They’ve been familiar faces in Norway and especially in local media for years, but now several long-time Members of Parliament won’t be running fo re-election this fall. Some are finally retiring, others have left top politics under pressure and some just want to do something different.

Former Progress Party leader Carl I Hagen is leaving Parliament after 36 years. PHOTO: NRK screen grab

Carl I Hagen is the oldest of them all at age 81, and holds the longevity record among those leaving Parliament (Stortinget) when the last session closed for the summer. The former leader of the right-wing Progress Party (FrP) has served nine four-year periods, interrupted only when he made an earlier attempt at retiring several years ago after he was no longer party leader.

His absence as a representative from Oslo didn’t last long. Hagen claimed he “missed himself” in active politics and made a comeback in 2021 as a representative for the former Oppland county. Last year he decided enough was enough, and is making way for younger members of the party now led by Sylvi Listhaug, who has recently emerged as a candidate for prime minister since Progress is running far ahead of the Conservatives in recent public opinion polls. Another Progress veteran who was excluded from the party and has been serving independently, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, is leaving Parliament after 20 years.

The Labour Party continues to top the polls and is running to maintain its currently Labour-led government even without a majority in Parliament. Several of its veterans, though, are giving up their seats in Parliament including Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide even though he may remain a ministerial candidate.

Espen Barth Eide won’t be returning to his seat in Parliament this fall, but may still be foreign minister if Labour retains government power. PHOTO: Stortinget/Peter Mydske

Several other Labour MPs aren’t running for re-election after running into various forms of trouble: Eva Kristin Hansen got caught in expense account misuse, while several Labour ministers who’d been excused from their seats in Parliament also ran into trouble and are not running for re-election. They include Hadia Tajik, who’s going into private practice as a lawyer in Oslo, Anette Trettebergstuen and Ingvild Kjerkol, who also were forced to resign, and Anniken Huitfeldt, who’s now Norway’s ambassador to the US. Another former Labour minister, Marte Mjøs Persen of Bergen, is also giving up her seat in Parliament. Party veteran Rigmor Aasrud from Hadeland is retiring.

So are Marit Arnstad and Per Olaf Lundteigen of the Center Party, after literally decades either in Parliament or serving as government ministers, while Ola Borten Moe will pay more attention to his farming and oil industry interests.

Other high-profile politicians who aren’t returning to Parliament include the former leader of the Christian Democrats (Krf) Olaug Bollestad, who lost a power struggle within the party, and her successor as party leader, Dag-Inge Ulstein. He decided against running for Parliament again but will remain party leader. Another Krf veteran, Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, is also leaving Parliament, meaning the party will have a new and much younger bench in the autumn if they get enough votes.

After lots of internal power struggles last year, at least three of these four Christian Democrats MPs won’t be returning to Parliament: (from left) Dag-Inge Ulstein, Olaug Bollestad and Kjell Ingolf Ropstad. PHOTO: Kristelig Folkeparti

Several other well-known faces are leaving Parliament, including Audun Lysbakken, Kari Elisabeth Kaski, Torgeir Knag Fylkenes and Freddy André Øvstegård of the Socialist Left Party (SV). Almost half of SV’s parliamentary group will be replaced, after lots of internal rumbling following top leadership changes within the party.

Two of the most high-profile MPs from the Greens Party are also leaving Parliament, with Rasmus Hansson retiring and the often-controversial Lan Marie Berg pursuing other interests.

The Conservatives will also see quite a bit of personnel changes in Parliament after the 32-year-veteran Jan Tore Sanner becomes county governor for Akershus. Tina Bru, Sveinung Stensland and Linda Hofstad Helleland are among those also leaving Parliament and making way for younger candidates.

The Liberal Party, however, is retaining most of its current MPs as candidates in the upcoming election. Only Ola Elvestuen, a former minister, and André Nikolai Sjelstad are not running for re-election. The Reds Party, meanwhile, is maintaining its current slate of eight MPs, and hopes for more when the election is over.

NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund