Jonas Gahr Støre believes it will be easier for the Labor Party after Giske’s departure – VG

– I think all the attention that is related to the person and Trond Giske, which he points out and that I also see. These are questions that have nothing to do with politics. I think it is good that we are at the end of the road, to use your words.

This is what Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre tells VG on the phone, on the way to celebrating his own birthday.

– Do you think it will be easier now that Giske says he will get into politics?

– Yes I think so. I am relieved that we have now been chosen as a direction that I believe will gather support and support, he says.

Støre says that it has been a week marked by great commitment and many emotions, where the issue of trust has been put at the center. In particular, he mentions how what he calls an “uncomfortable” culture and warnings from young women affect confidence in politics.

– I think the annual meeting landed well with the election of a leader who is strong, and who now has a very clear task to address these cultural challenges and focus on politics, so that the Labor Party can win the elections in Trøndelag again and contribute. to win the elections in Norway, he says.

When asked if Trond Giske should have given up earlier, Støre replies:

– It has happened now, and I look forward to it.

When Giske himself delivered a speech at the annual meeting on Saturday, he said that he had ambition for Trøndelag Ap to be a winning team, but that he lives well with the fact that it won’t be with him at the helm.

Satisfied with the manager

After dramatic days in Trøndelag, Ingvild Kjerkol finally ended up as party leader in the county. This came after the nominating committee unanimously nominated Marit Bjerkås, Rennebu’s deputy mayor, as a candidate on Friday.

Kjerkol herself was a relevant candidate and thus sparked reactions that the chairman of the electoral committee, Arild Grande, should have warned that there could be warnings against her if she was elected.

Kjerkol, for his part, was nominated as a candidate as a bench proposal during the annual meeting and won the elections with 156 to 75 votes.

Støre says that he is very happy that the annual meeting has brought Ingvild Kjerkol as the new county leader in the Trøndelag Labor Party, and believes that she is one of the top politicians he trusts.

He himself has spoken with her after the winner of the election and says that that conversation was, above all, about what she faces now and to convey that she must get the support she needs.

The new county leader told VG on Saturday night that she opened up to become a minister, but Støre will not comment on whether this may be relevant.

– I don’t list publicly about it now. We have the option to win first, he says.

May be necessary for conversations

Kjerkol herself took a firm stand against what the pre-election process had been like when she took the podium in Steinkjer on Saturday. She strongly opposed Arild Grande and believes he has broken routines for both electoral processes and notification.

On Saturday, the party’s party secretary, Kjersti Stenseng TV2, announced that there will be a review of the process.

Grande himself has announced that he wants the Labor Party to have a central review of the conflict between him and the new county leader.

– Do you want to investigate the conflict between Grande and Kjerkol?

– Here we must be ordered. Kjerkol, whom they have known well for many years in politics in Trøndelag, elected two-thirds of the annual meeting. We have not received any alerts about Ingvild Kjerkol, he says, adding:

– We have clear rules for alerts, they must be delivered to the party office and handled from there. I am very interested in taking alerts not only seriously, but also correctly. It may be necessary to talk about what it means to make accusations in the form of notices without having served notices, but we have to take that in turn. The important thing now is for the new team to start, says Støre.

He believes that there has already been a lot of clean-up work in the Trøndelag Labor Party, and that the drama of the past week has shown that it is important to take trust seriously.

– Some of what has emerged today has its roots in time, but also down to our time. I think what the Trøndelag Labor Party did this week, if there is any doubt about the question of taking this seriously, it goes beyond confidence. This is a very important message that applies in Trøndelag, but also in the rest of the country, he says.

Grande said today from the rostrum that “he had seen people expelled, almost dead in our party.” That it is not about an individual, but about a culture. What can be done to get rid of that culture?

– If it happens, it is totally unacceptable. So we need to clear it up and make sure that those who experience it will speak up. I want to work to remove that culture.

– Are you going to talk to Grande about what she wants to say?

– Now, first of all, I have talked to Ingvild Kjerkol about what she is facing and that she will get the support that she will get, and then we will work for a good and safe party culture.