Per-Kristian Foss (born 19 July 1950 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 of ...

) is a Norwegian politician for 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 ...

and from 2014 to 2021 the Auditor General of Norway. He 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

in 1981, and was re-elected on six occasions. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1977–1981. From 2001 to 2005, when the

second cabinet Bondevik Bondevik's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 19 October 2001 and 17 October 2005. It was led by Kjell Magne Bondevik and consisted of the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of ...

held office, Foss was

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. He also acted as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

very briefly in 2002. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by

Ine Eriksen Søreide Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide (born 2 May 1976) is a Norwegian politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2021, the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she was the Minister of Defence from 2013 to 2017. A member of th ...

. Foss has received much attention for being the first openly gay minister in a Norwegian government and lives in registered partnership with Jan Erik Knarbakk. He was the first openly homosexual national leader. On the local level Foss was a deputy member of

city council from 1971 to 1975. From 1973 to 1977 he was the leader of the Young Conservatives (''Unge Høyre''), the youth wing of the Conservative Party. Per Kristian Foss was mentioned as a possible new leader for the Conservative Party after Jan Petersen resigned in 2004, but he declined to run and instead supported

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 ...

. After Høyre struggled in elections and polls during the first years of Erna Solberg's leadership he was also mentioned as a possible new leader,Solberg: - Foss kan være et naturlig navn
Aftenposten, 2009/2011. Retrieved December 6, 2012 but he never challenged Solberg for the leadership position. At present Foss is deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and member of the party's central board. Foss has a

cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usual ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

, public law and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...

from 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 ...

(1977) and partial graduate studies in political science.

References

External links

* 1950 births Living people Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Gay politicians Ministers of Finance of Norway LGBT politicians from Norway Members of the Storting Politicians from Oslo University of Oslo alumni 21st-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians LGBT legislators LGBT conservatism {{Norway-politician-1950s-stub