Kirsti Bergstø (born 1 July 1981) is a Norwegian politician serving as the leader of the Socialist Left Party since March 2023. She previously served as one of the party's deputy leaders from 2017 to 2023.

Personal life

Bergstø was born in

Rana Municipality or is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mo i Rana, which houses the National Library of Norway. Other population centers in R ...

Nordland Nordland (; , , , ) is one of the three northernmost Counties of Norway, counties in Norway in the Northern Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to t ...

. She is the daughter of Harald Bergstø who worked as a municipal fireman and Erna Bergstø who worked for the Norwegian welfare office. She currently has a partner, and a son.

Political career

Youth wing

She is the former leader of the Socialist Youth, the youth wing of the Socialist Left Party, and held this position between 2006 and 2008.

Parliament

She served as a deputy representative to the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

from

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

from 2005 to 2009. She was a deputy member of Finnmark

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. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

from 1999 to 2003. From 2010 to 2012 she was a State Secretary in the

Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Children and Families Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

from 2013 to 2017, and again, from

Akershus Akershus () is a county in Norway, with Oslo as its administrative centre, though Oslo is not located within Akershus. Akershus has been a region in Eastern Norway with Oslo as its main city since the Middle Ages, and is named after the Akers ...

since 2021. In addition, she became the chair of the

Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs The Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The un ...

, a position she held until 2023.

Party deputy leader

She was elected the party's deputy leader on 18 March 2017. From April to September 2022, she was acting party leader while

Audun Lysbakken Audun Bjørlo Lysbakken (born 30 September 1977) is a Norwegian politician who served as the leader of the Norwegian Socialist Left Party (Norway), Socialist Left Party from 2012 to 2023. His career in national politics began when he was elected ...

was on parental leave.

Party leader

Following Lysbakken's announced departure as leader, Bergstø was floated as a possible contender to succeed him, alongside Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes and

Kari Elisabeth Kaski Kari Elisabeth Kaski (born 12 July 1987) is a Norwegian politician. A member of the Socialist Left Party, she has been an MP for Oslo since 2017, and the second vice chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs since 2021. P ...

. Bergstø officially declared her candidacy on 9 December. The party election committee unanimously designated her as party leader on 1 February 2023. She was formally elected leader on 18 March. She was re-elected at the 2025 party convention along with deputy leader Marian Hussein and with Lars Haltbrekken replacing outgoing deputy leader Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergstoe, Kirsti 1981 births Living people People from Nesseby Finnmark politicians Socialist Left Party (Norway) politicians Deputy members of the Storting Norwegian state secretaries Leaders of political parties in Norway Women members of the Storting 21st-century Norwegian women politicians Norwegian women state secretaries Members of the Storting 2005–2009 Members of the Storting 2013–2017 Members of the Storting 2021–2025