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– I have said that there are three phases in the life of a minister, says Bent Høie to NTB.
– The first is when you’re new. So you think you can’t do this. Then there is the phase where you recognize that this is going quite well. And then there’s the last phase, where you believe that no one else can do the job. And then you have to quit.
He has not yet resigned as Minister of Health and Sanitary Services. But on Friday, Høie resigns after ten years as second vice president of the Conservative Party. If all goes according to plan, the national assembly will elect Tina Bru to take over.
A long perspective
But the incoming deputy leader should probably be patient, Høie believes.
– If you want to be vice president of the Conservative Party, then you must have a long-term perspective. I’ve been there for ten years and now I wish Tina Bru good luck in the next ten along with Erna and Jan Tore at the address, she jokes.
Erna Solberg has been president of the Conservative Party since 2004 and Jan Tore Sanner has been vice president since 2008. Both are running for re-election in the national assembly.
Høie, on the other hand, is scheduled to take over as county governor in Rogaland after elections next fall. But he has opened up to continue as Minister of Health and Care Services if the Conservatives win the election … and if Solberg wants it.
– There are many others in the Conservative Party who can do this job, says Høie.
– I think I do the work I have, as long as I have it.
Experience counts
The Prime Minister himself holds the door open to let Høie sit down and emphasize how important it has been to have experienced ministers on the team during the crown crisis.
– Bent has extensive experience as Minister of Health. It is a strength in a difficult situation that you have the knowledge, that you know the sector and have the authority in the sector to make you do things, Solberg tells NTB.
He says he regrets that Høie is disappearing from the party leadership.
Bent is best known to people as the Minister of Health. But he is also a general politician who cares about many other issues, and is a major strategic thinker in the Conservative Party, Solberg says.
– I am glad to have you still as Minister of Health in the government.
