Norway’s Labor Party-led coalition has narrowly secured a second term in government, official results show, while the populist right-wing Progress Party achieved its strongest electoral performance to date. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere’s Labor and allied left-leaning parties won 87 of 169 parliamentary seats, just above the majority threshold, setting the stage for complex negotiations on key policies.
Stoere, 65, will face challenges in maintaining unity among his coalition partners, particularly on contentious issues like wealth taxation, fossil fuel exploration, and ethical investment guidelines for Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund. The fund’s potential divestment from Israeli companies—a topic debated during the campaign—could have ripple effects in global markets.
While the left retained power, the election revealed a rightward shift among conservative voters. The anti-immigration Progress Party, led by Sylvi Listhaug, doubled its parliamentary representation to 48 seats by campaigning for tax cuts and reduced spending on green energy subsidies. Listhaug, who models her policies on Reagan and Thatcher-era economics, called the result "a mandate for fiscal responsibility."
Stoere framed the outcome as a victory for social democracy amid global political turbulence: "This signals that our values can prevail even when challenged by conservative waves," he told supporters in Oslo.
A record 4.05 million voters participated in the election, with debates centering on wealth inequality, housing shortages, and Norway’s energy transition. The Labor-led coalition now faces pressure to balance progressive reforms with demands for economic pragmatism.
