1973 Norwegian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 9 and 10 September 1973.^[1] The Labour Party remained the largest party, winning 62 of the 155 seats in the Storting.

1973 Norwegian parliamentary election

← 1969 9 and 10 September 1973 1977 →
All 155 seats in the Storting 78 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	80.2%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Trygve Bratteli Kåre Willoch Dagfinn Vårvik Party Labour Conservative Centre Last election 46.5%, 74 seats 22.7%, 29 seats 12.9%, 20 seats Seats won 62 29 21 Seat change 12 1 Popular vote 759,499 379,039[c] 265,734[a][b] Percentage 35.3% 17.6%[c] 12.3%[a][b] Swing 11.2pp 5.1pp 0.6pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Lars Korvald Finn Gustavsen Anders Lange Party Christian Democratic Socialist Anders Lange's Last election 11.7%, 14 seats 4.4%, 0 seats[d] – Seats won 20 16 4 Seat change 6 16 New Popular vote 285,908[b][c] 241,851 107,784 Percentage 13.3%[b][c] 11.2% 5.0% Swing 1.6pp 6.8pp New   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Helge Rognlien Helge Seip Party Liberal New People's Last election 9.4%, 13 seats – Seats won 2 1 Seat change 11 New Popular vote 169,090[a][b] 73,854 Percentage 7.8%[a][b]. 3.4% Swing 1.6pp New
Largest bloc and seats won by constituency
Prime Minister before election Lars Korvald Christian Democratic Prime Minister after election Trygve Bratteli Labour

Contesting parties

See also: List of political parties in Norway

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader	1969 result
						Votes (%)	Seats
	Ap	Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet	Social democracy	Centre-left	Trygve Bratteli	46.5%	74 / 155
	H	Conservative Party Høyre	Conservatism	Centre-right	Kåre Willoch	18.8%	29 / 155
	V	Liberal Party Venstre	Social liberalism	Centre	Helge Rognlien	9.3%	13 / 155
	Sp	Centre Party Senterpartiet	Agrarianism	Centre	Dagfinn Vårvik	8.9%	20 / 155
	KrF	Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti	Christian democracy	Centre to centre-right	Lars Korvald	7.8%	14 / 155
	SV	Socialist Electoral League Sosialistisk Valgforbund	Socialism Democratic socialism Communism	Left-wing and Far-left	Finn Gustavsen	3.3%	1 / 155
	NKP	Communist Party of Norway Norges Kommunistiske Parti	Communism	Far-left	Martin Gunnar Knutsen	1.0%	0 / 155

Campaign

Slogans

Party		Original slogan	English translation
	Labour Party	"Vekst og vern - demokrati og likestilling"	"Growth and protection - democracy and equality"
	Conservative Party
	Centre Party
	Christian Democratic Party
	Liberal Party
	Communist Party of Norway
Sources: [2]

Debates

1973 Norwegian general election debates
Date	Organisers	P  Present    I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee
		Ap	H	V	Sp	KrF	SF	ALP	Dlp	Rv	Refs
4 September	NRK	N	P Kaare Meland	N	N	N	N	P Anders Lange	N	N	[3]
6 September	NRK	P Trygve Bratteli, Reiulf Steen	P Kåre Willoch	P Helge Rognlien	P Dagfinn Vårvik	P Asbjørn Haugstvedt, Lars Korvald	P Finn Gustavsen	P Anders Lange	P Helge Seip	P Sigurd Allern	[4]

1. Politisk kvarter with Anders lange^[5]
2. Politisk kvarter with Berit Ås og Ragnar Kalheim^[6]

Opinion polls

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	NKP	AKP	SF	Ap	Sp	V	DLF	KrF	H	ALP	Others	Lead
1973 election	9 and 10 September 1973	–			11.2%	35.3%	12.3%	7.8%	3.4%	13.3%	17.6%	5.0%
Norsk Gallup[7]	September 1973	–	–	0.9	13.9	31.9	10.3	2.9	2.8	11.8	19.9	4.4
Norsk Gallup	Aug 1973	–	–	0.5	8.5	39.7	12.2	4	3.9	9.3	16.9	4.7
Norsk Gallup	July 1973	–	–	–	8.2	39.7	11.1	3.4	3.5	9.9	17.3	5.9
Norsk Gallup	June 1973	–	–	0.5	9.8	38.7	12.8	3.5	4	9.4	17.2	4.2
Norsk Gallup	May 1973	–	1.1	0.1	6.6	39.1	11.3	3.5	3.8	9.7	19.6	5.4
ALP was founded on 8 April 1973
Norsk Gallup	April 1973	–	1.1	0.8	7.4	40.2	11.5	3.3	5.4	8	22.3	–
Norsk Gallup	March 1973	–	1.1	0.4	7.6	43	9.7	3.3	6.6	6.6	21.7	–
Norsk Gallup	February 1973	–	1.1	–	6.4	41.7	10.9	2.4	5.4	8	24.1	–
Norsk Gallup	January 1973	–	1.2	–	6.8	43.6	12.9	3.1	4.4	7.8	20.1	–
Norsk Gallup	December 1972	–	1.3	–	6.6	44.9	12.2	3.5	3.5	9.1	19	–
Norsk Gallup	November 1972	–	1.7	–	6.8	47.1	13.2	4.2	–	8.9	18.1	–
Norsk Gallup	October 1972	–	1.7	–	5.9	48.1	13.3	5.5	–	6.5	18.9	–
Norsk Gallup	September 1972	–	1	–	6.6	42.3	14.9	7.2	–	6.7	21.4	–
Norsk Gallup	August 1972	–	1.6	–	7.4	44.2	11.1	8.1	–	9.1	18.6	–
Norsk Gallup	July 1972	–	1.4	–	6.4	44.2	10.7	7.3	–	8.8	21.2	–
Norsk Gallup	June 1972	–	1.6	–	7.3	49.2	12.7	6.4	–	6.8	16	–
Norsk Gallup	May 1972	–	1.6	–	6.7	46.4	11.8	7.8	–	6.7	19	–
Norsk Gallup	April 1972	–	1.8	–	6.6	43.6	14.2	7.4	–	7.6	18.7	–
Norsk Gallup	March 1972	–	1.1	–	6.9	44.7	13	7.5	–	7.5	19.3	–
Norsk Gallup	February 1972	–	1.3	–	6.6	43.3	13.6	9.1	–	7.5	18.6	–
Norsk Gallup	January 1972	–	0.9	–	6.6	44.5	15.9	6.9	–	7.9	17.2	–
Norsk Gallup	December 1971	–	0.7	–	8.1	47.2	13.4	6.3	–	7.9	16.5	–
Norsk Gallup	November 1971	–	0.8	–	6.1	44.8	13.9	7.9	–	9.8	16.6	–
Norsk Gallup	October 1971	–	1.2	–	6.7	44.1	13	9	–	7.4	18.6	–
Norsk Gallup	September 1971	–	1.2	–	6.8	44.2	12.9	9	–	7.2	18.6	–
Norsk Gallup	August 1971	–	0.5	–	5	50.6	10.1	8.8	–	7.5	17.5	–
Norsk Gallup	July 1971	–	1.2	–	3.9	51.1	11.4	7.3	–	6.4	18.7	–
Norsk Gallup	June 1971	–	0.9	–	3.6	52.3	12.1	5.6	–	6.9	18.5	–
Norsk Gallup	May 1971	–	1.3	–	2.7	56.2	13.5	5.1	–	7.5	13.8	–
Norsk Gallup	April 1971	–	0.8	–	2.9	54.6	12.7	6.5	–	9	13.5	–
Norsk Gallup	March 1971	–	0.8	–	2.6	56.4	11	7.1	–	7.8	14.4	–
Norsk Gallup	February 1971	–	1.3	–	2.8	51	12.5	7.5	–	7.9	16.9	–
Norsk Gallup	January 1971	–	0.5	–	2.7	56.7	11.7	5.9	–	7.5	14.9	–
Norsk Gallup	December 1970	–	0.6	–	2.4	58.7	8.1	5.8	–	8.2	16.2	–
Norsk Gallup	November 1970	–	0.6	–	2.1	57.6	7.6	6.6	–	8.9	16.6	–
Norsk Gallup	October 1970	–	0.9	–	2.2	57.7	9.8	6.3	–	7.7	15.4	–
Norsk Gallup	September 1970	–	0.8	–	1.9	57.3	10.4	6	–	7.9	15.8	–
Norsk Gallup	August 1970	–	0.4	–	6.8	57.3	8.3	8.8	–	1.1	17.3	–
Norsk Gallup	July 1970	–	0.8	–	2.9	53	8.7	8.9	–	7	18.6	–
Norsk Gallup	June 1970	–	1	–	1.7	54.4	9.5	7.1	–	8.3	17.9	–
Norsk Gallup	May 1970	–	0.8	–	1.9	59	7.5	6.7	–	7.9	16.2	–
Norsk Gallup	April 1970	–	0.8	–	2.3	53.9	8.9	6.9	–	9.6	17.4	–
Norsk Gallup	March 1970	–	1.1	–	1.5	60.3	7.6	6	–	7.6	15.9	–
Norsk Gallup	February 1970		1.1	–	2.5	54.7	7	7.1	–	6.4	21.3	–
Norsk Gallup	January 1970	–	0.9	–	2.1	59.5	8	5.8	–	8.8	14.8	–
Norsk Gallup	December 1969	–	1.4	–	3.3	52.9	9.7	6.6	–	8.8	17.3	–
Norsk Gallup	November 1969	–	0.6	–	3.6	53.3	9.6	7.4	–	8	17.5	–
Norsk Gallup	October 1969	–	0.7	–	1.7	55.9	10	6.6	–	8.8	16.3	–
	7 and 8 September 1969	–		–	3..9%	46.5%	12.9%	9.4%	–	11.7%	22.7%	–

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Labour Party	759,499	35.29	62	–12
	Conservative Party	370,370	17.21	29	0
	Christian Democratic Party	255,456	11.87	19	+6
	Socialist Electoral League	241,851	11.24	16	+16
	Centre Party	146,312	6.80	13	+1
	Anders Lange's Party	107,784	5.01	4	New
	Centrists–Liberals[a]	97,639	4.54	7	–
	New People's Party	73,854	3.43	1	New
	Liberal Party	49,668	2.31	1	–11
	Centrists–Liberals–Christians[b]	21,783	1.01	3	–
	Red Electoral Alliance	9,360	0.43	0	New
	Conservatives–Christians	8,669	0.40	0	–
	Single Person's Party	5,113	0.24	0	New
	Democratic Party	2,125	0.10	0	0
	Women's Free Deputies	1,866	0.09	0	New
	Lapp People's List	849	0.04	0	0
	Other parties	6	0.00	0	–
Total		2,152,204	100.00	155	+5
Valid votes		2,152,204	99.84
Invalid/blank votes		3,530	0.16
Total votes		2,155,734	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,686,676	80.24
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Voter demographics

Cohort	Percentage of cohort voting for
	Ap	H	KrF	Sp	SF	V	ALP	Others
Total vote	35.3%	17.6%	13.3%	12.3%	11.2%	7.8%	5.0%
Gender
Females	39.3%	18.3%	16.4%	6.3%	7.8%	2.1%	2.9%
Males	32.4%	16.6%	8.4%	7.2%	14%	2.3%	6.9%
Age
18–30 years old	30.4%	14.4%	10.4%	6.4%	17.6%	1.6%	12%
30-59 years old	36.8%	15.7%	9.4%	6.9%	12.8%	2.2%	4.2%
60 years old and older	35%	22.2%	18.2%	7.1%	5.1%	3%	3.4%
Work
low income	35.6%	11.7%	22.3%	11%	9.5%	3%	4.5%
Average income	39.6%	11%	11.9%	6.2%	14.3%	2.9%	4.1%
High income	30.4%	27.7%	4.8%	4.3%	9.7%	1.1%	6.5%
Education
Primary school	56%	5.9%	12.7%	5.9%	12.7%	2.3%	1.6%
High school	32.5%	14.8%	13.2%	8%	11.5%	2.4%	5.6%
University/college	11.1%	43.7%	6.8%	4.7%	8.4%	2.1%	8.9%
Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research[9]

Seat distribution

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		Ap	H	Sp	KrF	SV	ALp	V	DNF
Akershus	10	3	3	1	1	1	1
Aust-Agder	4	2	1		1
Buskerud	7	3	2	1		1
Finnmark	4	2	1			1
Hedmark	8	4	1	2		1
Hordaland	15	5	3	1	3	1	1		1
Møre og Romsdal	10	3	1	2	2	1		1
Nord-Trøndelag	6	3		2	1
Nordland	12	5	1	2	2	2
Oppland	7	4	1	2
Oslo	15	6	5		1	2	1
Østfold	8	4	1	1	1	1
Rogaland	10	3	2	1	2	1	1
Sogn og Fjordane	5	2		2	1
Sør-Trøndelag	10	4	2	1	1	2
Telemark	6	2	1		1	1		1
Troms	6	2	1	1	1	1
Vest-Agder	5	2	1	1	1
Vestfold	7	3	2	1	1
Total	155	62	29	21	20	16	4	2	1
Source: Norges Offisielle Statistikk

Notes

1. The joint list of the Centre Party and the Liberal Party won seven seats, six taken by the Centre Party and one by the Liberal Party.^[8]
2. The joint list of the Centre Party, Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic Party won three seats, two taken by the Centre Party and one by the Christian Democratic Party.^[8]