– It is important to get the complete overview and answers to all questions, including the control and constitution committee’s conclusion, before I make a decision on that question. This is what Conservative mayor Frank Pedersen in Tønsberg writes in response to an e-mail from news. NOT TAKEN POSITION: Newly elected Tønsberg mayor Frank Pedersen has not decided what he thinks about Erna Solberg’s possible candidacy for prime minister in 2025. Photo: Hans Kristian Thorbjørnsen / Høyre The question was simple and straightforward: Should Erna Solberg continue as leader of the Høyre and be the Høyre’s Prime ministerial candidate in 2025? – I have confidence that Erna has self-awareness and the ability to make that decision at her own pace, says Pedersen. Nor is the Conservative Party’s new mayor in Norway’s third largest city, Trondheim, prepared to draw conclusions now. Kent Ranum says it will be up to Høyre’s next national meeting to decide the matter. – When the national assembly has to make that decision, the confidence of the voters is absolutely crucial. Therefore, it is unnatural to make a statement about this before the control committee at the Storting has completed its work, he says. UNNATURAL: Trondheim mayor Kent Ranum believes it is unnatural to conclude before the control committee at the Storting has finished with the competency cases. Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / news Høyre is not scheduled to have a national meeting until 2025, but the statutes allow for it to be held next year as well. This weekend, the Conservative Party gathers over 100 mayors for a large conference at Gardermoen. On Sunday and Monday there is a central board meeting in the party. – Too soon Mayor Arild Windsland in Birkenes in Agder is not prepared to conclude on whether Erna Solberg should continue as leader of the Conservative Party and candidate for prime minister. – It is too early to answer that. I think both she and the party will have to take a look on the basis of the hearings that are now underway, he writes. Windsland believes that the support for the Conservative Party in the polls shows that the party is apparently not losing on the integrity case Solberg is involved in. – But the party must together with Erna make some important choices in the near future so that this integrity case does not overshadow the important political work that needs to be done, points out he. TOO EARLY: It is too early to answer whether Erna Solberg should lead the Conservative Party in the election campaign in 2025, says Birkenes mayor Arild Windsland. Photo: Svein Sundsdal / news Frank Pedersen in Tønsberg believes Solberg should give his answer to the party very soon. – A clarification should come relatively shortly after the control and constitution committee’s conclusion, so that the party has plenty of time to prepare for the general election in 2025, says Pedersen. On Tuesday, the control committee held a marathon hearing on the competence cases of Erna Solberg and several ministers from Støre’s government. The committee is scheduled to conclude before Christmas. The politicians risk strong criticism from the Storting. The question is, therefore, whether Solberg has sufficient confidence to continue as prime ministerial candidate – primarily in his own party, but also with the collaborating parties Frp, Venstre and KrF. Plus or minus Solberg herself has repeatedly said that it is up to the Conservative Party and herself to assess whether she is the right person to lead the party going forward. – For me, the most important thing is that I am a plus and not a minus for the party, and both I and the party must discuss that going forward, said Solberg when Økokrim’s decision came last Friday. She repeated the same message after the control hearing yesterday. Now news has asked Høyre’s mayors, county leaders and parliamentary representatives what they think: Is Erna Solberg a plus or a minus for the party at the moment. A number of the right-wing leaders have replied, and the vast majority are positive: Solberg is still a plus for the party. Frank Pedersen in Tønsberg also thinks so. – As of today, I think Erna is a plus, he says. Mayor Mathias Bernander in Kristiansand puts it this way: – We know what leadership qualities she has. Both in good and tough times. She is present for the entire party and has a work capacity that no Norwegian politician can match. Norway and the Conservative Party need Erna, he says. NEEDS ERNA: -Norway needs Erna, says Conservative mayor Mathias Bernander in Kristiansand. Photo: EIRIK DAMSGAARD / news – Erna Solberg is still a big plus for the party, says Vågan mayor Vidar Thom Benjaminsen. But further south, in Tvedestrand, mayor Marianne Landaas is more uncertain. Although she believes Solberg can continue as leader, she believes the share case has affected the party leader’s position. – Right now she is probably more minus than plus. But it can change to more plus, she writes. Support Inside the Right, it is now being discussed who can take over as party leader and prime ministerial candidate, if Solberg steps down. The two vice-chairs Tina Bru and Henrik Asheim are among several who have been mentioned. So is former Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide. “Erna Solberg is the leader of the Conservative Party, and there is no leadership discussion in the party,” Søreide wrote in an email to TV 2 this autumn. news knows that several in the Conservative Party are unsure whether Solberg is really wise to continue. But Storting representatives Olve Grotle, Linda Helleland and Ingunn Foss do not want to change party leaders now. Everyone thinks Solberg should continue. – The openness, honesty and vulnerability that Erna has shown throughout this process makes me certain that she will restore trust in the population, writes Linda Helleland, who also has ministerial experience from the Solberg government, to news. SUPPORTS SOLBERG: Storting representative Linda Helleland will not change party leader now. Photo: Bjarte M. Johannesen / news There is also support for Erna Solberg among the county leaders. Central board member and leader Vestfold and Telemark Høyre, Rune Hogsnes, puts it this way: – I do not take the matter lightly, because it is serious. But I believe that Erna should continue. Her qualifications as a leader are indisputable. County mayor Anne Strømøy (H) in Vestfold says it is the voters who decide whether Erna Solberg is a plus or minus for the party. – Latest measurements indicate that she is a plus, she points out. Discussions Central board member and Stormberg founder Steinar J. Olsen also hopes that Solberg continues and describes her as “a strength and a plus for the Conservative Party”. So does the leader of Oslo Conservative Party, Morten Steenstrup, who briefly answers “YES” to the question of whether Solberg should be a candidate for prime minister in 2025. But not everyone is as clear in their support for Erna Solberg. Central board member Hanne Velure says she will not speak to the media and points out that it is an “internal party process”. Young Høyre’s leader Ola Svenneby is also restrained in his answer to news: – These are questions that I look forward to discussing both in Young Høyre and in the Høyre’s central board. TAUS: Young Conservative leader Ola Svenneby looks forward to internal discussions about Erna Solberg’s future in the Conservative Party. Photo: Amanda Iversen Orlich / news During the hearing on Tuesday, FRP leader Carl I. Hagen made it clear that the FRP, Venstre and KrF should soon clarify whether Solberg has their confidence as prime ministerial candidate. On the same day, Sandefjord mayor and Conservative Party veteran Bjørn Ole Gleditsch told news that it will be challenging for Erna Solberg to stand as prime minister candidate again, with Sindre Finnes as her husband.
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– Too early – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
