Øystein Hedstrøm
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Øystein Hedstrøm (born 7 August 1946) 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 ...
politician. He was a Member of Parliament from
Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...
for the Progress Party from 1989 to 2005, after which he declined renomination.


Early and personal life

Hedstrøm was born in
Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
,
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 t ...
to workshop owner Åge Willem Hedstrøm (born 1923) from
Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and Astri Thue (born 1921). He is educated a
dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
by profession, and is married to
cosmetologist Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, non-permanent hair removal such as ...
Britt Huseby whom he met at a
TV Norge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adver ...
dating show called ''Reisesjekken'' in 1993. Hedstrøm was in his political career notably characterised by his
comb over A comb over or combover is a hairstyle commonly worn by balding men in which the hair is grown long and combed over the bald area to minimize the appearance of baldness. Sometimes the parting is lowered so that more hair can be used to cover the ...
hair style, and according to a later commentator it even became the "symbol" of the more extreme faction of the Progress Party. In 2007 however, he went to
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and had a
hair transplant Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that removes hair follicles from one part of the body, called the 'donor site', to a bald or balding part of the body known as the 'recipient site'. The technique is primarily used to treat male pa ...
, and accordingly "no longer have the typical comb over" as he commented.


Political career

Hedstrøm joined Anders Lange's Party (which later became the current Progress Party) already in its founding year of 1973. Before joining Anders Lange's Party, he had been a member of the Young Conservatives. Hedstrøm was a Member of Parliament from
Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...
from 1989 to 2005, and was one of the most profiled, and controversial, Progress Party politicians during the 1990s. In 1995, Hedstrøm was behind an infamous proposal in parliament, the so-called "immigration account" ( no, innvandrerregnskap) known as "Document nr. 8:29" (''Dokument nr. 8:29''). The proposal called for a study by the government on the costs of the asylum, refugee and immigration policy, in addition to demanding the presentation of a parliamentary message about the "long-term consequences and effects on Norwegian society by the growing number of immigrants with a different and foreign culture". It later became known that Hedstrøm had received assistance from a member of the Norwegian League for the document. By May 1995, the 24-page document had been printed in 2,500 copies. Being noted for his tough stance on immigration, controversy erupted when he was revealed to have held a speech at the 1995 Norwegian League meeting at Godlia kino, resulting in Hedstrøm being stripped of his position as Spokesperson of Immigration Issues for the party. Hedstrøm later said that he felt he had made two mistakes at the meeting; the first to have held a speech, and the second to not have left when he saw who was present there. After this controversy, he received competition for his candidacy in the nomination for the 1997 election in
Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...
. In the end, he won 63-29 against the rather unknown
Vigdis Giltun Vigdis Karen Giltun (born 11 March 1952 in Oslo) is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party (Norway), Progress Party. She was elected to the Storting, Norwegian Parliament from Østfold in 2005. Giltun held various positions in Fredrikstad ...
(who was favoured by the nomination committee), and to what was called an "absolute rarity" in Norwegian politics, even a group of pro-Hedstrøm demonstrators showed up outside the nomination meeting, displaying his strong
grassroot A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
s support. In 1999 Hedstrøm and his close party colleague
Vidar Kleppe Vidar Sveinung Kleppe (born 16 September 1963) is a Norwegian politician. He was a member of parliament and deputy leader of the Progress Party until he was suspended and left the party in 2001. He was the leader of the Democrats party from 200 ...
arranged several "
talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
s" or public meetings critical of immigration, popularly known as the "Hedstrøm & Kleppe Show". The Østfold chapter of the party had before the 2001 election expressed that they did not want Hedstrøm running as a candidate for the county. But even with the ongoing exclusion of several controversial Progress Party politicians, he remained in the party, won the nomination for Østfold and was elected to parliament for his fourth term. It has been noted that the support for the Progress Party in Østfold in 2002 was more than 10% higher than the national average. In 2004, he however announced that he would not run for reelection.


Political views

In parliament, Hedstrøm was known as a strong critic of the governmental immigration policy, and his statements on the matter garnered both popular praise as well as criticism. In 1995 he was criticised by some for drawing lines between Samis and immigrants. Hedstrøm criticised the governmental granting of special rights to Samis (in this case concerning reindeerherding, which was also opposed by the Centre, Liberal, Conservative and Progress Party) but also criticised that also immigrants by this in a similar manner could demand special rights in the future. He maintained that the Progress Party rejected any demands of special treatment based on ethnicity.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedstrom, Oystein Progress Party (Norway) politicians Living people 1946 births Members of the Storting 21st-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians People from Moss, Norway