Norwegian Left Clinches Election Win in Shocking Comeback

The Norwegian Labour Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Jonas Støre, won the parliamentary election on September 8, 2025.

The incumbent Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Støre, and his Labour Party won reelection on September 8. Narrowly overcoming competition from the far-right Progress Party and its leader, Sylvi Listhaug, Støre turned a seven-point poll deficit into a four-point lead on election day.

With a coalition securing 88 of the 169 seats in the Storting, Norway’s parliament, Støre will form the next government with a slim majority. The Labour Party won 28 percent of the vote and 53 seats — a five-seat increase from the previous election — and will comprise most of the coalition, alongside four smaller center- to left-wing parties holding 35 seats.

This result is attributed mainly to two recent events casting the Støre government in a much more positive light compared to previously. The first is Støre’s handling of the Trump administration’s tariffs, which threatened Norway’s oil-reliant economy. The second is his appointment of former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as finance minister. Stoltenberg — who just finished his ten year term as secretary general of NATO — retains a large level of popularity in Norway, and he was likely perceived as a source of stability by the Norwegian populace.

However, the Labour Party’s win was tempered by the Progress Party’s best result yet. Commanding 24 percent of the vote and 48 seats in the Storting, the Progress Party will become the official opposition party for the second time in their history. Simultaneously, the centre-right Conservative Party led by former Prime Minister Erna Solberg suffered major losses in the election. The Conservative Party ended up only winning 24 seats and 15 percent of the vote, down 12 seats and 6 percent of the vote from the last election in 2021. Following the loss, Solberg announced she would step down as leader: “When Hoyre [Conservative Party] is to lift itself toward future elections, it will not be under my leadership,” she emphasized. Having led the Conservative Party for 21 years, her departure marks a major shift. 

Despite the Labour Party’s victory, this election underscored the growing strength of far-right parties across Europe. Considering these trends, Labour must deliver on its promises and relentlessly regain voters lost over the past two decades in order to retain power in the next election.