Melkøya, power and news – this is how SP explains the election shock – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

The Center Party went back a full 6.2 percentage points to a support of 8.2 per cent in the municipal elections this autumn. 40 mayor chains were lost. Now the party has evaluated the election campaign in search of answers. And one of the answers to the decline is to be found at a sunny press conference outside Hammerfest in the run-up to the election. On a podium at Equinor’s facility on Melkøya, Labor party leader and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Sp leader and Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum present what they themselves describe as “the largest single climate measure decided by a Norwegian government”. The point has been set for a long and intense debate: The huge gas plant in the sea gap is to be supplied with electricity from land – to major protests from local SP teams who fear a power shortage in Finnmark and an explosion in electricity prices. “Strategically not smart” news knows that several central politicians in the Center Party were strongly critical of announcing the Melkøya decision in the middle of the election rush. Now this appears in black and white in the party’s own evaluation report, which was presented to the central board earlier today. All the county mayors, county leaders and other key local union representatives that the evaluation committee has interviewed describe the Melkøya case as demanding: – The case dominated much of the election campaign and it became difficult for our people to see what our “victories” were in this case. This was particularly true in the north, but this matter was perceived negatively throughout the country, the report states. The committee’s own conclusion contains the following shocking description: – The Melkøya decision was strategically unwise and created great uncertainty in Finnmark, but also in the rest of the country. Melkøya became a symbolic case that had consequences. Headwinds The report from the committee, which has been led by Storting representative Bengt Fasteraune, also states the obvious: It is easier to run an election campaign with a headwind like in 2019 than against a headwind like in 2023. – It was more demanding to run our election campaign in 2023, among other things because the positive national political effect becomes more difficult when we can no longer only face SP politics, but also have to deal with compromises in government, the report states. It also highlights the salmon tax, the high electricity prices and the relationship with the European power market as difficult issues in the election campaign. – The Center Party has won many cases in government, but the cases did not reach voters who could have voted for the Center Party, notes the committee, which apparently also has a hen or two to pick with news: – news organized a national election campaign for the Conservative Party and Labor Party in the cities , there was also a strengthening of the story about Erna and Jonas. It was negative for our election campaign, according to the report.



ttn-69