A group of center-left parties narrowly prevailed in Monday's general election, giving Norway's Labor Party a second term in office.
With nearly all of the votes counted, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre's party and its partners secured 87 of the 169 seats in parliament, while the center-right opposition claimed 82 seats following the Conservatives' worst electoral showing in decades.
According to Norwegian media outlet VG, Støre told ecstatic Labor supporters in Oslo on Monday night that the outcome demonstrated that it is "possible for the Social Democrats to win elections even when right-wing forces are on the rise in Europe."
The right-wing populist Progress Party surged to its best result in a national election, doubling its share of the vote to around 24 percent and relegating the Conservatives to being only the third-largest force in parliament. Conservative leader Erna Solberg said she took personal responsibility for her party’s poor result.
As a result, Støre will probably get the backing of four other left-wing parties to form a government. It follows a fiercely contested campaign that was dominated by discussions about wealth taxation, the cost of living, Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, and the nation's relationship with US President Donald Trump.
Støre stated earlier on Monday that voters' main concerns were rising prices and international issues like the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Since the most recent election in 2021, Støre has served as prime minister of a center-left coalition government that is a minority.
The return to power of popular former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who was appointed finance minister in February, is strongly linked to Støre's improvement in the polls this year. The so-called "Stoltenback" impact saw Labor jump 10 percentage points in the days following his appointment.
