In summary, 54 municipalities in Norway have never had female mayors. In 2015, there were 122 municipalities that had never had female mayors. Frp, Høgre and KrF have the lowest proportion of female mayors. According to researchers, one of the main reasons why many municipalities have not had female mayors is that women have a shorter period of time in politics. Women sit on average for a little more than one municipal council term, while men sit on average for a little more than two periods. Everyday logistics and culture may be reasons why women serve a shorter time in the municipal council than men. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. She stands outside the tired brick building with the municipality logo in the center of Sykkylven. Birgitte Sætre Bonesmo could have had a seat in the mayor’s office, if everything had gone her way after the election last autumn. – I was so close. It was very close, says Bonesmo. Internal strife in Høgre meant that Bonesmo lost the battle for the mayorship, and thus the municipality did not get its first female mayor, as she had hoped. Instead, the job went to Olav Harald Ulstein (Frp). – Today’s mayor is doing a good job, that’s not it. But it is important that women are also represented at the top, says Bonesmo. Sykkylven is one of 54 municipalities that has never had a woman as mayor. This is shown by a survey from the Municipal Report. Photo: Mia Sofie Ytreberg / news More female mayors A survey from Kommunal Rapport shows that things are going in the right direction, but still 54 municipalities in the country have never had female mayors. This is a big change from 2015. Then there were 122 municipalities that had never had women in office. Frp, Høgre and KrF have the lowest proportion of women among their mayors, the survey shows. KrF comes out worst, with only two women among the country’s 12 mayors. These municipalities have never had female mayors. Møre og Romsdal) Sykkylven Gjemnes Smøla Flatanger Vega Alstahaug Lurøy Meløy Gildeskål Sørfold Vågan Bø (Nordland) Andøy Sørreisa Skjervøy Vardø Loppa Source: Municipal Report, which has taken as a point of departure the Statistics Norway’s figures from 1971 to 2019 and the mayor’s own overview for 2023. – Not better than men Yvonne Wold (SV) is starting her second term as mayor in Rauma municipality. She became historic in 2019, because Rauma had never had a woman at the top before. – This is not about women doing a better job as mayors than men. It’s about whether we as a society feel that men and women are equal, says Wold. Although many municipalities have not had female mayors, Wold believes that the development is going in the right direction. – Being a mayor is a demanding job, but I think both sexes have the same prerequisites for handling it, says Wold. Yvonne Wold (SV) became the first female mayor in Rauma in 2019. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news Wants experienced election researcher Bjarte Folkestad at the University of Volda, says that the reason why several municipalities have not had female mayors is compounded. One of the main reasons is that women have a shorter period of time in politics. – This means that when the party and voters are looking for experienced candidates, they often find men, he says. Women sit on average for a little more than one municipal council period, while men on average sit for a little more than two periods. Bjarte Folkestad is an electoral researcher at the University of Volda. Photo: Øyvind Sandnes / news The reason why women sit on the municipal council for a shorter time than men, the researcher believes, may be that some people find it difficult to get the weekday with children to get up, when the meeting takes place in the evening. It can also be about culture. Guteklubben grei Edel Myhre is disappointed that Sykkylven does not have a female mayor, but was not surprised. Photo: Mia Sofie Ytreberg / news In Sykkylven, Edel Myhre hoped that they would finally have female mayors, and was disappointed. – It’s been a bit of a boys’ club, so I wasn’t surprised, says Myhre. She believes that women must show themselves more in politics. Unni Solnørdal has no doubt that a woman can do just as good a job as a man. Photo: Mia Sofie Ytreberg / news Unni Solnørdal has not thought too much about the fact that her municipality has only had men in the driver’s seat, but believes that it is time for a woman. – Of course. A woman is just as well equipped as a man, and can get to grips with things just as well, says Solnørdal. Doubts about re-election Local politician Birgitte Sætre Bonesmo resigned from Høgre after the election and now sits on the municipal council as an independent representative. For her, it is therefore not relevant to run as a mayoral candidate as of now. She still believes that a woman will be closed. – After all, women make up 50 percent of the population. It is important to show that women can have a mayoral position, not just men, says Bonesmo. In order for that to happen, she believes that a number of men have to look inside themselves and see that it is okay with female mayors.
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54 municipalities have never had female mayors, Birgitte Sætre Bonesmo was close in Sykkylven – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
