1981 Norwegian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 13 and 14 September 1981.^[1] The elections led to the end of the Labour Party minority government and the creation of a Conservative Party minority government.^[2]

1981 Norwegian parliamentary election

← 1977 13 and 14 September 1981 1985 →
All 155 seats in the Storting 78 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	82%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Gro Harlem Brundtland Jo Benkow Kåre Kristiansen Party Labour Conservative Christian Democratic Last election 42.3%, 76 seats 24.5%, 41 seats 9.7%, 22 seats Seats won 66 53 15 Seat change 10 12 7 Popular vote 914,749 780,372 219,179 Percentage 37.2% 31.7% 8.9% Swing 5.1pp 7.2pp 0.8pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Johan J. Jakobsen Berge Furre Carl I. Hagen Party Centre Socialist Left Progress Last election 8.0%, 12 seats 4.2%, 2 seats 1.9%, 0 seats Seats won 11 4 4 Seat change 1 2 4 Popular vote 103,753 121,561 109,564 Percentage 4.2% 4.9% 4.5% Swing 3.8pp 0.7pp 2.6pp   Seventh party   Leader Hans Hammond Rossbach Party Liberal Last election 2.4%, 2 seats Seats won 2 Seat change Popular vote 79,064 Percentage 3.2% Swing 0.8pp
Largest bloc and seats won by constituency
Prime Minister before election Gro Harlem Brundtland Labour Prime Minister after election Kåre Willoch Conservative

The Conservative Party made the strongest gains in the election. The Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting, winning 66 of the 155 seats.

Attempts were made to form a majority coalition government with the Conservative Party, Christian People's Party and Centre Party, but the negotiations failed.^[2] The Conservative Party subsequently formed a minority government with parliamentary support from Christian People's Party and Centre Party.^[2]

In 1983 a majority coalition government with the Christian People's Party and the Centre Party was established.

Contesting parties

See also: List of political parties in Norway

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader	1977 result
						Votes (%)	Seats
	Ap	Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet	Social democracy	Centre-left	Gro Harlem Brundtland	42.2%	76 / 155
	H	Conservative Party Høyre	Conservatism	Centre-right	Jo Benkow	24.5%	40 / 155
	KrF	Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti	Christian democracy	Centre to centre-right	Kåre Kristiansen	9.7%	18 / 155
	Sp	Centre Party Senterpartiet	Agrarianism	Centre	Johan J. Jakobsen	8.0%	11 / 155
	SV	Socialist Left Party Sosialistisk Venstreparti	Democratic socialism	Left-wing	Berge Furre	4.1%	2 / 155
	V	Liberal Party Venstre	Social liberalism	Centre	Hans Hammond Rossbach	2.3%	1 / 155
	FrP	Progress Party Fremskrittspartiet	Classical liberalism	Right-wing	Carl I. Hagen	1.8%	0 / 155

Leadership changes and challenges

Progress Party

Carl I. Hagen was elected chairman on 12 February 1978 after Arve Lønnum declined to seek reelection.

Candidate	Votes	%
Carl I. Hagen	33	70.21
Jens Marcussen	14	29.79
Total	47	100.00
Source: Moss Dagblad

Christian People's Party

After Lars Korvald declined to seek reelection, Kåre Kristiansen was elected chairman on 21 April 1979. Despite not being a candidate, Kjell Magne Bondevik received 44 votes.

Candidate	Votes	%
Kåre Kristiansen	197	82.77
Kjell Magne Bondevik	41	17.23
Total	238	100.00
Source: Rana Blad

Campaign

Slogans

Party		Original slogan	English translation
	Labour Party	Arbeid for alle	Labour for everyone
	Conservative Party
	Centre Party
	Christian Democratic Party
	Liberal Party
	Communist Party of Norway
Sources: [3]

Debates

1981 Norwegian general election debates
Date	Organiser	P  Present    I  Invitee  N  Non-invitee
		Ap	H	KrF	Sp	Sv	V	Frp	Dlp	NKP	R	Refs
9 April	NRK	P Gro Harlem Brundtland	P Kåre Willoch	N Kåre Kristiansen	N Johan J. Jakobsen	N Hanna Kvanmo	N Hans Hammond Rossbach	N Carl I. Hagen	N Gerd Søraa	N Martin Gunnar Knutsen	N Sigurd Allern	[4]
11 September	NRK	P Einar Førde, Gro Harlem Brundtland	P Kåre Willoch	P Kåre Kristiansen	P Johan J. Jakobsen	P Hanna Kvanmo	P Hans Hammond Rossbach	P Carl I. Hagen	P Gerd Søraa	P Martin Gunnar Knutsen	P Sigurd Allern	[5]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Labour Party	914,749	37.20	66	–10
	Conservative Party	780,372	31.74	53	+12
	Christian Democratic Party	219,179	8.91	15	–7
	Socialist Left Party	121,561	4.94	4	+2
	Progress Party	109,564	4.46	4	+4
	Centre Party	103,753	4.22	6	–1
	Non-socialist joint lists[a]	88,969	3.62	5	–
	Liberal Party	79,064	3.22	2	0
	Red Electoral Alliance	17,844	0.73	0	0
	Liberal People's Party	13,344	0.54	0	0
	Communist Party	6,673	0.27	0	0
	Plebiscite Party	1,145	0.05	0	New
	Tom A. Schanke's Party	826	0.03	0	New
	Freely Elected Representatives	801	0.03	0	0
	Lapp People's List	594	0.02	0	0
	Broad-Based Non-Partisan List	383	0.02	0	New
Total		2,458,821	100.00	155	0
Valid votes		2,458,821	99.86
Invalid/blank votes		3,387	0.14
Total votes		2,462,208	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,003,093	81.99
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Voter demographics

Cohort	Percentage of cohort voting for
	Ap	H	KrF	Sv	FrP	Sp	V	Others
Total vote	37.2%	31.7%	8.9%	4.9%	4.5%	4.2%	3.2%
Gender
Females	35.6%	30.3%	12.8%	4.5%	3.7%	4.3%	3.3%
Males	38.4%	33.1%	5.5%	5.5%	5.3%	4.2%	3.1%
Age
18–30 years old	26.2%	33.8%	5.2%	8.8%	10.1%	4.6%	4.3%
30-59 years old	39.2%	32.3%	8%	4.8%	3.5%	3.8%	3.6%
60 years old and older	43.5%	28.9%	14.9%	1.5%	1.2%	4.9%	1.2%
Work
low income	43.5%	25.9%	11.8%	4.4%	7.1%	5.6%	2.4%
Average income	43.9%	27.2%	8.1%	5.8%	3.6%	4%	3.6%
High income	23.3%	50.3%	6.5%	4.5%	3.8%	2.4%	3.4%
Education
Primary school	55.2%	18.7%	9.6%	3.1%	4.4%	3.6%	1%
High school	36%	33%	8.9%	4.7%	5.1%	5%	3%
University/college	12.9%	47.7%	7.9%	9.1%	3.3%	2.9%	7.5%
Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research[7]

Seat distribution

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		Ap	H	KrF	Sp	SV	Frp	V
Akershus	10	4	5				1
Aust-Agder	4	2	1	1
Buskerud	7	4	2		1
Finnmark	4	3	1
Hedmark	8	5	2		1
Hordaland	15	4	5	2	1	1	1	1
Møre og Romsdal	10	3	3	2	1			1
Nord-Trøndelag	6	3	1		2
Nordland	12	5	4	1	1	1
Oppland	7	4	2		1
Oslo	15	5	7	1		1	1
Østfold	8	4	3	1
Rogaland	10	3	3	2	1		1
Sogn og Fjordane	5	2	1	1	1
Sør-Trøndelag	10	4	3	1	1	1
Telemark	6	3	2	1
Troms	6	3	2	1
Vest-Agder	5	2	2	1
Vestfold	7	3	4
Total	155	66	53	15	11	4	4	2
Source: Norges Offisielle Statistikk

Notes

1. Five seats were won by joint lists, all of which were taken by the Centre Party.^[6]