He has made his first trip in “the long election campaign” to Lofoten, Vesterålen and Bodø. – It is to see how what we have decided has significance here. Cheaper kindergartens, free after-school education, cuts in student debt for those who live here, says the prime minister. – And to bring impressions back. Both are very useful. Perhaps it was about getting as far as possible away from the sea of criticism after the state budget was presented. But on the ferry from Fiskebøl to Melbu there is no fishing lake. On the contrary, and at Vestmarka kindergarten in Sortland, the prime minister meets children with Norwegian flags and northern Norwegian spirits. ECONOMY: In Vestmarka kindergarten in Sortland, the prime minister started the long election campaign. Photo: Jorunn Hatling / news Innomhus, Mads Heen Johansen explains to the Prime Minister that he is in his penultimate semester in decentralized education as a kindergarten teacher at Nord University: He educates himself while he works. – I don’t have to move to Bodø. It is an advantage, says Johansen, who will now start his bachelor’s thesis. Lack of educated labor is one of the biggest challenges in Northern Norway. Half of the kindergartens in Nordland lack kindergarten teachers. Everyone is rooting for Støre: He has now promised 10 new study places in Nordland for the education of kindergarten teachers on the job. And thus cancellation of student debt of up to NOK 25,000 a year from 2026 in district municipalities such as Sortland. – We are keen to reach the districts, says Støre. DISTRICT: Cheaper after-school and kindergarten – and plane tickets – the government has provided. Photo: Jorunn Hatling / news Around 70 of the roughly 200 least central municipalities in this country are located in Finnmark, Troms and Nordland. Active district politics, with free ferries and cheaper plane tickets, is one of the measures Støre points to in order to take back Northern Norway. He also hopes that increased investment in the Armed Forces will pay off in the north. But above all, the prime minister trusts that security for the everyday economy will win the election for him, also in the north. – That policy is just as important here, he says. VOTE HUNT: The Prime Minister visits Holmøy Maritime outside Sortland. Photo: Jorunn Hatling / news Labor Party’s decline In the part of the country where the Labor Party in the post-war period has largely cleaned the table, Labor now has only seven parliamentary politicians from the three northernmost counties. In the previous period, the number was six. In the years from the general election in 2013 to 2021, Ap has fallen sharply back in all three northernmost counties, despite a slight increase in Troms and Nordland in the last election. The trend is the same in the municipal elections from 2015 to 2023. The decline has been particularly strong in Finnmark. What Northern Norway means to Støre and Labor Party is illustrated by the following example: With a stake in Nordland and a stake out in Oslo, Labor Party can get as many parliamentary representatives from Nordland as from Oslo next autumn. Namely three. In the local elections last autumn, Ap lost power in Finnmark for the first time in history and lost a total of 39 mayors across the country, 10 of them in Troms and Finnmark. – But it is a pain you have to endure in politics. It hasn’t dented my optimism for what we can mean. At the same time: In Nordland, Ap gained five more mayors in 2023, and the arrows are now pointing upwards in the surveys. – It is by no means completely black in the north. We govern northern Norway’s largest city, Troms county and still many municipalities, says Støre. QUIZMASTER: Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) at Kulturfabrikken in Sortland. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo / news But how many mayors did the Labor Party in Northern Norway lose in the election last autumn? And how many of the country’s inhabitants live in an Labor-run municipality? None of these questions were asked or answered when Støre was quizmaster at the packed Kulturfabrikken in Sortland. During the Solberg government from 2013 to 2021, it was not the Labor Party, but the Center Party that succeeded best in opposition. Northern Norway became SP’s showcase, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum constantly attacked the government for centralizing municipalities, counties and the police – and for failing the districts. Ap was played beyond the touchline in the north. But even if there was an election victory in 2021, the Labor downturn in the north was not over. Local Ap people highlight three factors that have sent the party into a tailspin: The introduction of a new salmon tax in the autumn of 2022, a dispute over a new hospital structure in Lofoten and Helgeland and the decision to electrify the gas plant on Melkøya in Finnmark. Ap veteran about the trouble cases Remi Solberg has been an Ap politician for 25 years. Among other things, he has two terms as mayor behind him in Vestvågøy in Lofoten and as county council leader for Nordland in 2022. – Melkøya was obviously not a good thing. And hospital disputes both in Helgeland, in Lofoten and in Narvik created an uncertainty factor that was extremely demanding, he says to news. – Of course it has consequences for a governing party, says Solberg. The entire Vestvågøy Ap, including Solberg, resigned from the party in protest against the proposal to remove emergency functions at Gravdal in Lofoten. When the matter was resolved, he returned. Solberg draws up a separate concept: a case must pass the “café test”, i.e. withstand the discussion around the local café tables. The case concerning Helse Nord did not pass the café test. But, one year before the election, the matter has been resolved in a way that has created peace, says the Ap veteran. He points out that the emergency response in Lofoten and Narvik is secured and has received money. – What do you and other Ap people in the north want to hear from Støre? – What we hear is one thing, but we are concerned with what we actually get. It is important that the government contributes to good health and care services, nurseries and housing. It must be clearly stated in the state budget, says Solberg. The coastal rebellion The salmon tax led to rebellion along the entire coast, also in the north. And the criticism was just as harsh from the party’s own mayors as from the opposition. As you know, it takes a long time to build trust, but a short time to tear it down. – Ap does not shy away from making some difficult choices. The basic interest tax will stand. The industry is doing well, it delivers great results and large volumes. That an industry that receives more tax is protesting is no surprise, says Støre today. He visited the brand new facility of Holmøy Maritime outside Sortland and points out that the company has employed 100 more since he visited four years ago. – We have a tax regime that still makes it exciting to invest and bet in Norway. The salmon tax: – A before and after When Støre visits the brand new fish reception of Holmøy Maritime outside Sortland, the tone is cautious from CEO Knut Holmøy. – It created a bit of uncertainty. We have a local ownership which we have guarded for many, many years. So it does something to us. At the same time, we have faith in the future of the industry we will be in going forward. – Labor has struggled a lot in Northern Norway in recent years. Does it have anything to do with the salmon tax? – I don’t know that. I won’t answer that. It can be complex. But I don’t ignore the fact that it may have affected the coast that you get such treasures inside you. But the prime minister believes Ap’s decline in the north is also due to circumstances completely outside his control. It is about uncertainty, high price growth and rising interest rates. – We have paid dearly for that, he states. And what if the power uprising unites northern Norway in a common fear that the government, with electrification with power from land, will now provide expensive electricity in the north as well? – Melkøya is an expression of the fact that we are in an energy transition, says Støre. – Will there be electrification? – It will be electrification, says Støre. – But there is an electrification in step with a power boost for Finnmark. County leader: – The biggest challenge is people County leader Mona Nilsen in Nordland Ap points out that the party has grown strongly in local opinion polls during the year. – It shows that we live on policies that are important to the population of Nordland. We have delivered on major issues, we are building two new airports, we have introduced free ferries on almost all connections and we have halved the price of FOT routes. – What will it take for Ap to rise in the north in the run-up to the election? – We must continue to deliver on policies that are important to the citizens of the entire region. We also have to be better at bringing out the important issues that we are already delivering on, and what would actually be the consequence for the north if the Conservatives come into government. – The biggest challenge for the region is primarily people. Then we must create attractive local communities throughout the region, good health services throughout the region, secure jobs and have good infrastructure. – Which specific issues do you think can explain why many voters have left Ap in the three northernmost counties in recent years? – We have had cases that have been demanding both in Nordland and the region, which can affect support. The restructuring processes at Helse Nord hit us very hard, and have caused great unrest among the residents. “It’s serious” During the head of government’s visit to the north, it is neither free ferries nor cheaper plane tickets that people are talking about, but red numbers in the municipal accounts. Several Conservative mayors come forward during Støre’s trip to threaten school closures or other welfare cuts. But there is also murmuring among Støre’s own people. Narvik mayor Rune Edvardsen is afraid that strained municipal finances will put a damper on Labor’s progress in the election year. – In Narvik, there is a deficit of approximately NOK 60 million in 2024, which we will carry into 2025, he states. – Everyone gets a lot more, but the money is still eaten up by price and wage increases and interest. You are not left with anything more realistic. Labor mayor on strained municipal finances Narvik mayor Rune Edvardsen is afraid strained municipal finances will put a stick in the wheels for Labor progress into the election year. – What we are concerned with now is to maintain and get new jobs so that you can maintain the settlement, create growth and development and, not least, provide good services to the residents. Then the government must invest in municipalities and municipal finances. People don’t live in the state, people live in a municipality, he says to news. The Labor mayor says many municipalities in the north will face uncertainty in 2025 and will carry deficits from this year into next year. – In Narvik, there is a deficit of approximately NOK 60 million in 2024, which we will carry into 2025, he notes. – Everyone gets a lot more, but the money is still eaten up by price and wage increases and interest. You are not left with anything more realistic. The Labor veteran fears that the municipalities in the north will not be able to solve all their statutory tasks. – What can this do to support for Ap? – If Labor is to continue to have government power, the citizens must really feel that they are being taken care of where they live. Then we as municipal politicians must be put in a position to provide them with good municipal services. It is serious, and I am happy about the signals from the government about more money for the municipalities in the rebalancing of the national budget in December. Støre tries to reassure both party members and the opposition. – I am most worried about the municipalities getting an economy where they find it difficult to deliver services that are necessary in everyday life, says Støre. And promises an early Christmas present: – We are sending a very clear signal: We will go through the numbers. There will be more money already for the current year, in the new balance sheet in December. 11 months before the election, the average of the surveys shows a bourgeois majority, according to the website Pollofpolls. But there is a long way to go. VETERAN: Narvik mayor Rune Edvardsen. Photo: Frida Brembo Published 19.10.2024, at 17.53
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The hunt for a comeback – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
