Norway's Labour Party has won a second term in general elections, finishing ahead of a populist right-wing party that made substantial gains and doubled its share of the vote.
With most ballots counted, Labour under Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre secured 28.2% of the vote and 53 seats in the 169-seat Storting. The anti-immigration Progress Party, led by Sylvi Listhaug, surged to almost 24% of the vote and won 48 seats, making it the largest opposition force. Voter turnout was 78.9%, the highest in years.
Støre told supporters that the result showed social democratic parties could still win elections despite a broader rise in right-wing forces across Europe. Listhaug congratulated the Labour leader on the victory while warning that Norway would face “four tough years” under a left-leaning government.
The result leaves Labour with a path to a narrow majority only if it secures backing from four smaller centre-left parties. Parties on the right fell three seats short of the 85 needed for a majority, leaving coalition building likely to take several weeks. Labour will face policy trade-offs if it seeks to assemble a majority, with disagreements expected over the future of the oil industry and investment rules for Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
Conservative support fell to 14.6% and its leader, former prime minister Erna Solberg, indicated she is unlikely to stand again. The Conservatives’ decline limited the right’s ability to form an alternative government despite the Progress Party’s gains.
Campaign debates were initially shaped by foreign policy, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. In the run-up to polling day the discussion shifted to domestic issues: rising living costs, the role and regulation of the oil industry and proposals to reform a wealth tax that critics say has prompted some wealthy Norwegians to relocate to Switzerland.
Norway’s international position and recent cabinet changes helped shape the campaign. The country, a founder member of NATO that shares an Arctic border with Russia and participates in the EU single market without being an EU member, punched above its population size in foreign-policy discussions. Labour’s standing was bolstered earlier in the year when former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg joined the government as finance minister.
The outcome marks a consequential moment for a country of about 5.6 million people with a significant sovereign wealth fund and an economy closely tied to oil and gas revenues. If Labour succeeds in forming a majority coalition, it will need to reconcile demands from smaller partners for more rapid transitions in energy policy with pressures to protect jobs and revenues tied to petroleum production.
Election officials and party leaders said in the immediate aftermath that formal coalition negotiations would begin in the coming days and are likely to be protracted. Until those talks conclude, Labour will remain in place as it pursues the necessary agreements to govern in a narrowly balanced Storting.