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Jonas Gahr Støre: Who is Norway’s new prime minister?

Labour leader Jonas Gahr Støre will take over as Prime Minister of Norway on Thursday. Here's what you need to know about the country's new leader.

Jonas Gahr Støre, pictured at a Labour event, will take over as Norway's prime minister.
Jonas Gahr Støre, pictured at a Labour event, will take over as Norway's prime minister. Photo by Kyrre Lein/ AFP.

On Thursday, Jonas Gahr Støre will take over the reins as Norwegian prime minister replacing the outgoing Erna Solberg.

Støre campaigned against social inequalities in wealthy Norway, one of the most egalitarian countries in the OECD but which saw the number of billionaires more than double under the outgoing centre-right government.

“Now it’s the turn of the ordinary people,” he hammered throughout the campaign.

His crusade may seem odd for someone whose wealth has been estimated at 140 million kroner (around 14 millions euros, $16 million), and who is often knocked for having the “airs of a rightwinger”.

“My finances are not ordinary, but many things about me are,” he told AFP.

The heir

Married and the father of three, Støre is an heir in several senses of the word.

His fortune comes from the sale of a family stove manufacturing company that was saved from bankruptcy by his grandfather.

He’s also a political heir, walking in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Støre served as foreign minister in his government from 2005 to 2012, and health minister in 2012-2013.

When Stoltenberg was named the head of NATO in 2014, his protege Støre was the natural choice to replace him as Labour Party leader.

Well, sort of natural. His arrival at the head of the party that traditionally represents workers did not sit very well with everybody.

His stellar education — Sciences Po in Paris, a brief stint at the London School of Economics and a research position at Harvard Law School — his millions, his technocrat elegance, and the fact that he speaks French all give him an elitist air that rubs some Norwegians the wrong way, especially those in the left-wing of his party.

As an editorialist once put it, Støre has had to “climb the social ladder in reverse”.

READ ALSO: The key policies from Norway’s new government that you need to know about

The son of a shipbroker and a librarian, he takes care to fly the Norwegian flag for the international workers day on May 1, after being criticised for not doing so.

“He’s a political leader who people sometimes make fun of, an intellectual seen as being a little out of place in the Labour Party but he’s done well in this campaign,” political analyst Johannes Bergh said before the vote.

‘Super-Jonas’

Almost everyone acknowledges his refined eloquence — though while some say it as a compliment others claim he uses it as a weapon to create ambiguity.

“Jonas is an extraordinary person,” Stoltenberg said when he handed over the reins of the party leadership to him.

“He knows a lot and has a huge workload capacity, which he combines with the gift of making the people around him happy.”

Fresh out of university, Støre went to work for the “mother of the nation” Gro Harlem Brundtland as her advisor when she was prime minister and then head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Working at the foreign ministry after a brief stint as the head of the Norwegian Red Cross, he earned the nickname “Super-Jonas” for all of his successes, though he has said he doesn’t really like the moniker.

Having made the Arctic one of his political priorities, he fostered closer ties with neighbouring Russia.

“I see him almost as often as I see my wife,” joked his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

READ MORE: New Norwegian government outlines climate ambitions despite commitment to oil

In 2010, the two resolved a longstanding dispute over maritime borders, thereby opening up new waters in the Barents Sea to oil prospecting.

Støre’s period as foreign minister was also one of drama.

In 2008, the Serena Hotel in Kabul where he was staying was attacked by the Taliban. Støre was not hurt, having sought refuge in a saferoom, but six people were killed.

The politician was also one of rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik’s targets when he opened fire at a Labour youth gathering on the island of Utoya in July 2011.

Støre had visited the island the day before.

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POLITICS

What’s been added to Norway’s revised national budget?

Norway's government has tweaked its revised budget to get support from the Socialist Left Party for a parliamentary majority. From cheaper dental bills to increased child support, here's what you need to know.

What's been added to Norway's revised national budget?

Norway will tap its oil fund for 1.2 billion kroner in extra funding, in addition to the public spending announced when the revised budget for 2024 was unveiled earlier in the spring.

The country’s minority government, comprised of the Labour Party and Centre Party, has turned to the Socialist Left Party to secure a majority for its budgets.
During the negotiations to secure support, new policies are typically put forward by the Socialist Left Party.

The budget was agreed on Monday and will pass through parliament before summer recess.

“It has been crucial for us that the revised national budget should give people throughout Norway a better everyday economy, ensure safety and predictability for people and business,” fiscal spokesperson Ole André Myhrvold from the Center Party said.

Families will see child benefits increased for all children over six. This support will increase 256 kroner a month or 3,072 kroner per year. Once the budget has gone through parliament, payments will be increased from September 1st.

Younger people will also benefit from cheaper dental bills. The cost of dentistry will be heavily subsidised, 75 percent for 25-and-26-year-olds.

More student accommodation would also be built. Student organisations have warned recently that too many pupils at universities have been forced into the private rental market.

The country’s state housing bank would also receive more money, tenants’ rights would be strengthened, and housing support would be increased. The parties have said that a housing package will help get more people onto the property ladder.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about the Norwegian State Housing Bank

Significant investment will be made in offshore wind. The parties have promised to invest at least 35 billion kroner in offshore wind. The money will be used to finance and develop 5-10 TWh of energy. The oil industry will have taxes increased to pay for the investment in wind farms.

Several opposition parties have praised the budget for increasing child support. However, the main opposition party, The Conservative Party, was critical of the use of oil money.

“Despite the fact that the government and Socialist Left Party have turned the revised national budget into a completely new state budget, there are no proposals to give Norway more to live on after oil,” the Conservative’s fiscal policy spokesperson Tina Bru has said.

“The use of oil money is increasing, and taxes are still at a record high level. This is not a budget for the future,” she added.

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