2021 Norwegian parliamentary election

The next Norwegian parliamentary election is scheduled to be held on 13 September 2021.[1] All 169 seats in the Norwegian legislature, the Storting, will be up for election.

2021 Norwegian parliamentary election

13 September 2021
All 169 seats in the Storting 85 seats are needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Leader Jonas Gahr Støre Erna Solberg Siv Jensen Party Labour Conservative Progress Leader's seat Oslo Hordaland Oslo Last election 49 seats, 27.4% 45 seats, 25.0% 27 seats, 15.2%   Leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum Audun Lysbakken Guri Melby Party Centre Socialist Left Liberal Leader's seat Hedmark Hordaland Oslo Last election 19 seats, 10.3% 11 seats, 6.0% 8 seats, 4.4%   Leader Kjell Ingolf Ropstad Une Aina Bastholm Bjørnar Moxnes Party Christian Democratic Green Red Leader's seat Aust-Agder Oslo Oslo Last election 8 seats, 4.2% 1 seat, 3.2% 1 seat, 2.4%
Incumbent Prime Minister Erna Solberg Conservative

Background

Previous election

In the previous election, held on 11 September 2017, Erna Solberg of the Conservatives retained her position as prime minister after four years in power. Her premiership additionally received the support of the Progress Party, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, who combined secured 88 of the 169 seats in parliament.[2] The opposition, led by Jonas Gahr Støre and his Labour Party, won 81 seats. Other opposition parties included the Centre Party, Socialist Left, the Greens and the Red Party.

Christian Democratic Party government accession

The Christian Democrats voted at a party conference to join Solberg's government on 2 November 2018 and on 16 January 2019, Solberg's Conservatives struck a deal with the Christian Democratic Party. This marked the first time since 1985 that Norway would have a majority government representing right-wing parties in the Storting.[3][4]

Progress Party withdrawal from government

On 20 January 2020, the Progress Party decided to withdraw from the government due to a decision by Solberg to repatriate a woman linked to Islamic State and her children back to Norway. Despite this, Solberg said that she and her party would continue to head a minority government and the other parties in the coalition (Liberal Party, Christian Democrats) have also stated they would continue to serve in it.[5][6][7]

Electoral system

Electoral reform

On 21 June 2017, the Solberg government established a committee tasked with reviewing the electoral system used in Norwegian parliamentary elections.[8] The 17-member committee, which is led by court judge Ørnulf Røhnebæk, is obliged to finish its report on the electoral system by 2019.[9] Electoral reform is expected to accompany a reform of the country's counties, and is likely to include changes to the size and borders of electoral districts (currently 19), the electoral threshold (currently 4%) and the overall number of MPs (currently 169).

Date

According to the Norwegian constitution, parliamentary elections must be held every four years. The Norwegian parliament may not be dissolved before such a parliamentary four-year term has ended, which in practice makes snap elections impossible.[10] As the last election was held in September 2017, the next election is set for 13 September 2021.

Parties

Parliamentary parties

Name			Ideology	Leader	2017 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	Ap	Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet	Social democracy	Jonas Gahr Støre	27.4%	49 / 169
	H	Conservative Party Høyre	Liberal conservatism	Erna Solberg	25.0%	45 / 169
	FrP	Progress Party Fremskrittspartiet	National conservatism National liberalism	Siv Jensen	15.2%	27 / 169
	Sp	Centre Party Senterpartiet	Agrarianism	Trygve Slagsvold Vedum	10.3%	19 / 169
	SV	Socialist Left Party Sosialistisk Venstreparti	Democratic socialism	Audun Lysbakken	6.0%	11 / 169
	V	Liberal Party Venstre	Social liberalism	Guri Melby	4.4%	8 / 169
	KrF	Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti	Christian democracy	Kjell Ingolf Ropstad	4.2%	8 / 169
	MDG	Green Party Miljøpartiet De Grønne	Green politics	Une Aina Bastholm	3.2%	1 / 169
	R	Red Party Rødt	Communism	Bjørnar Moxnes	2.4%	1 / 169

Opinion polls

There are several websites tracking party support ahead of the election, using somewhat different methods.[11][12] Below is a plot of the 30-day moving average of relevant opinion polls.

References

1. "Dato for valgdagen 2021 er satt" [The Date for the 2021 Election is set] (in Norwegian). iTromsø. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
2. "Valgresultat". valgresultat.no (in Norwegian). Norwegian Directorate of Elections. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
3. Schaart, Eline (2 November 2018). "Norwegian government safe after Christian party votes to join its ranks". Politico Europe. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
4. Henry, Galaxy (18 January 2019). "Norway: PM Solberg strikes deal to form center-right majority". Politico Europe. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
5. Tjernshaugen, Karen; Ole Ask, Alf; Ruud, Solveig; Magne, Kjetil. "Frp går ut av regjeringen. Nå er stolleken om hvem som skal overta statsrådspostene i gang". Aftenposten (in Norwegian Bokmål).
6. Olsen, Jan M. (20 January 2020). "Norway left with minority government after populists quit". ABC News. Associated Press.
7. Terje Solsvik (20 January 2020). Gwladys Fouche (ed.). "Norway PM Solberg says to stay in office with minority government". Reuters. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
8. "Utvalget som skal foreslå ny valglov snart i sving". abcnyheter.no (in Norwegian). ABC nyheter. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
9. "Nytt valglovutvalg oppnevnt". regjeringen.no (in Norwegian). Regjeringen. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
10. "Oppløsningsrett og investitur avvist nok en gang". sv.uio.no (in Norwegian). Department of Political Science, University of Oslo. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
11. "pollofpolls.no - Stortingsvalg: Hele landet". www.pollofpolls.no. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
12. "The 2021 Norwegian Parliamentary Election · Estimite". www.estimite.com. Retrieved 2021-01-23.