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LEADING CANDIDATE: On Friday, several local Labor parties supported Parliamentary Representative Ingvild Kjerkol. The nominating committee, for its part, chose Marit Bjerkås from Rennebu. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix
TRONDHEIM (VG) At the beginning of the Trøndelag Labor Party election committee meeting on Friday morning, members received a message from leader Arild Grande: If Ingvild Kjerkol is nominated as the new leader, there may be a warning against her.
He tells central sources with information about what happened at the election committee meeting in the Trøndelag Labor Party to VG.
The meeting was aimed at finding a new leadership candidate, after the election committee rejected Trond Giske on Thursday night. The representative of the Storting, Ingvild Kjerkol from Stjørdal, was one of the disputed candidates, according to several sources inform VG.
After six hours, the conclusion came: Marit Bjerkås from Rennebu, not Kjerkol.
According to sources close to the process, the president of the electoral commission, Grande, announced that he had received an SMS, in which the sender wrote that there could be a warning against Kjerkol if she was nominated.
The chairman of the nominating committee said this warning would be about harassment and bad behavior, and would not be compatible with finding a unifying leader, according to information from VG.
Several members of the nominating committee are said to have reported reacting to this during the meeting.
NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE LEADER: According to VG sources, Arild Grande said there would be a warning against Ingvild Kjerkol, if she was nominated as the new county leader in Trøndelag Ap. Photo: DAVID ENGMO
At a news conference Friday night, Elections Committee Chairman Grande said the stories of the past days from the women on the county team were instrumental in their rejecting the first recommendation.
– Marit Bjerkås is a person who is committed to working closely with the party’s culture and who wants to work with the organization. If there is one thing the county party wants now, it is someone who will work with the grassroots and support our members and candidates who are participating in a tough and demanding election campaign, Grande said Friday night.
Kjerkol is from Stjørdal in Nord-Trøndelag and is a health policy spokesperson for the Labor Party. On Friday, several local teams supported Kjerkol as the new county leader.
Before the recommendation was made public, Grande said the committee was reaching the conclusion that they would recommend a female leader.
Snåsa Mayor Tone Våg confirmed on Friday that she was available to the election committee as a leadership candidate.
Ingvild Kjerkol will not comment on the case. VG has not been able to get a comment from Grande.
