| Centre Party Senterpartiet |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Leader | Liv Signe Navarsete |
| Founded | 1920 |
| Headquarters | Oslo |
| Youth wing | Senterungdommen |
| Ideology | General: Centrism, Agrarianism, Social liberalism[1], Euroscepticism Internal factions: Social conservatism[2], Social democracy[2] |
| Political position | Current: Centre, Centre-left[3] Historical: Centre-right[3] |
| International affiliation | None |
| European affiliation | None |
| Official colours | Green |
| Website | |
| www.senterpartiet.no | |
| Politics of Norway Political parties Elections |
|
The Centre Party (Norwegian: Senterpartiet, Sp) is a centrist and agrarian Norwegian political party founded in 1920. The Centre Party's policy is not based on any of the great ideologies of the 19th and 20th century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralized economic development and political decision-making.
From its founding until 2000, the party had joined only non-socialist governments, but in 2005 changed and joined the Red-Green socialist government. Since 1972, it has also maintained a principled opposition to Norwegian membership in the European Union.
Contents |
History
The party was started in 1920, originally as the Farmers' Party[note 1] (Bondepartiet), which was the name of the party until 1959 when it was changed to the current Centre Party. The party had supported only non-socialist coalition governments from 1930 to 2000, in seven governments, three of which were led by a Prime Minister from the party. By 2005 however, the party joined the socialist Red-Green Coalition.
During the eight decades since the Centre Party was created as a political faction of a Norwegian agrarian organization, the party has changed a great deal. Only few years after the creation the party broke with its mother organization and started developing a policy based on decentralization, moving away from a single-minded agrarian policy, like that which has trapped many other European Centre Parties' conduct.
The 1930s have in the post-war era been seen as a controversial time in the party's history. This was as Vidkun Quisling, who later became leader of Nasjonal Samling, had been a Council of State for the party, and later even, the Farmers' Party had been negotiating with Nasjonal Samling for a coalition government. The negotiations did however stop, and the Farmers' Party supported a Labour Party government. Political scientist Trond Nordby in 2009 also said that the Farmers' Party has been given an undeservably bad reputation from this time, and that the party was not really "as dark brown as some claim".[4]
In local elections, the party enjoys strong support in several small municipalities, where the party has a strong influence. After the 2007 elections, 83[5] of the mayors in Norway represent the Centre Party. Only the Labour Party has more mayors, and relative to party size, the Centre Party has more mayors than any other.[6]
In the 2005 parliamentary election the party ran for government together with the Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet, Ap) and the Socialist Left Party (SV), with the Centre Party constituting the "green part" of that Red-Green Coalition. The coalition was successful in winning the majority of the seats in the Storting, and negotiations followed with the aim of forming a coalition cabinet led by the Labour Party's leader Jens Stoltenberg. These negotiations succeeded and the Centre Party entered the cabinet on October 17, 2005 with four ministers.
List of SP party leaders
- Johan E. Mellbye 1920–1921
- Kristoffer Høgset 1921–1927
- Erik Enge 1927–1930
- Jens Hundseid 1930–1938
- Nils Trædal 1938–1948
- Einar Frogner 1948–1954
- Per Borten 1955–1967
- John Austrheim 1967–1973
- Dagfinn Vårvik 1973–1977
- Gunnar Stålsett 1977–1979
- Johan J. Jakobsen 1979–1991
- Anne Enger Lahnstein 1991–1999
- Odd Roger Enoksen 1999–2003
- Åslaug Haga 2003–2008
- Lars Peder Brekk (acting) 2008–2008
- Liv Signe Navarsete 2008–
Government participation
Governments led by Centre Party Prime Ministers:
- The Government of Peder Kolstad 1930–31 (minority government)
- The Government of Jens Hundseid 1931–32 (minority government)
- The Government of Per Borten 1965–71 (coalition of Sp, H, KrF, and V)
With Prime Ministers from other parties:
- The Government of Lars Korvald (KrF), 1972–73 (coalition of KrF, Sp, and V)
- The Government of Kåre Willoch (H), 1983–86 (coalition of H, KrF, and Sp)
- The Government of Jan P. Syse (H), 1989–90, (coalition of H, KrF, and Sp)
- The first Government of Kjell Magne Bondevik (KrF), 1997–2000 (minority government coalition of KrF, Sp, and V)
- The second Government of Jens Stoltenberg (Ap), 2005–present (coalition of Ap, Sp and SV)
Parliamentary election results
| Year | % of votes | Members of the Storting |
|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 13.1 | 17 |
| 1924 | 13.5 | 22 |
| 1927 | 14.9 | 26 |
| 1930 | 15.9 | 25 |
| 1933 | 13.9 | 23 |
| 1936 | 11.5 | 18 |
| 1945 | 8.1 | 10 |
| 1949 | 7.9 | 12 |
| 1953 | 9.0 | 14 |
| 1957 | 9.3 | 15 |
| 1961 | 6.8 | 16 |
| 1965 | 9.4 | 18 |
| 1969 | 9.0 | 20 |
| 1973 | 6.8 | 21 |
| 1977 | 8.0 | 12 |
| 1981 | 4.3 | 11 |
| 1985 | 6.6 | 12 |
| 1989 | 6.5 | 11 |
| 1993 | 16.7 | 32 |
| 1997 | 7.9 | 11 |
| 2001 | 5.6 | 10 |
| 2005 | 6.5 | 11 |
| 2009 | 6.2 | 11 |
External links
- Sp in English – Official English-language information page on the Centre Party's ideology
- Senterpartiet (Centre Party) (Norwegian) – Official website
- Election results for the Centre Party in the 2007 local elections (Norwegian)
Notes
- ^ Though Bondepartiet is sometimes translated as the "Agrarian Party", sources such as the Centre Party itself[1] and Statistics Norway[2] use the term "Farmers' Party".
References
- ^ "GRUNNSYN – VERDIER – HISTORIE". Senterpartiet Nittedal. 16 July 2007. http://www.senterpartiet.no/article43089.html.
- ^ a b Morstøl, Kjersti T.. "Fra bondeparti til sosialdemokrati". Universitetsavisa (NTNU). http://www.ntnu.no/universitetsavisa/nr4/ny9.html. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ a b Hauge, Knut A.G.. "Syntax Error?". kagh.no. http://www.kagh.no/fag/se/kap4_1.html. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ Henriksen, Birger (30 June 2009). "Mener Senterpartiet flørter med nasjonalisme". TV2. http://www.tv2nyhetene.no/innenriks/politikk/valg09/mener-senterpartiet-floerter-med-nasjonalisme-2835402.html.
- ^ "Flere kvinnelige ordførere". Statistisk sentralbyrå. January 29, 2008. http://www.ssb.no/kommvalgform/main.html. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ Helljesen, Geir (March 16, 2007). "Sp vil ha flere ordførere" (in Norwegian). NRK. http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/1.2063857. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
|
|||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
