The Politics and government of Oslo reflects that

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 ...

is the capital of

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 the ...

, and as such is the seat of Norway's national government. Most government offices, including that of the

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 i ...

, are gathered at ''Regjeringskvartalet'', a cluster of buildings close to the national

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

—the Storting.

Governance

Constituting both a municipality and a county of Norway, the city of Oslo is represented in the Storting by seventeen

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. The Labour Party and 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 ...

have six each, the Progress Party and the Liberals have two each; the Socialist Left Party, the

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 the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

have one each. The combined municipality and county of Oslo has had a

parliamentary system 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 th ...

of government since 1986. The supreme authority of the city is the City Council (''Bystyret''), which currently has 59 seats. Representatives are popularly elected every four years. The City Council has five standing committees, each having its own areas of responsibility. These are: Health and Social Welfare; Education and Cultural Affairs;

Urban Development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

; Transport and Environmental Affairs; and Finance. The executive branch (''Byrådet'') consists of the Governing mayor (''byrådsleder'') and currently seven vice mayors or Commissioners (''byråder'', sing. ''byråd'') holding ministerial positions. The vice mayors are appointed and removed by the Governing mayor. The Governing mayor and the vice mayors can individually or collectively be voted out of office by the city council. Since the local elections of 2019, the

city government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

has been a coalition of the Labour Party,

and Socialist Left Party. After the 2019 local elections on 9 September, the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

coalition remained in majority.

Mayor

The

Mayor of Oslo The Mayor of Oslo is the chief executive of the Oslo. The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Oslo city. List of mayors of oslo This is a list of ...

is the head of the City Council and the highest ranking representative of the city. This used to be the most powerful political position in Oslo, but following the implementation of parliamentarism, the Mayor has had more of a ceremonial role, similar to that of the President of the Storting at the national level. The current Mayor of Oslo is

Marianne Borgen Marianne Borgen (born 2 June 1951) is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party, and the current Mayor of Oslo. She finished her secondary education at Sofienberg Upper Secondary School in 1975, graduated from the University of Oslo wi ...

Governing mayor

The

Governing Mayor of Oslo The Governing Mayor of Oslo ( Norwegian: Byrådsleder) is the head of the city government of Oslo. The Governing Mayor appoints and removes the members (vice mayors) of the city cabinet and decides how the departments and the central administratio ...

is the head of the City Council. The post was created with the implementation of parliamentarism in Oslo and is similar to the role of the prime minister at the national level. The current governing mayor is

Raymond Johansen Raymond Johansen (born 14 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party who has been Governing Mayor of Oslo since 2015. A former member of the Socialist Left Party, Johansen previously served as the Oslo city commissioner for t ...

Administrative divisions

Following the latest reform of 1 January 2004, the city is divided into fifteen

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

(''bydeler'') that are to a considerable extent self-governed. Each borough is responsible for local services not overseen by the City Council, such as social services, basic healthcare, and

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 ce ...

s. Sentrum (the city centre) and Marka (the rural/recreational areas surrounding the city) are separate geographical entities, but do not have an administration of their own. Sentrum is governed by the borough of St. Hanshaugen. The administration of Marka is shared between neighbouring boroughs.

References

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