Both the Conservative Party and the Labor Party are making strong progress compared to the election results in 2019. Both parties get over 30 percent of the vote each. The bourgeois bloc with the Conservative Party, the Progressive Party (Frp), the Liberal Party, the Christian People’s Party (KrF) and the Pensioners’ Party (Pp) has a narrow majority with 34 mandates. In Stavanger, the votes have just been counted just before 00:30 tonight. Today’s governing parties the Labor Party (Ap), the Center Party (Sp), the Green Party (MDG), the Socialist Left Party (SV), and the People’s Party (FP) (formerly FNB) have not gained a majority, and the latter is out of the municipal council with less than 0, 5 percent of the votes. MDG, Rødt and Sp are also falling sharply behind the current governing parties. The result, however, gives two very even blocs, and the negotiations between the parties have begun in full swing last night. Earlier this evening, the Industrial and Business Party (INP) was likely to end up on the edge. Leader in Stavanger, Jan Inge Selvik, negotiated with both sides. Just before midnight, Selvik was in and chatting with the left bloc in Stavanger. And then he made the trip, as far as news knows, to the Høyre, Venstre and KrF, who had set up in a room in the city centre. The INP is in with two mandates, but they are now not needed to form a majority for the bourgeois. Just before, the Center Party’s Bjarne Kvadsheim also walked in the door. Sp has, as is known, held power together with the left in the last period. Earlier in the evening, at Stavanger Høyre’s election vigil at Fiskepiren, the mood was at its height when the figures were announced at 9pm. – With this measurement, our block is likely to get 35 mandates, so that’s fantastic – absolutely brilliant! exclaimed mayoral candidate Sissel Knutsen Hegdal. Will Sissel Knutsen Hegdal (H) be the new mayor of Stavanger? As of now, none of the blocs has a majority, but the bourgeois are the closest. Photo: Erik Waage / news – A blue city – Stavanger is a blue city, here a light blue Conservative has always had a good foothold. In 2019, it was the toll party that very surprisingly went to Ap, said Knutsen Hegdal to news. – But will you bring the other parties with you? – If our bloc has a majority, then we have a very good basis for sitting down and discussing. We have such a good collaboration, with open and honest discussions, she said. For the last four years, Ap has therefore governed in Stavanger together with SV, R, Sp, MDG and FP. The mayor has been Kari Nessa Nordtun from Ap. Prior to this, the Conservative Party had had mayors Leif Johan Sevland and Christine Sagen Helgø since 1995. Hope lives with Ap Despite the fact that the party is likely to lose the majority, there were cheers at Ap’s election vigil on the Tou stage. “Kari”, “Kari”, “Kari” resounded in the former factory premises. – This will be incredibly exciting! said mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun to news. Hope lives on in the Ap camp at Tou Scene. Mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun and second candidate Dag Mossige. Photo: Erik Waage / news – We are facing an increase in the number of mandates, so here it will be very even until the last vote is counted, she continued. – But it is likely that the Conservative Party will take the mayor’s office and power? – Yes, they are up to it for the time being, but all the votes in Stavanger must be counted, it is important, then we know that Ap will get more votes on election day than advance votes. – You are currently in line for 33 mandates, but is it together with the Industrial and Business Party (INP)? – We are in contact with the other parties, said Nessa Nordtun. Stavanger Municipal Council – Talking to everyone At the Patrioten restaurant a few kilometers outside the city centre, news visited Jan Inge Selvik, head of Stavanger INP. – I talk to everyone. There are two very handsome girls standing against each other, of course we will talk together, he said. Jan Inge Selvik at INP’s election vigil at Patrioten. Photo: Erik Waage / news Selvik smiled from ear to ear and there were shouts and cheers inside the restaurant. Nationally, they have made a landslide election, in Stavanger the party is in with two mandates. Party leader Owe Waltherzøe has recommended the local parties not to choose a side. Selvik does not take it so literally. – If there is a tie, we must elect a mayor. Stavanger cannot stand without a mayor. But we want a little bit left for our two voices, he said. Closing the door on the MDG According to Selvik, the INP is neither a distinctly right-wing nor a left-wing party, but there is one place where the line is drawn: the MDG. – So if Kari Nessa Nordtun wants to talk to you, do you have a problem with the MDGs? – Then we have a very difficult basis for negotiations. – So then the MDG must preferably go away? – Yes, they should in any case not be a place where I will vote for a mayor, said Jan Inge Selvik to news. Last poll before the election There has been great excitement about tonight’s election result after it previously seemed like a clear bourgeois majority. In the last survey carried out by Norstat for news, the Labor Party was larger than the Conservative Party. Ap received support of 32.2 per cent, and had increased by 6.7 percentage points since the last poll in May. The right, on the other hand, had gone back 4.4 percentage points to 30.4. – This is a measurement I would call spectacular, said news commentator Tone Sofie Aglen. However, it was not certain that it was enough, especially as it had been expected that the People’s Party would be virtually erased from the municipal council. The battle for the mayoral chain in Stavanger has been between Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) and Sissel Knutsen Hegdal (H). Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Free bus The issue that has received the most attention in Stavanger in recent months is that the governing parties have adopted and introduced a free bus for the municipality’s residents. The municipality has set aside NOK 200 million for the initiative. – I am sure that it will be a success, said mayor Nessa Nordtun (Ap) to news in June. The latest surveys have shown that mayor Kari Nessa Nordtun’s popularity has grown after she helped introduce free buses in the municipality. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news Her main opponent in the election campaign, Sissel Knutsen Hegdal (H), has always believed that free buses are the wrong way to prioritize money. – This is hasty work from the majority parties. In my 20 years in politics, I cannot remember a case that has been so poorly prepared, she said when the case became known. Conservative mayoral candidate Sissel Knutsen Hegdal looked at the results from the latest opinion poll by Norstat in Stavanger. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news
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Thriller election in Stavanger ended with bourgeois majority – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
