Who’s in it?
The centre-right progressive Conservative prime minister, Erna Solberg (Norway’s third female prime minister), will hand over to her rival, Jonas Gahr Støre. Støre is a multi-millionaire who inherited a business from his father and served as foreign minister under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg from 2005 to 2012. Unlike Solberg (who studied in Bergen), Støre spent time at Sciences Po in Paris, the London School of Economics and Harvard Law School in Boston. During his time in government, he fostered closer ties with Russia. When Stoltenberg moved to New York to take up a military position as head of NATO, Støre seemed a natural choice to replace him as Labour leader.
Nicknamed ‘Iron Erna’ for her powerful leadership, since 2013 Solberg has been praised for her quick and effective response to the recent coronavirus pandemic (though she was fined by police for breaking rules at a birthday gathering).
What does it mean?
Norway isn’t a member of the European Union. It is, however, a member of the European Economic Area and the Schengen Zone, something both the Conservatives and Labour are in favour of keeping. Their rivals to the left (the Socialist Party and the Reds), as well as those in the Centre Party, are in favour of leaving the economic block. Støre hopes to include both parties in his coalition (though the Centrists and Socialists say they’ll refuse to work together), so this issue is a perhaps a sticking point.
But, while relations with Europe has dominated debate for years, oil was a topic of discussion this year. In August, a ‘code red for humanity’ was issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Solberg’s Conservatives had been of wrapping up drilling for years, but Labour argued against a quick stop to further exploration, sceptical of Green demands to end it by 2035. Consequently, the Green Party didn’t enter Støre’s government.
This article is a Fika Online exclusive.
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