1997 Norwegian parliamentary election

1997 Norwegian parliamentary election

← 1993 15 September 1997 2001 →
All 165 seats in the Storting 83 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Thorbjørn Jagland Carl I. Hagen Kjell Magne Bondevik Party Labour Progress Christian Democratic Last election 36.91%, 67 seats 6.28%, 10 seats 7.88%, 13 seats Seats won 65 25 25 Seat change 2 15 12 Popular vote 904,362 395,376 353,082 Percentage 35.00% 15.30% 13.66% Swing 1.91pp 9.02pp 5.78pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jan Petersen Anne Enger Lahnstein Kristin Halvorsen Party Conservative Centre Socialist Left Last election 17.04%, 28 seats 16.74%, 32 seats 7.91%, 13 seats Seats won 23 11 9 Seat change 5 21 4 Popular vote 370,441 204,824 155,307 Percentage 14.34% 7.93% 6.01% Swing 2.69pp 8.81pp 1.90pp   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Lars Sponheim Steinar Bastesen Party Liberal Non-Partisan Last election 3.61%, 1 seat 0.03%, 0 seats Seats won 6 1 Seat change 5 1 Popular vote 115,077 9,135 Percentage 4.45% 0.36% Swing 0.84pp 0.33pp
Results by county
Prime Minister before election Thorbjørn Jagland Labour Prime Minister after election Kjell Magne Bondevik Christian Democratic

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 14 and 15 September 1997.^[1] Prior to the election Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of the Labour Party had issued the 36.9 ultimatum declaring that the government would step down unless it gained 36.9% of the vote, the percentage gained by the Labour Party in 1993 under Gro Harlem Brundtland. Whilst Labour won a plurality of seats, they were unable to reach Jagland's 36.9% threshold, gaining 35% of the vote.

As a result of this, the Labour government stepped down, being replaced by a centrist coalition of the Christian People's Party, Liberal Party and the Centre Party, with Kjell Magne Bondevik being appointed Prime Minister, and confidence and supply support from the Conservative Party and the right-wing Progress Party.