Venstre (Norway)

Venstre (sometimes referred to as the Liberal Party in international context) is a liberal party in Norway, subscribing to social-liberalism. It is the oldest political party in Norway, founded in 1884 as a critic of the Swedish-Norwegian Union.

Related Topics:
Liberal party - Norway - Social-liberalism - Political party - 1884 - Swedish-Norwegian Union

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A dispute over Norwegian membership in the European Community, now the European Union, made the party split up at Røros in 1972, with the people favoring EC membership departing. Since then, Venstre has been a fairly small party. They were without representation in parliament after the 1985 and 1989 elections. In 1993 the party again failed to achieve the 4% threshold which would make them eligible for the "equalizing" seats in parliament, but Lars Sponheim was elected directly from Hordaland. In 1997, Venstre passed the 4% threshold, gaining them six seats in parliament. In 2001, Venstre again narrowly failed to reach the threshold, but got two representatives, Sponheim and Odd Einar Dørum.

Related Topics:
Røros - 1972 - Lars Sponheim - Odd Einar Dørum

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The 2005 elections gave Venstre 5.9% of the vote, their best result since the split up in 1972. It currently holds ten out of 169 seats in the Norwegian Parliament and after 4 years as part of the coalition governement of Kjell Magne Bondevik (2001-2005). Due to the majority of the Red-Green Coalition, it now looks like it will become an opposition party for the coming 4 years.

Related Topics:
2005 elections - Norwegian Parliament - Kjell Magne Bondevik - 2001 - 2005 - Red-Green Coalition

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While the name of the party means Left in Norwegian, the party refers to itself as a centre party. Since the Senterpartiet (The Centre Party) is a component of the left-wing alliance, and Venstre of the right-wing, an awkward situation has been produced where the centre party is more on the left than Left itself. When the name Left was chosen in 1884, the word did not refer to socialism in the way "Left wing" does today. It meant liberal or radical in comparison to the conservatives on the right wing.

Related Topics:
Norwegian - Senterpartiet

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