Trond Giske

Trond Giske
Giske during the opening of Rockheim.
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
In office
18 April 2015 – 7 January 2018
Serving with Hadia Tajik
LeaderJonas Gahr Støre
Preceded byHelga Pedersen
Succeeded byBjørnar Skjæran
Minister of Trade and Industry
In office
20 October 2009 – 16 October 2013
Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg
Preceded bySylvia Brustad
Succeeded byMonica Mæland
Minister of Culture and Church Affairs
In office
17 October 2005 – 20 October 2009
Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg
Preceded byValgerd Svarstad Haugland
Succeeded byAnniken Huitfeldt
Minister of Education and Research
In office
17 March 2000 – 19 October 2001
Prime MinisterJens Stoltenberg
Preceded byJon Lilletun
Succeeded byKristin Clemet
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
In office
1 October 1997 – 30 September 2021
DeputyTore Nordseth
Ola Røtvei
Arne L. Haugen
Audun Otterstad
ConstituencySør-Trøndelag
Leader of the Workers' Youth League
In office
6 September 1992 – 27 October 1996
Preceded byTurid Birkeland
Succeeded byAnniken Huitfeldt
Personal details
Born (1966-11-07) 7 November 1966 (age 58)
Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
Political partyLabour
Spouse
(m. 2019)
Domestic partnerAnne Grethe Moe (1996–2006)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Oslo

Trond Giske (born 7 November 1966) is a Norwegian politician who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party from 2015 until his resignation in 2018 as a result of the so-called Giske affair. In 2024, he became the deputy leader of the Trondheim Labour Party, a local chapter of the Labour Party.

He announced his permanent withdrawal from politics in 2020 following accusations of widespread sexual harassment and sexual assault[1] against multiple women.[2]

Giske was elected into the Norwegian parliament for Sør-Trøndelag county in 1997, and served as Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs in the first cabinet of Jens Stoltenberg from 2000 to 2001, as Minister of Culture and Church Affairs in Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet from 2005 to 2009 and as Minister of Trade and Industry from 2009 to 2013. As a cabinet member he several times faced accusations of cronyism by having appointed little-qualified close friends to well paid government jobs, which also led to formal inquiries into his actions in the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs.[3]

In December 2017, during the Me Too controversy triggered by the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, Giske was accused of an extensive pattern of sexual harassment and sexual assault[4][1] of young women, leading to the so-called Giske affair, which dominated Norwegian media for several weeks. After admitting to some of the accusations against him, Giske was asked to permanently resign by party leader Jonas Gahr Støre on 1 January 2018,[5] which he subsequently did on 7 January 2018 shortly before the party executive committee were to debate the matter and shortly before Støre was about to state publicly that Giske needed to resign.[6] On 25 January 2018 the Labour Party ruled that Giske had violated the party's rules against sexual harassment and that his behaviour disqualified him from holding offices or positions of trust in the party.[7][8] In response Giske sought legal assistance against his own party.[9] He faced intense criticism when seeking election as chairman of a local party branch in 2020, and as a result announced his withdrawal from politics.[2] In 2023 Dagens Næringsliv reported that Giske had threatened the Labour Party with a lawsuit, resulting in a settlement where the party paid his legal expenses and wrote a letter as demanded by Giske which said that the party leadership couldn't rule out the possibility of a comeback.[10]

  1. ^ a b "AP-politiker Line Oma står frem som Giske-varsler". www.vg.no.
  2. ^ a b Waatland, Erik (2020-08-28). "Trond Giske vil trekke seg fra rikspolitikken - refser pressen". www.m24.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  3. ^ "Giske må svarepå fire nye spørsmål". e24.no.
  4. ^ Bloomberg, Sveinung Sleire / (2018-01-08). "Top Norwegian Politician Steps Down as #MeToo Hits Norway". TIME. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  5. ^ "Støre: – Dokumentasjonen underbygger varslernes historier". www.aftenposten.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ap-resignation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Arbeiderpartiet: Trond Giske har brutt partiets etiske regelverk". www.aftenposten.no.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference vg18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Giskes advokater prøver å gjøre saken til noe annet enn den er". www.aftenposten.no.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference dn23 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).