2023 Norwegian local elections

2023 Norwegian local elections
← 2019 11 September 2023 2027 →
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Leader Erna Solberg Jonas Gahr Støre Sylvi Listhaug
Party Conservative Labour Progress
Last election 20.1% 24.8% 8.2%
Percentage 25.9% 21.7% 11.4%
Swing Increase 5.8 pp Decrease 3.1 pp Increase 3.2 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum Kirsti Bergstø Guri Melby
Party Centre Socialist Left Liberal
Last election 14.4% 6.1% 3.9%
Percentage 8.2% 6.8% 5.0%
Swing Decrease 6.2 pp Increase 0.7 pp Increase 1.1 pp
  Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party
 
Leader Arild Hermstad Olaug Bollestad Marie Sneve Martinussen
Party Green Christian Democratic Red
Last election 6.8% 4.0% 3.8%
Percentage 4.1% 4.0% 3.5%
Swing Decrease 2.7 pp Steady 0.0 pp Decrease 0.3 pp
Largest party in each municipality and county.

The 2023 Norwegian local elections were held on 11 September 2023.[1] Voters elected representatives to municipal and county councils, which are responsible for education, public transportation, healthcare, elderly care, waste disposal, the levy of certain taxes, and more. All council seats were up for election across the 15[a] counties and 357[2] municipalities of Norway.[3]

The previous local elections, held in September 2019, resulted in a nationwide victory for the centre-left parties, known as the red-green coalition. The five red-green parties, namely the Labour, Centre, Green, Socialist Left, and Red parties, secured around 56% of the national popular vote in the municipal elections at that time.[4] Meanwhile, the then-ruling majority in the Storting, made up of the Conservative, Progress, Christian Democratic, and Liberal parties, scored roughly 36% nationally. The red-greens also retained control of the major cities of Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim. In the 2023 elections, incumbent red-green mayors were seeking to defend these seats from centre-right challengers, as opinion polls showed the centre-right bloc rebounding.[5][6]

The election resulted in the Conservative Party of opposition leader Erna Solberg emerging as the largest party nationwide, taking just under 26% of the vote.[7] This marked the first time since the 1924 Norwegian parliamentary election that the Conservatives had come in first place in a national election. It also brought to an end the Labour Party's 96-year continuous streak as Norway's largest political party, which began with the elections of 1927 and was a defining feature of Norway's political landscape for most of the 20th and early 21st centuries.[8][9] In addition, the right-wing Progress Party of Sylvi Listhaug regained its position as the country's third largest party, after having fallen behind Trygve Slagsvold Vedum's Centre Party in 2019. Overall, the vote was described as a realignment of the country's political scene, with the centre-right bloc emerging victorious nationally with around 46% of the vote in the municipal elections, against approximately 44% for the red-green parties. A number of major cities previously controlled by the Labour Party and its allies, including the capital city of Oslo, changed hands in this election, electing new centre-right mayors.[10]

  1. ^ distriktsdepartementet, Kommunal-og (2022-04-22). "Valgdagen blir 11. september 2023". Regjeringen.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  2. ^ "Slik stemte vi". NRK. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Kommunestyre- og fylkestingsvalg". regjeringen.no. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Landsoversikt Norge". NRK. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Kan Ap bli størst likevel? Høyres ledelse krymper". dagsavisen.no. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  6. ^ Rystad, Kjell-Magne. "Mot totalhavari for Arbeiderpartiet i storbyene". Nettavisen. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Oppslutning i kommunevalget". aftenposten.no. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  8. ^ Solsvik, Terje; Fouche, Gwladys. "Norway's Labour loses regional vote after a century on top". Reuters. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  9. ^ Schminke, Tobias Gerhard (2023-09-12). "Norway: Labour loses first local election in 99 years to right-wing". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  10. ^ "Nå er det klart: Høyre vinner valget i Oslo". NRK. Retrieved 12 September 2023.


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