispute was resolved in June when they announced that they would launch the "Freedom Party" ''(Frihetspartiet)'', but the plans were never realised. Since this failed, they instead contested the election by a loose collection of county lists.
Democrats, 2002–2023
Kleppe went on to found the Democrats in 2002. He was elected as member of the Vest-Agder
Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...
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 Irela ...
and Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
municipal council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...
in the 2003 local elections, and was re-elected again in 2007.[ Before the 2005 parliamentary election a poll showed that close to 10% of those voting for the Progress Party in ]Hordaland
Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...
in 2003 would consider voting for Kleppe, but the final outcome became significantly lower.
Kleppe has held speeches at several rallies of the Stop Islamisation of Norway (SIAN) organisation. In 2015 he held a speech at a Pegida rally in Kristiansand.
In 2023, Kleppe and all the party's elected representatives in Kristiansand and Southern Norway were expelled from the party after Kleppe criticised the Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, in opposition to the party's decision to oppose weapons support to Ukraine. He thereafter started the new "Kleppe List" party.
Political views
In 2005, the Christian conservative weekly newspaper ''Norge IDAG'' described him as a "Christian libertarian".[ When running for the 2007 local elections, Kleppe cited as his most important issues to fight for the weak in society and against poverty, as well as to stop the Islamisation and dechristianisation of Norway. To accomplish the latter, he sought to, among other things, remove all public economical support for Muslim religious societies.][ During the 1990s, he at various times suggested ]George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
, the Salvation Army
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
and Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
for the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
. He has publicly endorsed the controversial short film '' Fitna'', made by Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
politician Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders (; born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the Party for Freedom (''Partij voor de Vrijheid'' – PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives (''Tweede Kamer'' ...
, and recommends everyone to see it.
In January 2009, Kleppe was denied membership of the eurosceptic
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 ...
organisation ''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 political and economic union of member states that are located ...
'' as he, according to its leader Heming Olaussen (a former member of the Socialist Left Party), stood for "racist attitudes". This action led to the resignations of a large number of members, including one county secretary citing it to be totally unintelligible to deny Kleppe membership, as he was "one of the greatest supporters of ''Nei til EU'' during the last EU-referendum". Kleppe, regarding this event, even received support from one of his strongest political rivals, Harald Sødal, a former Christian Democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
deputy mayor of Kristiansand.
After his suspension from the Progress Party in 2001, it has been noted that many of the proposals raised by Kleppe earlier, then being very controversial even within the Progress Party, has since been "copied" by the party. This include a proposal of limiting ''kontantstøtte'' (social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
for children choosing not to go to kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
) to only Norwegian citizens in 1998, which was later raised by Per Sandberg
Per Sandberg (born 6 February 1960) is a Norwegian politician for the Capitalist Party and formerly the Progress Party who served as the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries from 2015 to 2018. Sandberg was a member of the Norwegian parliament from ...
in 2004. With his tough line against Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, he later also welcomed controversial episodes of criticism of Islam by Carl I. Hagen in 2004 and 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 pa ...
in 2009.
Assaults by political opponents
In 1999 Kleppe was twice assaulted, both times by the pouring of beer over his head. First by Jan Otto Hauge, then editor of ''Journalisten'', and secondly by singer-songwriter Lillebjørn Nilsen
Bjørn "Lillebjørn" Falk Nilsen (born 21 December 1950) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician. He was born in Oslo, and is considered by some to be the leading "voice of Oslo", thanks to numerous classic songs about the city from th ...
, with the latter getting a 100.000 NOK
Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site.
Archaeology
The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...
fine, as well as losing a culture award he had been awarded by the municipality of Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
.
In August 2005 Kleppe was physically assaulted by a former Workers' Communist Party deputy leader, and was thrown eggs at, physically assaulted, and had equipment for a public speech sabotaged by members of a demonstration by left-wing organisations SOS Racism, Blitz-movement and Socialist Youth. In 2003 he also received numerous death threats.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleppe, Vidar
1963 births
Living people
People from Nordhordland
Politicians from Kristiansand
Members of the Storting
Progress Party (Norway) politicians
Anti-immigration politics in Norway
Counter-jihad activists
Democrats in Norway politicians
Leaders of political parties in Norway
Stop Islamisation of Norway
Norwegian critics of Islam
21st-century Norwegian politicians
20th-century Norwegian politicians