During election night, it became clear that there would be a bourgeois majority in the large municipality in Nordhordland. Høgre, Frp, KrF and Venstre agreed to cooperate with a total of 21 out of 41 municipal council representatives. Ingrid Fjeldsbø from Høgre was to become mayor. But then it turned around. Five weeks after the election, two Høgre representatives chose to withdraw from the party and become independent. It would open up an unusual collaboration. – A special situation The Labor Party, the Center Party, INP, SV, MDG and Raudt came together and got the two expelled Høgre representatives to form a majority, and have now entered into an electoral cooperation. On Tuesday evening, they signed the agreement and Sara Hamre Sekkingstad from the Center Party therefore continues to be mayor. It was Avisa Hordaland and Strilen that first reported the surprising turn of events. – It is clear that it is a special situation, and Alver has been in a special situation in the last few weeks after the election, which I have not experienced before, says Sara Hamre Sekkingstad (Sp). MAP: Alver municipality is located in Nordhordland and was established in 2020 by the former municipalities of Lindås, Radøy and Meland. Won’t be mayor – I think it’s really sad. I had been looking forward to becoming Alver’s new mayor, says Ingrid Fjeldsbø in Alver Høgre. Everything was in place for a bourgeois majority with Høgre mayors. But after the election everything turned around. – It is very unfortunate that we have come to the situation where two are resigning from the party. I think that is very special, says Fjeldsbø. She says that she was surprised, even though there had been rumors in the last few weeks before the two representatives opted out of her party. ALVER: The editor of Avisa Nordhordland thinks it will be exciting to see how the political cooperation will be in the future. Photo: Leif Rune Løland Surprised at Sara Hamre Sekkingstad says that it was the two former Høgre representatives who contacted them for cooperation. – So we have had a good dialogue after they contacted us. – But are you surprised by the result? – It is clear that this is not a result I envisioned after the election and the election result. It came as a surprise to me when I found out. Sekkingstad adds that the collaboration is election technical, and that you are free to vote for your own issues in the municipal council going forward. This is also the reason why the leader of Alver INP chose to join the constellation. – We all agree that we disagree on a number of issues. But we are a centrist party and it was more natural for us to achieve technical cooperation on this side, than in a blue-blue coalition, says Irene Stendal Østerbø in Alver INP. – Unusual – It is an unusually colorful constellation, says Vegard Flatøy, editor of Avisa Nordhordland. He says that there are few who would have thought that, for example, the INP would cooperate with this constellation. – The various parties say that they will focus on trust, cooperation and good dialogue. Those are nice words, but I think they are words that must be followed up for this collaboration to work, says Flatøy. He says that ever since the election there have been disputes among the politicians. But when you get announcements from parties and a sudden and surprising change of mayor, it makes the basis for cooperation in the municipal council difficult. – We will have to wait and see how the cooperation will turn out for these parties, but it will be very exciting, says the newspaper editor. Defends the withdrawal news has tried to get in touch with the Høgre defectors Øyvind Bratshaug and Kenneth Taule Murberg, but has only received a reply from Murberg. He writes that he thought the original majority would remain, even if he opted out of Høgre, because it looked like the INP would stand behind the majority. Murberg points out that he strongly disagreed with both the process and the outcome of the negotiations, and is therefore surprised that someone “feels cheated”. To Avisa Nordhordland, the other defector Øyvind Bratshaug has previously said that he quit because of the culture in the party and that he felt like part of a “B group”. He was elected for the Frp in 2019, but withdrew the following spring and gradually switched to Høgre.
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Two opt out of Høgre – turned the entire election result in Alver municipality – news Vestland
