Erna Solberg

Erna Solberg
Solberg in 2017
35th Prime Minister of Norway
In office
16 October 2013 – 14 October 2021
MonarchHarald V
Preceded byJens Stoltenberg
Succeeded byJonas Gahr Støre
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
14 October 2021
MonarchHarald V
Prime MinisterJonas Gahr Støre
Preceded byJonas Gahr Støre
In office
17 October 2005 – 16 October 2013
MonarchHarald V
Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg
Preceded byJens Stoltenberg
Succeeded byJens Stoltenberg
Leader of the Conservative Party
Assumed office
9 May 2004
First DeputyPer-Kristian Foss
Jan Tore Sanner
Henrik Asheim
Second DeputyJan Tore Sanner
Erling Lae
Bent Høie
Tina Bru
Preceded byJan Petersen
Minister of Local Government and
Regional Development
In office
19 October 2001 – 17 October 2005
Prime MinisterKjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded bySylvia Brustad
Succeeded byÅslaug Haga
Leader of the Conservative Women's Association
In office
7 March 1993 – 29 March 1998
Preceded bySiri Frost Sterri
Succeeded bySonja Sjøli
Member of the Storting
Assumed office
2 October 1989
DeputySilja Ekeland Bjørkly
Eli Årdal Berland
Erik Skutle
Liv Kari Eskeland
Charlotte Spurkeland
ConstituencyHordaland
Personal details
Born (1961-02-24) 24 February 1961 (age 63)
Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Sindre Finnes
(m. 1996)
[1]
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Bergen
Websitehttps://erna.no/

Erna Solberg (Norwegian: [ˈæ̀ːɳɑ ˈsûːlbærɡ]; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004.[2]

Solberg was first elected to the Storting in 1989, and served as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development in Bondevik's Second Cabinet from 2001 to 2005. During her tenure, she oversaw the tightening of immigration policy and the preparation of a proposed reform of the administrative divisions of Norway.[3] After the 2005 election, she chaired the Conservative Party parliamentary group until 2013. Solberg has emphasized the social and ideological basis of Conservative policies, though the party also has become visibly more pragmatic.[4]

After winning the September 2013 election, Solberg became prime minister of Norway, the second woman to hold the position, after Gro Harlem Brundtland.[5] Solberg's Cabinet, often informally called the "Blue-Blue Cabinet", was initially a two-party minority government consisting of the Conservative and Progress parties. The cabinet established a formalized cooperation with the Liberal and Christian Democratic parties in the Storting.[6] The government was reelected in the 2017 election and was extended to include the Liberal Party in January 2018.[7] This extended minority coalition is informally called the "Blue-Green cabinet". In May 2018, Solberg surpassed Kåre Willoch to become the longest-serving prime minister of Norway from the Conservative Party.[8] The government was further extended in January 2019 to include the Christian Democratic Party, and thereby secured a majority in Parliament. On 13 September 2021, following the parliamentary election which overturned her government's majority in the Storting, she conceded defeat, leaving it to the Labour Party's Jonas Gahr Støre to form a new government.[9] On 12 October 2021, Solberg and her government tendered their resignations to King Harald V, clearing the way for Støre to form a new government, which was finalised two days later. She then returned to being the Leader of the Opposition.

  1. ^ "Erna Solberg" (in Norwegian). Norske biografiske leksikon. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  2. ^ "15 women leading the way for girls' education". globalpartnership.org. Archived from the original on 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  3. ^ Hellberg, Lars. "Erna Solberg". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  4. ^ Alstadheim, Kjetil B. (December 22, 2012). "Solberg-og-dal-banen". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). Oslo. p. 2.
  5. ^ PM 1981, 1986–1989, 1990–1996.
  6. ^ "Avtale mellom Venstre, Kristelig Folkeparti, Fremskrittspartiet og Høyre" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Høyre. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  7. ^ Dagenborg, Joachim. "Norway's Liberals to join Conservative-led government". U.S. Archived from the original on 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  8. ^ Løland, Leif Rune. "Passerer Willoch – Solberg blir Høyres lengstsittende statsminister". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  9. ^ "Erna Solberg erkjenner valgnederlag (Erna Solberg concedes defeat)". NRK (in Norwegian). 13 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.