Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 11 September 2017 to elect all 169 members of the unicameral Norwegian Parliament, the Storting. The non-socialist parties retained a reduced majority of 88 seats, allowing Prime Minister Erna Solberg's Conservative-Progress coalition to remain in government. The Liberal Party joined the coalition in January 2018 but it remained a minority cabinet until the Christian Democratic Party joined the coalition in 2019. The three largest centre-left parties won 79 seats. The Green Party retained its single seat, while the Red Party won its first ever seat.

Background The last parliamentary elections in Norway were held on 9 September 2013. The outcome was a victory for the Conservatives and their populist right-wing allies. The Conservative Party, led by Erna Solberg, and the right-wing populist Progress Party formed a two-party minority government, with Solberg as Prime Minister. The two parties received confidence and supply from two centrist parties, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats.

Electoral system The election used party-list proportional representation in nineteen multi-member constituencies, one for each of the counties of Norway.

The number of members to be returned from each constituency varies between 4 and 19. To determine the apportionment of the 169 seats amongst the 19 counties, a two-tier formula is used, based on population and geographic size. Each inhabitant counts one point, while each square kilometer counts 1.8 points.

150 of the seats are regular district seats. These are awarded based on the election results in each county, and are unaffected by results in other counties. Nineteen of the seats (one for each county) are leveling seats, awarded to parties who win fewer seats than their share of the national popular vote otherwise entitles them to. A modification of the Sainte-Lague method, where the first quotient for each party is calculated using a divisor of 1.4 instead of 1, is used to allocate both the constituency and leveling seats. A party must win 4% of the popular vote in order to win compensation seats, but may still win district seats even if it fails to reach this threshold. The system for apportioning seats is biased in favour of rural areas since the area of the county is a factor, but the system of compensation seats reduces the effect this has on final party strength.

Date According to the Norwegian constitution, parliamentary elections must be held every four years. The Norwegian parliament may not be dissolved before such a four-year term has ended, a rather rare trait of a political system found in few, if any democracies besides Norway and the USA.

On 22 April 2016, the Norwegian government announced that the date of the election is set to be Monday, 11 September 2017. Additionally, each municipal council may vote to extend voting by one day, by also opening the polling stations on Sunday, 10 September.

Participating parties Eight political parties were represented in the Norwegian parliament prior to the election, all of whom went on to contest the 2017 election. The Labour Party (Ap) is with its 55 seats in parliament the largest party of the 2013-2017 parliament. Labour describes itself as a social-democratic party of the centre-left. The party is led by former minister of foreign affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, who has served as party leader and leader of the opposition since June 2014. The Conservative Party (H) is the largest party of the incumbent government. Currently, the Conservatives hold 48 seats, after having garnered close to 27 percent of the vote in the previous election. The Conservatives' party leader is Prime Minister Erna Solberg. The Conservative Party is considered to be a moderate centre-right party in the Norwegian political spectrum, and it officially subscribes to the liberal conservative ideology. The Progress Party (FrP) is led by Siv Jensen and currently serves as the junior partner in the Solberg cabinet. The party identifies as classical liberal and conservative-liberal. Political scientists broadly consider it a right-wing populist party,"Forskere: Frp er høyrepopulistisk", Verdens Gang (NTB), 14.09.2013. "- Ja, de er høyrepopulister. Men sammenlignet med andre slike partier i Europa er de en moderat utgave og har sterkere innslag av liberalkonservative strømninger, sier Jupskås." ("Yes, they are right-wing populists. But compared to similar parties in Europe, they are a moderate version, and have stronger elements of liberal-conservative currents, Jupskås (Anders Ravik Jupskås, lecturer Department of Political Science, University of Oslo) says.") a label the party denies. The Christian Democratic Party (KrF) is a centre to centre-right party, based on Christian democratic values. The party is led by Knut Arild Hareide, and participated in the 2013 election as a proponent of the centre-right coalition led by the Conservatives. The Centre Party (Sp) is the fifth largest party in the Norwegian legislature, with 10 seats. Between 2005 and 2013 the party served as a junior partner in the Red-Green government. The party is led by Trygve Slagsvold Vedum. The party is centrist and primarily agrarian, with some conservative and some liberal factions. The Liberal Party (V) of Trine Skei Grande currently holds 9 seats in the Norwegian parliament. It claims to be the sole social-liberal party in the country, and positions itself in the centre of Norwegian politics. The Liberals have a close relationship with the Christian Democrats. The Socialist Left Party (SV) is the second smallest party in parliament, and campaigned for a third term as a part of the Red-Green coalition government in 2013. The party sees itself as democratic socialist and environmentalist. Since 2012, Audun Lysbakken has chaired the party. The Green Party (MDG) made its debut in the Norwegian parliament in the 2013 election, gaining a single seat from the Oslo district. The Greens have no official party leader, but rather two national spokespersons. Currently, these spokespersons are Une Aina Bastholm and Rasmus Hansson. The party distances itself from the left-right axis, and identifies as an environmentalist party.

Additionally, the far-left Red Party led by Bjørnar Moxnes secured its first seat via a direct mandate in Oslo district. It had failed to secure representation in previous elections. The party is officially Communist in orientation and is a successor to the Red Electoral Alliance, which had previously won a seat in the 1993 election.

Campaign Slogans Party Original slogan English translation Labour Party"Alle skal med"«Everyone must join» Conservative Party"Vi tror på Norge"«We believe in Norway» Progress PartyChristian Democratic Party Centre Party"Senterpartiet skal stoppe sentraliseringa i Norge gjennom ei regjering for hele Norge"«Centre party shall stop the centralization in Norway through a government for all of Norway» Liberal Party Socialist Left Party Red Electoral Alliance Sources:

Donations According to Statistisk sentralbyrå, a total of 67.34 million NOK in campaign contributions was raised by all political parties in 2017. Party Donations (NOK) Labour Party 29,688,423 Conservative Party 15,363,600 Socialist Left Party 6,229,207 Progress Party 4,339,200 Centre Party 4,037,657 Liberal Party 3,633,991 Green Party 1,212,476 Red Party 1,149,862 Christian Democratic Party 145,230

Debates 2017 Norwegian general election debates Date Time Organisers Present   Invitee  Non-invitee  Absent invitee.ApHFrpKrFSpVSvRMdGRefs CivitaPJonas Gahr StørePErna SolbergNSiv JensenNKnut Arild HareideNTrygve Slagsvold VedumNTrine Skei GrandeNAudun LysbakkenNBjørnar MoxnesNUne Bastholm 21:30 NRKPJonas Gahr StørePErna SolbergPSiv JensenPKnut Arild HareidePTrygve Slagsvold VedumPTrine Skei GrandePAudun LysbakkenPBjørnar MoxnesPUne Bastholm 21:30 NRKPJonas Gahr StørePErna SolbergNSiv JensenNKnut Arild HareideNTrygve Slagsvold VedumNTrine Skei GrandeNAudun LysbakkenNBjørnar MoxnesNUne Bastholm 18:00 Dagen and Bergens TidendeNJonas Gahr StøreNErna SolbergPSylvi ListhaugAKnut Arild HareideNTrygve Slagsvold VedumNTrine Skei GrandeNAudun LysbakkenNBjørnar MoxnesNUne Bastholm 21:25 NRKPJonas Gahr StørePErna SolbergPSiv JensenPKnut Arild HareidePTrygve Slagsvold VedumPTrine Skei GrandePAudun LysbakkenPBjørnar MoxnesPRasmus Hansson 21:30 NRKPJonas Gahr StørePErna SolbergPSiv JensenPKnut Arild HareidePTrygve Slagsvold VedumPTrine Skei GrandePAudun LysbakkenPBjørnar MoxnesPUne Bastholm

Opinion polls

Seat predictions Polling PeriodGovernmentOppositionGovernmentOppositionGovernment LeadSeptember 2017422887481710728584 +1August 2017422892501910728188 -7July 201740249258208717594 -19June 201743258259228117891 -13May 201743249258228127891 -13April 201743249258238117891 -13March 201743239360218117891 -13February 201742279360188118188 -7January 201741249765147118188 -7December 201641258766128118188 -7November 201641229868127118089 -9October 201645258867122118683 +3September 201644268763127118584 +1August 201646269765122118881 +7July 201646279857137119079 +11June 201640289763118218485 -1May 201642289861127118782 +5April 201642309860117118980 +9March 201646319860112119475 +19February 201643309859107219079 +11January 201643299858107418980 +9December 201539329761111818782 +5November 201539299764112718485 -1October 201539199868117717594 -19September 201540209866107817792 -15August 201542239866102818287 -5July 20153822986987717792 -15June 201539219872101817792 -15May 201542219870101718089 -9April 2015412010973101418089 -9March 2015411910876112117891 -13February 2015382010977102217792 -15January 2015412010876102207990 -11December 201440201097792207990 -11November 2014402111874102218089 -9October 20144624886992218683 +3September 20144926996492109376 +17August 20145026996392109475 +19July 2014482281067101218881 +7June 2014482510964101119277 +15May 20144726996187119178 +13April 2014502610106282109673 +23March 20144926996392119376 +17February 201452241096292109574 +21January 201453261096082109871 +27December 201351261096192109673 +23November 20135226995697109673 +23October 201352269105687109772 +25

Results

Seat distribution ConstituencyTotalseatsSeats wonBy partyBy coalitionAHFrPSpSVVKrFMdGRBorgerligAkershus17563111710Aust-Agder4111113Buskerud93221154Finnmark5211132Hedmark72112152Hordaland16452211179Møre og Romsdal92321136Nord-Trøndelag5211132Nordland92222154Oppland72112143Oslo1956222117102Østfold93221154Rogaland1444311168Sogn og Fjordane4111122Sør-Trøndelag1042111164Telemark62111133Troms62111142Vest-Agder6121215Vestfold7231124Total1694945271911881180872Source: Election Authority

Voter demographics Cohort Percentage of cohort voting for Ap H FrP Sp Sv V KrF MDG R Others Total vote 27.37% 25.04% 15.19% 10.32% 6.02% 4.37% 4.20%3.24% 2.41% Gender Females 29.4% 23.7% 11.6% 9.6% 8.7% 4.9% 9.6% 3.7% 2.1% Males 25.4% 26.3% 18.5% 11.1% 3.5% 3.9% 11.1% 2.8% 2.7% Age 18–30 years old 22% 17.4% 12.7% 12.7% 8.5% 10.4% 3.5% 6.6% 3.1% 30-59 years old 28.4% 27.8% 13.3% 9.5% 6.2% 3.7% 3.6% 3.5% 2.6% 60 years old and older 28.5% 24.1% 20.3% 10.4% 4.4% 2.2% 5.5% 0.9% 1.8% Work low income 26% 21% 16.5% 12.9% 6.2% 4.3% 4.3% 4.1% 2.1% Average income 27.9% 22.1% 17.1% 11% 7.1% 3.7% 4.5% 2.6% 2.8% High income 29% 33.5% 11.2% 7.6% 4.7% 4.3% 3.7% 2.7% 1.8% Education Primary school 28.7% 22.3% 21.7% 13.1% 2.9% 3.2% 3.2% 1.6% 1% High school 24.6% 25.1% 19.4% 11.9% 5.7% 3.4% 4% 2.6% 1.6% University/college 28.9% 26.4% 9.5% 8.1% 7.7% 5.5% 4.6% 4.5% 3.4% Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research

Results by municipality

Aftermath Prime Minister Solberg set out to form a governing coalition between the Conservative Party, Progress Party, Liberal Party, and the Christian Democrats. In late September 2017, the Christian Democrats left coalition talks due to the inclusion of the Progress Party.