1997 Norwegian parliamentary election
← 1993 15 September 1997 2001 →
All 165 seats in the Storting
83 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Thorbjørn Jagland Carl I. Hagen Kjell Magne Bondevik
Party Labour Progress Christian Democratic
Last election 36.91%, 67 seats 6.28%, 10 seats 7.88%, 13 seats
Seats won 65 25 25
Seat change Decrease2 Increase15 Increase12
Popular vote 904,362 395,376 353,082
Percentage 35.00% 15.30% 13.66%
Swing Decrease1.91pp Increase9.02pp Increase5.78pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Jan Petersen Anne Enger Lahnstein Kristin Halvorsen
Party Conservative Centre Socialist Left
Last election 17.04%, 28 seats 16.74%, 32 seats 7.91%, 13 seats
Seats won 23 11 9
Seat change Decrease5 Decrease21 Decrease4
Popular vote 370,441 204,824 155,307
Percentage 14.34% 7.93% 6.01%
Swing Decrease2.69pp Decrease8.81pp Decrease1.90pp
  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Leader Lars Sponheim Steinar Bastesen
Party Liberal Non-Partisan
Last election 3.61%, 1 seat 0.03%, 0 seats
Seats won 6 1
Seat change Increase5 Increase1
Popular vote 115,077 9,135
Percentage 4.45% 0.36%
Swing Increase0.84pp Increase0.33pp
Results by county
Prime Minister before election

Thorbjørn Jagland
Labour

Prime Minister after election

Kjell Magne Bondevik
Christian Democratic

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 14 and 15 September 1997.[1] Prior to the election Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of the Labour Party had issued the 36.9 ultimatum declaring that the government would step down unless it gained 36.9% of the vote, the percentage gained by the Labour Party in 1993 under Gro Harlem Brundtland. Whilst Labour won a plurality of seats, they were unable to reach Jagland's 36.9% threshold, gaining 35% of the vote.

As a result of this, the Labour government stepped down, being replaced by a centrist coalition of the Christian People's Party, Liberal Party and the Centre Party, with Kjell Magne Bondevik being appointed Prime Minister, and confidence and supply support from the Conservative Party and the right-wing Progress Party.

Contesting parties

See also: List of political parties in Norway
Name Ideology Position Leader 1993 result
Votes (%) Seats
Ap Labour Party
Arbeiderpartiet 		Social democracy Centre-left Thorbjørn Jagland 36.9%
67 / 165
H Conservative Party
Høyre 		Liberal conservatism Centre-right Jan Petersen 17.0%
28 / 165
Sp Centre Party
Senterpartiet 		Agrarianism Centre Anne Enger Lahnstein 16.7%
32 / 165
SV Socialist Left Party
Sosialistisk Venstreparti 		Democratic socialism Left-wing Kristin Halvorsen 7.9%
13 / 165
KrF Christian Democratic Party
Kristelig Folkeparti 		Christian democracy Centre to centre-right Kjell Magne Bondevik 7.8%
13 / 165
FrP Progress Party
Fremskrittspartiet 		Conservative liberalism Right-wing Carl I. Hagen 6.2%
10 / 165
V Liberal Party
Venstre 		Social liberalism Centre Lars Sponheim 3.6%
1 / 165
R Red Electoral Alliance
Rød Valgallianse 		Communism Far-left Aslak Sira Myhre 1.0%
1 / 165

Campaign

Slogans

Party Original slogan English translation
Labour Party Eldre og helse først!
Centre Party Ja til samholds-Norge, nei til forskjellsNorge
Conservative Party Jan petersen best som sjef/Høyre best for Norge.
Socialist Left Party
Christian Democratic Party Et varmere samfunn med kristne verdier
Progress Party Frihet under ansvar. Nei til redusering av forsvaret
Liberal party
Red Electoral Alliance
Sources: [2][3]

Debates

1997 Norwegian general election debates
Date Organisers  P  Present    I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Ap H Sp Sv KrF Frp V R Refs
12 Sep NRK P
Thorbjørn Jagland, Hill-Marta Solberg 		P
Jan Petersen 		P
Anne Enger Lahnstein 		P
Kristin Halvorsen 		P
Valgerd Svarstad Haugland 		P
Carl I. Hagen 		P
Lars Sponheim 		P
Aslak Sira Myhre 		[4]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Labour Party904,36235.0065–2
Progress Party395,37615.3025+15
Conservative Party370,44114.3423–5
Christian Democratic Party353,08213.6625+12
Centre Party204,8247.9311–21
Socialist Left Party155,3076.019–4
Liberal Party115,0774.456+5
Red Electoral Alliance43,2521.670–1
Pensioners' Party16,0310.6200
Non-Partisan Deputies9,1950.361+1
Environment Party The Greens5,8840.2300
Fatherland Party3,8050.1500
Natural Law Party2,2070.0900
Communist Party1,9790.0800
Christian Conservative Party1,3860.0500
New Future Coalition Party4910.0200
White Electoral Alliance4630.020New
Justice Party2810.010New
Liberal People's Party2580.0100
Children–Elderly2460.010New
Society Party2140.0100
Total2,584,161100.001650
Valid votes2,584,16199.63
Invalid/blank votes9,5080.37
Total votes2,593,669100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,311,19078.33
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, European Elections Database

Voter demographics

Cohort Percentage of cohort voting for
Ap FrP H KrF Sp Sv V Others
Total vote 35.00% 15.30% 14.34% 13.66% 7.93% 6.01% 4.45%
Gender
Females 34.8% 12.3% 12.4% 17.6% 7.9% 8.1% 4.1%
Males 35.2% 18% 16% 10.2% 8% 4.2% 4.9%
Age
18–30 years old 30.5% 19.4% 11.4% 11.4% 6.2% 9.8% 4.9%
30-59 years old 35.5% 14.4% 16.5% 11.9% 7.9% 6.4% 5%
60 years old and older 37.8% 14.6% 10.9% 20.7% 9.8% 1.1% 2.2%
Work
low income 33.5% 17% 7% 16.4% 9.2% 6.8% 5%
Average income 36% 16.7% 11% 15.2% 9.2% 4.7% 3.8%
High income 35.4% 11.7% 27% 8.2% 4.2% 7.1% 5.2%
Education
Primary school 44.7% 15.3% 5.6% 15.3% 10.6% 2.5% 1.6%
High school 35.9% 17.2% 12.9% 13.8% 8.8% 4.8% 3.9%
University/college 26.3% 9.9% 24.3% 12% 4.1% 11.6% 7.7%
Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research[5]

Seat distribution

Constituency Total
seats 		Seats won
By party By coalition
Ap FrP KrF H Sp SV V TVF Borgerlig Red-green
Akershus 14 5 2 1 3 1 1 1 8 6
Aust-Agder 4 2 1 1 2 2
Buskerud 7 4 1 1 1 3 4
Finnmark 4 2 1 1 1 3
Hedmark 9 4 1 1 1 1 1 4 5
Hordaland 16 5 2 3 2 1 1 2 10 6
Møre og Romsdal 10 3 2 2 1 1 1 7 3
Nord-Trøndelag 6 3 1 1 1 3 3
Nordland 12 5 1 2 1 1 1 1 6 6
Oppland 7 4 1 1 1 3 4
Oslo 17 6 3 1 4 2 1 9 8
Østfold 8 4 2 1 1 4 4
Rogaland 12 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 8 4
Sogn og Fjordane 5 2 1 1 1 3 2
Sør-Trøndelag 10 4 1 1 2 1 1 5 5
Telemark 6 3 1 1 1 3 3
Troms 6 2 1 1 1 1 4 2
Vest-Agder 5 1 1 2 1 4 1
Vestfold 7 3 2 1 1 4 3
Total 165 65 25 25 23 11 9 6 1 91 74
Source: Statistics Norway

References

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1438 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ "Historiske slagord og plakater". Arbeiderpartiet (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  3. ^ "Fremtiden, onsdag 10. september 1997". Fremtiden. pp. 20–21.
  4. ^ "Partilederdebatt". 15 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Kristelig Folkeparti - Valgforskning". Retrieved 16 February 2024.
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