Conservative Party of Norway

Høyre Conservative Party of Norway
Leader	Erna Solberg
Founded	1884
Headquarters	Oslo
Youth wing	Unge Høyre
European affiliation	European People's Party
Political ideology	Liberal conservatism, Conservative liberalism
International affiliation	Int. Democrat Union
Website	www.hoyre.no
See also the politics of Norway series

The Conservative Party (Høyre, H, meaning "right") is a Norwegian political party. Founded in 1884, it is Norway's second oldest party. The current leader (since 2004) is Erna Solberg.

[edit] History and Political Platform

Erna Solberg, the party leader

Headquarters in Oslo

The Conservative Party of Norway was founded in 1884 with Emil Stang as its first Chairman. Ever since its creation, Høyre has been one of the larger political parties in Norway. It had had a historically bad election in 2005, when the party only got 14,1 percent of the votes, however, according to the 2007 local elections and various opinion polls, the party is again gaining popularity. It is currently the third largest party in the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, after the Norwegian Labour Party and the Progress Party. The party is committed to fiscal free market policies, including tax cuts and little government involvement in the economy. In spite of the party's right-wing orientation, Høyre's social policies are quite liberal, with the party's programme supporting liberal policies such as gay adoption rights and marriage. It is also the only Norwegian party officially in favour of Norwegian membership in the European Union.

[edit] Membership

Norway

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Norway

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The party claims 67,000 registered members, organized in about 600 local party units. There are reportedly some 15,000 members active in party affairs. The Central Board of Høyre meets seven times a year to discuss important matters such as budget, organizational work, plans, party platforms, drawing up political lines.

[edit] Parliamentary (Storting) elections 1961-2005

[edit] List of Party Chairmen and Leaders

• Emil Stang, 1884-1889
• Christian Homann Schweigaard, 1889-1891
• Emil Stang, 1891-1893
• Christian Homann Schweigaard, 1893-1896
• Emil Stang, 1896-1899
• Francis Hagerup, 1899-1902
• Ole L. Skattebøl, 1902-1905
• Edm. Harbitz, 1905-1907
• Fredrik Stang, 1907-1911
• Jens Bratlie, 1911-1919
• Otto B. Halvorsen, 1919-1923
• Ivar Lykke, 1923-1926
• Carl Joachim Hambro, 1926-1934
• Johan H. Andresen, 1934-1937
• Ole Ludvig Bærøe, 1937-1940
• Arthur Nordlie, 1945-1950
• Carl Joachim Hambro, 1950-1954
• Alv Kjøs, 1954-1962
• Sjur Lindebrække, 1962-1970
• Kåre Willoch, 1970-1974
• Erling Norvik, 1974-1980
• Jo Benkow, 1980-1984
• Erling Norvik, 1984-1986
• Rolf Presthus, 1986-1988
• Kaci Kullmann Five, 1988
• Jan P. Syse, 1988-1991
• Kaci Kullmann Five, 1991-1994
• Jan Petersen, 1994-2004
• Erna Solberg, 2004-

[edit] Unge Høyre

Main article: Unge Høyre

Høyre has its own youth wing called Unge Høyre. The leader of The Young Conservatives is Henrik Asheim, who followed Torbjørn Røe Isaksen. The youth wing was founded in 1922.

[edit] Internationally

Høyre is an associated member of the European People's Party (EPP) and full member of the International Democrat Union (IDU).

[edit] See also

• Politics of Norway

[edit] External links

• (Norwegian) Høyre - Official site
• (English) Conservative Party (Høyre) - Information in English
• (Norwegian) Unge Høyre - Official site of the Young Conservatives
• (Norwegian) Høyres Studenterforbund - Site of the Conservative Students' Union
• Election results for the Conservative Party in the 2007 local elections