8 hours ago
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The Norwegian Labour party has secured four more years in government after seeing off a surge of support for the populist right in a polarised election.
Soon after the polls closed, the centre left was projected to win with 89 seats with the centre right taking 80 seats. A minimum of 85 seats are needed for a majority.
Just two hours later, with 99% of the vote counted, the result had held, according to state broadcaster NRK.
Labour, led by the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, had clearly emerged as the largest party, but there was also a big swell in support for the rightwing Progress party, which was projected to have doubled in size in the last four years.
The Conservative party, meanwhile, had its worst election in 20 years.
The election was unusually close-fought and polarised, dominated by the cost of living, wealth taxes, oil fund investment in Israel and relations with Donald Trump.
On the right, there was a surge in support for the populist Progress party – especially among young men – in what has been described by some as “the Maga-fication” of Norwegian politics.
There was also discussion over its leader, Sylvi Listhaug, becoming prime minister in the event of a rightwing victory.
But early results suggested that Støre, 65, who has been prime minister since 2021, is likely to remain in office, with the former Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, thought to have provided a significant boost for Labour in recent months, as finance minister.
This was despite a campaign that was kicked off by strong criticism over the government’s handling of the Norwegian oil fund’s investment in Israel, which could contribute to complex negotiations with smaller leftwing parties to form a government.
Gaute Børstad Skjervø, leader of the AUF, Labour’s youth party, said it was “the comeback of the ages in Norwegian politics”, adding that a year ago the party was “doomed”.
“Now Støre has secured re-election. I take my hat off to this turnaround,” he said.
The Conservative party leader, Erna Solberg, confirmed their defeat, telling her supporters in Oslo: “We can already state that the Conservative party is embarking on a new term in the Storting as an opposition party.”
Solberg, 64, who was already facing calls to resign, said: “It is my responsibility, and I am incredibly sorry for that.”
Listhaug, 47, reportedly called Støre to congratulate him on his victory.
“It’s fantastic. We’re doing better than what the polls showed. So it’s incredibly good,” she said. Despite not having secured a majority, she said: “We still have reason to feel like winners today.”
A record 1.9 million people took part in early voting. By the time polls closed, most of the early votes were reportedly already counted.
Despite the rise in support for the Progress party, a centre-left victory leaves Norway an outlier from its Nordic neighbours, Sweden and Finland, which are both led by rightwing governments.
