The Prime Minister of Norway is [Jonas Gahr Støre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prime_Minister_of_Norway). There is [no “official”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deputy_to_the_Prime_Minister_of_Norway) Deputy Prime Minister. The Wikipedia page abut [Støre’s Cabinet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%B8re’s_Cabinet) show that [Trygve Slagsvold Vedum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trygve_Slagsvold_Vedum), the Minister of Finance is the 2nd ranking.

Does he take over if the Prime Minister passes or resigns? (if not not who?)

Does the Prime Minister choose whatever type of cabinet member he/she want regardless of which type of position of the cabinet to become his/her de facto Deputy Prime Minister?

I’m doing a project for a country comparison between the US and Norway.

6 comments

  2. Being finance minister does not make you deputy prime minister.

    The reason finance minister is ranked 2nd in that list is because of the [norwegian order of precedence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_order_of_precedence) ranking officals of the *court*. Norway is a kingdom after all.

    There is [a list](https://www.regjeringen.no/no/om-regjeringa/stoere/regjeringensmedlemmer/id543170/) however. But it is decided by resolution by the [King-in-Council](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King-in-Council) from a propositon by the prime ministers office. If there is a coalition government, then it is the norm for the leaders, or most senior party cabinet-member from the various parties in the coalition be next in line by the size of the party. So Vedum is second in line not because he is finance minsiter but because he is the leader of the junior coalition party in the government.

  3. If the prime minister suddenly becomes unavailable then Vedum as the second in line will take on the role as acting prime minister temporarily. Any cabinet member could theoretically be the second in line, but it is typically the finance minister. The order is set by the cabinet.

    If the prime minister resigns or dies and a permanent replacement is needed, then one will be appointed after a short time. The person who gets appointed may or may not be the same person that is second in line and gets the position temporarily. If Støre dies or resigns the new prime minister would probably be the new leader of the labor party (Ap), not Vedum who is the leader of the centre party (Sp).

  4. As far as I know, in the absence of the PM, it is the Statsråd that advises the King who will temporarily replace the PM until the new government is formed.

    The seniority is set by the statsråd. I’d say the foreign minister takes over as temp, because foreign minister is pretty much a rank of its own in Statsråd. But Norway has a weird tradition of having Finance Minister as their second who also happens to be the opposition leaders in the previous governments…

    As for the formation of the new government, I’m looking at the nestleder of AP, Skjæran leading the process with Vedum but I don’t know. We need to study the constitution of Arbeiderpartiet.

  5. I don’t think there’s a set precedence. Back in 1998 prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik had to take a leave of absence due to a depressive reaction to being involved in war. During the weeks he was away minister of culture, Anne Enger Lahnstein was acting prime minister.

    My understanding is that each administration has its own set hierarchy and as such who takes over the role of prime minister if the prime minister becomes incapacitated depends on the composition and hierarchy of that administration. In the current administration the minister of finance is second in line as I understand it.

  6. Civil war emerges. It will be a total destruction of all we know and love. Or someone else takes his place

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