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The Labor Party continues its decline this fall and is on its way to becoming the third largest party in the country. Today is a sad anniversary for the party: never before has the Labor Party been out of government.
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The Labor Party formed a government for the first time on January 28, 1928 with Christopher Hornsrud as Prime Minister. The Hornsrud government became Norway’s most short-lived government and resigned after just 18 days.
2590 days
So it would take more than seven years, or 2590 days to be exact, before the Labor Party could form a government the next time. It happened on March 20, 1935 with Johan Nygaardsvold as Prime Minister. He remained prime minister for more than 10 years and spent half of his time in exile in London during the war.
Starting in 1935, the Labor Party was allowed to rule continuously for more than 28 years. This was the heyday of the Labor Party. Historian Jens Arup Seip proclaimed the Labor Party The eagle between the parties. Others referred to the board during this period as Labor Party States.
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Then it went downhill with the game. Since the 1960s, Norway has been ruled by alternate governments led by bourgeois and workers’ parties. The Labor Party has ruled the most. From 1935 to today, the party has had the prime minister 62 percent of the time. That equates to a total of 53 years.
Going back to 2590 days. It is exactly as long as the last time the Labor Party left government on October 16, 2013.
November 18, 2020 is an anniversary in the history of the Labor Party. Never before had the party been out of government for long.
What happened?
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One thing that has happened is that the Labor Party has now been overtaken by the Conservatives as the largest party in Norway.
It is not enough that the Conservatives have passed. The Center Party is also close to endorsing the Labor Party in support. If that also happens, the Labor Party will be reduced to being the third largest party in the country.
It will also be a historic event. We have to go back to 1924 to find a parliamentary election in which the Labor Party ends up as the third largest party. Almost 100 years ago.
And I went split
A lot has happened since the heyday of the Labor Party. At its peak, the Labor Party managed to unite both city and country. Industrial workers were a very important part of this, but the party also managed to win great support among public employees.
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As the public sector has grown and industrial employment has declined, public employees have become increasingly important to the party. As a result, the party’s focus on business and employment in the private sector has also weakened.
The most demanding and divisive issue in the Labor Party is climate policy. There, the old industrial politicians in the party are staunchly opposed to the younger urban forces who view climate politics above all else.
In the big cities, the Labor Party is characterized by left-wing liberal academics in the public sector who worry about anything other than what we should live on.
This is a long way off for large sections of the constituency in the districts, who care about jobs and public services where they live, road construction, and viable communities.
This is part of the background as to why the Labor Party is divided. There is a division between city and country, between public and private sector employees, between young and old, between employment and climate policy.
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The result is that the game seeps in all directions. Support appears to be below 20 percent.
Struggling with attention: zero taxpayers, strangled book, and drowned interview
But where is the Labor Party at the moment? Let’s take a look at the contemporary image that has faded in recent weeks.
An obvious problem for the Labor Party is that it struggles with attention to politics. The party’s alternative state budget generated little enthusiasm, but TV 2 presented a case where the point was that the party’s proposal would yield 4,900 new zero contributors.
This case was perhaps a light soup from TV 2, but it was revealing enough that the Labor Party itself had not counted on the effects of the proposal. The fact that the proposal actually involves a significant tax increase was a message that therefore did not come through at all.
Things did not improve with MP Hadia Tajik’s book earlier this fall. There are probably some interesting things in that book, but it received almost no attention. Instead, there was a huge debate over the book cover that was supposedly sexualized. It was a wrong conclusion, but the book cover could also be criticized from other angles, as Elin Ørjasæter brilliantly did.
The result was that the Tajikistan book was stifled by its own cover.
Read also: Hadia Tayik indicates distance to other mortals
It wasn’t any better with the interview at Jonas Gahr Støre’s home. All attention was focused on the kitchen counter, where there were a few half-full bottles of alcohol, including a bottle of Jägermeister. The image went viral on social media. Why?
Perhaps because the kitchen counter did not quite fit the image we have of Støre.
In the wake of the Giske and Metoo case, Støre has introduced that alcohol should not be consumed at festive events. So it may not be entirely appropriate for Støre’s kitchen countertop to look like a freshly finished nachspiel.
Some may also remember Støre as a bit too concerned about public health from his time as Minister of Health, and when it comes to public health. Then it may not be appropriate for the kitchen counter to look like a freshly finished nachspiel.
The result was that Støre’s home interview was drowned in a bottle of liquor.
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Now what?
The three examples of how the attention of Labor Party politics is stolen, be it a budget, a book or an interview, somehow illustrate the problems facing the party now.
Now the party is entering a record period out of government. And that with almost record support.
The scene of the party has changed. In cities, voters have flocked to MDG, Rødt, SV and Folkeaksjonen No more tolls. In the rest of the country the Center Party dominates. All at the expense of the Labor Party.
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However, the Center Party is the challenger at the national level. This means that it is no longer a matter of course for the Labor Party to make the prime minister change government next fall. That is also new.
In interviews, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum is constantly asked if he is a candidate for prime minister. Each time, he is equally concerned about that question. And every time it’s just as entertaining to watch.
And this is how it looks now. We will soon enter an election year.
The 2021 elections will be very exciting. Not least when it comes to the position of the Labor Party.
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