André Kvakkestad (born 28 October 1971) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

for the Progress Party.

Early life and education

Kvakkestad was born in

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 ...

as the son of director Willy R. Rahm and manager Elisabeth S. Kvakkestad. He attended Hebekk School (1978–84), Ski Lower Secondary School (1984–87), Ski Upper Secondary School (1987–1990) and studied law at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

from 1990 to 1995. Since 2007, he has held a license as a lawyer.

Political career

He has been a member

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 ...

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 counc ...

since 1991, the first two years as a regularly meeting deputy, and sat on the executive board from 1993 to 2003 and since 2006. He was a member of Akershus County Council from 1995 to 2003, and also sat on the executive board those years. From 1999 to 2003, he sat on the Akershus board of the

Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities ( no, KS) is an employers' organisation in Norway. It was founded in 1972 as a merger between the Union of Norwegian Cities (''Norges Byforbund'', founded in 1903) and the Norwegian Ass ...

. He was chair of Ski Progress Party from 1999 to 2001 and from 2006 to 2007. From 1997 to 2001, Kvakkestad was a deputy member of the Parliament of Norway for Akershus, and from 2000 to 2001 worked as an advisor for the parliamentary group. From 2001 to 2005, he was a regular member of parliament where he sat in the Standing Committee on Justice. He also participated in the parliamentary delegation to the European Council. Prior to the

2005 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 11 and 12 September 2005. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1438 The result was a victory for the opposition centre-left Red-Green Coalition, which ...

, the nomination committee of Akershus Progress Party wanted Kvakkestad as their top candidate for the election. The local chapter in

Romerike Romerike is a traditional district located north-east of Oslo, in what is today south-eastern Norway. It consists of the Viken municipalities Lillestrøm, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Rælingen and Aurskog-Høland in the southern end (Nedre Romerike) ...

held a secret meeting, without inviting members from Skedsmo or other parts of Akershus. At the nomination meeting, Kvakkestad and the other three top candidates were removed and replaced by people from Skedsmo. Kvakkestad stated afterwards that he felt that there had been a campaign against him intending to remove him as member of parliament due to him being gay.

Personal life

After retiring from parliament, Kvakkestad worked as a lawyer at Ingfrid O. Tveit from 2006 to 2007, and after that as a

sole proprietor A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. A sole ...

, He is married and currently resides in

, Akershus. Kvakkestad is

openly gay Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvakkestad, Andre 1971 births Living people Progress Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Akershus politicians People from Ski, Norway 21st-century Norwegian lawyers Gay politicians LGBT politicians from Norway 21st-century Norwegian politicians LGBT legislators 21st-century LGBT people LGBT conservatism