– Although I am a little disappointed today, I have made one of the better elections in Norway’s history, said party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum during his speech at the party’s vigil in Oslo. It was a calm party leader who spoke to his party. – It has been a bit of an election campaign. It has been really windy, Vedum said in his speech. Party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum received a standing ovation at the Center Party’s vigil, but acknowledged in his speech that many were probably disappointed. Photo: Lars Os / news At the same time, he emphasized that they should make a strong comeback during the Storting elections in 2025. So far, the forecasts for the Center Party have only gone down since they started at 9.7 per cent. Right now, the party is likely to get 8.4 percent of the vote, which is a decrease of 6.1 percentage points. – We are a party that takes responsibility, and we have taken responsibility in a special time, not least with varying prices and people feeling uneasy about the everyday economy, so I think that is of course part of the reason for this here, says Vedum news after the speech. With a record number of votes, the Center Party (Sp) was the clear winner in the previous municipal and county council elections in 2019. In total, they won the mayoralty in 135 municipalities. The cheers were at the ceiling For now, Sp seems to be the largest in 67 of the country’s municipalities, and to sink the most in the municipalities of Andøy (-45.5 percentage points), Verdal (-36.5 percentage points) and Brønnøy (-32.7 percentage points). Despite the decline, cheers were high when the forecast was presented at 9pm at the party’s vigil at Akershus Fortress in Oslo. The cheers were loud, despite the decline, when the forecasts were presented at the Center Party’s vigil. Photo: Lars Os / news – It’s very exciting then, so it will be exciting to follow the race further, says Minister for Research and Higher Education from Troms, Sandra Borch to news. She believes that Sp, despite the forecast, stands out as a large and broad party, which can be counted on in both large and small municipalities. – Now I think everyone is just waiting and watching the final result, says Borch. Support throughout the country Strong decline in Finnmark In Finnmark, the Center Party is tentatively set to get 4.7 percent of the vote. Here, 71.8 percent of the votes have been counted. After a snap election in the northernmost county in 2019, the forecast suggests that polling from Finnmark shows that popularity has dropped. At the previous election, the Center Party still got 24.1 percent of the votes in the county council election in Troms and Finnmark. In Troms, the party is likely to get 8 percent of the vote. – It has not been decided in Troms and in many counties whether there is still talk of bringing in talented people from the Center Party and not least talented people from the Center Youth Council, says leader of the Center Youth Council Andrine Hanssen-Seppola. Before news’s forecast was presented at 9 p.m., Storting representative Geir Adelsten Iversen said that he would be satisfied if the Center Party received support of between 10 and 15 percent in Finnmark. Storting representative for Finnmark, Geir Adelsten Iversen, believes the Melkøya case has severely punished the party in the county. Photo: Lars Os / news – I tried a little hard here, but I see that I am very severely punished, says Iversen after the forecast came out. – Perhaps it was not entirely unexpected that it came. People have not had confidence in the Center Party, says the parliamentary representative. Iversen believes the Melkøya case, which created a lot of local opposition, can explain what appears to be a sharp decline. – I think the big picture is more about the private economy, so of course Melkøya created noise in the election campaign, but basically I think the main reason is what I said in town, says party leader Vedum. The Melkøya controversy One issue that has caused much controversy in the north is the electrification of Melkøya. The investment was presented by Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp), Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) and Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) at the beginning of August. In retrospect, the criticism from local Sp-toppers has been hailed. – My membership is hanging by a thread and he is starting to get quite chipped. If I don’t lose weight quickly, I think he might smoke, said deputy mayor of Alta, Jan Martin Rishaug (Sp) as a reaction to the venture. Electrification has also been met with resistance from the local population. A survey conducted by InFact for Altaposten and news shows that over 66 percent of the over a thousand respondents say no to the electrification of Melkøya. Thinks the decline is due to the government’s position Agriculture and Food Minister, Geir Pollestad, says the decline is expected. – But if we see a result of 8.5, it will be the second best result we have had since the EU dispute in the mid-90s. So historically, it will be a result to live with, says Pollestad to news. He hopes the party will catch up with those voters who voted on election day. Nevertheless, there seems to be a clear decrease in the number of votes. – It has been two tough years in government, he says. The minister points to several reasons why it has been difficult: war, higher interest rates, weakened krone exchange rate, and rising prices. – It is not something that causes cheers among the voters, but I think the priorities and the choice I have made are correct, says Pollestad.
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Sharp decline for the Center Party – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
