This appears from the annual report to the Conservative Party. It has been published ahead of the party’s national meeting this weekend. “We have had a total of 9 cases in 2022. All cases have been concluded, except for the last one received. In the vast majority of cases, it has been concluded that there has been a breach of the party’s ethical guidelines,” the party writes in the report. “The reactions range from written warnings to loss of office and positions in the party,” it says. Conservative Party Secretary General Tom Erlend Skaug confirms that none of the cases affect politicians or Conservative Party employees at national level. – After a period of pandemic, where people did not meet, we have had a few more cases in 2022 that we have dealt with, he says to news. – Some cases have sexual harassment as a theme, others focus more on poor organizational culture and conflicts. news does not know the content of the notices beyond what is described in the annual report and what the secretary-general says. Recommended police report Secretary General Tom Erlend Skaug cannot say exactly how many of the cases are about sexual harassment. – But it appears from our annual report that we have dealt with nine notification cases in 2022, and they are divided between cases about sexual harassment and cases about poor organizational culture and conflicts, he says. – Have you recommended reporting to the police in any of the cases? – Yes, it has happened. But not in many cases. – How have you reacted to those who have been notified and where you have gone into cases and found out a reason to react? – There is a wide range of different forms of reaction, from a written warning to loss of office and positions. – It is quite serious when people lose their positions? – That’s it. Self-examination A number of metoo cases in 2017, 2018 and 2019 caused the political parties to undertake work to update their ethical regulations. This also applied to the Conservative Party, which is gathering at the weekend for a national meeting at Gardermoen. REACTS: The Norwegian Conservative Party’s general secretary Tom Erlend Skaug. Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB In the annual report it is stated that “People who want each other well – party culture, ethical guidelines and notification” has had a very special and central place in the Conservative Party since 2018. The party has worked a lot to make the new guidelines known in the party and put them on the agenda at regular intervals, according to Skaug. – How big is this problem in the Conservative Party? – There is still a moderate number of cases. But all cases are one too many. After all, we want to have a culture in Høyre where we should do each other good, where it should be a safe environment for everyone to be in. – The Conservative Party had some very serious issues regarding this with the former young Conservative leader, who broke the party’s guidelines and lost office and positions in the party. Does this show that one has not learned from these cases? – No, we have definitely learned from those cases in the sense that we have become even more aware of our ethical guidelines, that we have a very clear system for receiving and following up on reports, and not least, that the threshold for notifying has become lower. I believe this is also an important consequence of metoo, which I believe is positive. – It is important that we have good ethical guidelines, and that we deal with all such cases, take them seriously and react in those cases where we conclude that there is a breach of our ethical guidelines, says Skaug.
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New metoo cases in the Conservative Party – have taken people’s offices and positions – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
