  The newly elected party leader on the left, and the resigning one the right | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | May 3–5 |
| City | Oslo |
| Venue | People's House |
| Elected leadership | |
| Party leader | Kristin Halvorsen |
| Deputy leader(s) | (1st) Øystein Djupedal (2nd) Inger Lise |
| Party secretary | Turid Leirvoll |
The 1997 national convention was held by the Socialist Left Party was held from May 3–5 at the Oslo People's House in the city of Oslo.[1] Erik Solheim had held the party leader seat since 1987, was forced to resign after being the main reason for the escalations in the party conflict between the left and right-wing faction. After announcing his resignation, Kristin Halvorsen became the only likely successor to him, even if she was a moderate and wanted to continue his modernization reforms within the party.
By the aftermath of the party, the left-wing faction of the party had lost nearly all leading positions to the right-wing faction, however the party's program became radicalized and the majority of the delegates wanted a capitalist and Labour critical stance. However Halvorsen disobeyed some party programs clauses, the most notable being to not collaborate with capitalist or capitalist friendly parties such as, for instance, the Labour or the Centre Party.