Conservative ( nb, Konservativt, nn, Konservativt, K), formerly The Christians Party ( nb, Partiet De Kristne, nn, Partiet Dei Kristne, PDK) is a conservative Christian

political party in Norway This article lists political parties in Norway. Norway has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no party can easily gain a majority of the 169 legislative seats. Parties may cooperate to form coalition governments. His ...

founded in 2011. The party leader is Erik Selle.

History

Founded as The Christians, the party was formed when the

Christian Democratic Party __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 tea ...

abolished its requirement that its representatives profess the Christian faith. The party saw this as a major step in the "de-Christianization" of the party, along with a perceived wider de-Christianization of Norway during the years of the Red–Green government."Vil rekristne landet"
''Haugesunds Avis''. 30.03.2011. The party participated in its first election for the 2011 local elections limited to the municipal council in

Bømlo Bømlo is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svortland. Other villages in Bømlo includ ...

. They won 6.5% of the votes there, earning them two seats. Bømlo was selected to test support for the new party, with defected local Christian Democratic politicians heading their list. Some saw the party's founding meeting on

Moster Moster is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1916 until 1963, when it was merged into the new, larger municipality of Bømlo. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village o ...

in Bømlo as symbolic, as it was the original starting point of the

Christianization of Norway The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly ...

by King

Olaf Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken ( Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of N ...

a thousand years ago. For the 2013 parliamentary election the party gained additional support from philosopher Nina Karin Monsen, veteran Christian Democratic politician

Anita Apelthun Sæle Anita Apelthun Sæle (born 13 December 1951) is a Norwegian politician who was a member of the Norwegian parliament from 1993 until 2005, representing the Christian Democratic Party (KrF) and the county of Hordaland. Sæle was among the most cons ...

, and

Visjon Norge Visjon Norge (or TV Visjon Norge) is a Norwegian Christian television station, which was launched in 2003 as the first Scandinavian Christian television channel to air 24 hours a day. It can be reached throughout Scandinavia by satellite. The foun ...

televangelist

Jan Hanvold Jan Kåre Hanvold (born 29 April 1951) is a Norwegian fundamentalist televangelist pastor. Hanvold is the owner of television station Visjon Norge that is carried throughout Scandinavia and much of Europe. Hanvold announced that he was praying for ...

. It received 0.6% of the national vote (17,731 votes), winning no seats but becoming second largest of the extra-parliamentary parties. Before the 2015 local elections the Christians drew numerous local politicians from the Christian Democrats as well as the Progress Party, and the party had a large number of new local chapters established. The party managed to secure lists for the elections in 70 municipalities, as well as all the counties of Norway. Among the speakers at the party's national congress in May was the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

priest

Gabriel Naddaf Gabriel Naddaf ( ar, جبرائيل نداف, he, גבריאל נדאף; born August 18, 1973) is an Israeli Greek Orthodox priest. He serves as a judge in Israel's religious court system and as a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of ...

. The party won three municipal representatives in the election, one each in Bømlo,

Vennesla Vennesla is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vennesla. Other villages in Vennesla include Grovane, Hægeland, Hom ...

and

Karmøy Karmøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is southwest of the town of Haugesund in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kopervik. Most of the municipality lies on ...

. In the

2019 Norwegian local elections Local elections were held in Norway on 9 September 2019. Voters elected representatives to municipal and county councils, which are responsible for education, public transport, health, and elderly care, and for the levy of certain taxes. The loca ...

, the party improved on their previous results, with a total of 10 423 votes (0,4% total), giving them six municipal council members and their first even county council member in the

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

county elections. The party congress decided on the 5 September 2022, to change the party`s name to Konservativt (Conservative).

Ideology

The party considers its ideology to be built on Christian and " Judeo-Christian" values. It profiles itself as anti-abortion, promotes the traditional family and opposition to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

, maintains strong support for Israel, and supports

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...

. The party claims to follow the line of former Christian Democrat leader Kåre Kristiansen."- Vi skal i regjering på første forsøk"
''Nettavisen''. 05.04.13. Unlike the Christian Democrats the party supports cooperation with the Progress Party, and has stated that it aims for participation in a coalition government together with the Progress and

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 ...

."De Kristne håper på KrF-avhoppere"
''Stavanger Aftenblad''. 29.04.2013.

Parliamentary elections

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christians Christian democratic parties in Norway Conservative parties in Norway Political parties established in 2011 2011 establishments in Norway Protestant political parties Anti-abortion organisations in Norway Religious organisations based in Norway