The rumor of a leaderless ship The rumor has been swirling for a while. The question of whether Audun Lysbakken has been on the way out has been talked about a lot in the corners of the Storting. Some have even referred to SV as a leaderless ship. Few have known anything, but many believe it has been in the cards. 11 years as party leader is a long time, and with a total of 17 years in the party leadership, it makes him the person in the party’s history who has served the longest. Une Bastholm’s surprising departure as MDG leader this summer has really put the spotlight on parents of young children in politics. Lysbakken just returned from paternity leave, and is a father of four. He has obviously sacrificed a lot at home. Three silent leadership favorites in SV An unanswered question is what it did to Lysbakken’s motivation that the party did not enter government. Although SV is well positioned as a support party in the Storting, it is difficult to see what the next step is for him as SV leader. To enter the government now, you have to be made of something very special to want it. Started uphill Every time someone judges a new party leader up north, it might be wise to recall Audun Lysbakken’s career. That he is today considered a success was by no means a given. He got off to a particularly bad start as SV leader. A few days before he took over as party leader in 2012, he had to resign as a minister. A significantly younger Audun Lysbakken had to step down as minister in 2012 Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB He was then a left-wing candidate, and many believed he would make SV a party for museum keepers and those with special interests. Commentators described him as sullen, angry and without broad and popular appeal. Quotations were brought out from Lysbakken’s radical youth, when he swarmed for Marxism and was far from enthusiastic about the stock exchange and cathedral. Many believed the party had chosen the wrong leader. From sullen Marxist to mr. Cool Man will be looking for a long time for someone who thinks so today. Now Lysbakken appears as a very complete party leader. He has the unbeatable combination of strong authority in his own party while being respected by his competitors. Although he has rightly sharpened the party more than the people’s party they tried to be under Kristin Halvorsen, he has also renewed the party. And Lysbakken himself appears to be anything but a dusty old socialist. He has voter appeal, almost always wins debates and has his own “coolness” that few politicians have. And no one remembers Jenteforsvaret, the subsidy case that caused him to resign as a minister in 2012. Audun Lysbakken has changed a lot, including in the way he dresses, after he became party leader in 2012 Photo: Anette Karlsen / NTB Déjà vu Someone who recognizes it today , is the man who in his time lost the leadership election against Lysbakken, Bård Vegar Solhjell: SV chose correctly when they didn’t choose me, he wrote today on Facebook. At the time, Solhjell was considered the media’s and the right-wing’s favorite to become the new SV leader. The question is what is SV’s “right choice” today. Because it is by no means a matter of course that it is easy to lead SV. The party is in many ways a collection of people who are going to save the world, and they tend to be ungovernable. You don’t have to go back many years before SV was a real quarrelsome party. The internal contradictions, especially when it came to foreign policy, were many. The fact that SV has now acquired a party culture where people apparently pull in the same direction is new. Reviving old grudges But it is no great secret that Lysbakken’s strong position is an important reason why the party is so united. Now it is not just SV that must prioritize its influence with the government. SV will also go through a Nato debate, an issue with the potential to revive old grudges and, in the worst case scenario, blow up the party. Therefore, the party not only needs someone who can lead, but who also has the political compass set correctly. Seen from the outside, there are three candidates who stand out. They have in common that they are northerners, they are well positioned with their own hinterland, but none of them are obvious favourites. Jokers from the north And it’s easy to get a déjà vu to the previous leadership battle between Lysbakken, Solhjell and Heikki Holmås. Kirsti Bergstø, Kari Elisabeth Kaski and Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes are pointed to as possible heirs. Photo: NTB. Kari Elisabeth Kaski represents Oslo and is SV’s fiscal policy spokesperson. She is strong in debates, highly profiled on climate and is considered by many to be SV’s greatest talent. To the surprise of many, she lost the deputy leader match against Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes in 2019. Her weakness is that she is considered a bigger favorite in the media and outside SV than in her own party. Kirsti Bergstø currently represents Akershus and has been deputy leader since 2017. She is considered politically far to the left, profiles herself mostly on distribution and will have close ties to Lysbakken over many years. In the last year, she has shown herself more when she was acting as party leader. Her problem is the opposite of Kaski’s. She does not have the same appeal in the media, but will be stronger within the party. No obvious favorites Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes represents Troms, and is a sort of joker from the north who beat Kaski in the runner-up match. His profile is primarily business and district policy, which means a lot in many county teams. With his important position as SV’s negotiating leader in the Storting, he gets considerable leeway. And profiling. His problem is a substantial commuter housing tax bill. So far, no one has said anything out loud about whether it is a problem for a potential SV leader. None of them have so far raised their hand, and it is difficult to see that any of them have the same format. But Lysbakken itself is the prime example of how wrong one can be.
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The void after Lysbakken – Ytring
