Progress Party (Norway)

The future Progress Party was founded by Anders Lange on April 8, 1973 , originally titled “The Anders Lange Party for a Significant Reduction in Taxes, Costs, and Government Intervention” ( Norwegian Anders Langes Parti til sterk nedsettelse av skatter, avgifter og offentlige inngrep ), better known as just the Anders Lang Party ( Norwegian Anders Langes Parti , ALP). At that time, it was more a protest movement against the policies of the ruling Norwegian Labor Party than a political party . In the very first elections to the Storting of 1973 , the Progress Party received 5% of the vote and 4 out of 155 parliamentary seats.

After the death of Anders Lange in 1974 and the ensuing sharp decline in popularity, as a result of which the party won only 1.9% of the vote in the 1977 elections and won no seats in the Storting, Karl Ivar Hagen took over the party. In the 1989 elections , the Progress Party managed to gain 13% of the vote and won 22 of 165 seats in parliament, becoming the third party in terms of the number of representatives in it. Although in the next election, in 1993 , the party managed to gain only 6.3% of the vote, gaining 10 seats in the Storting.

In 2006, Karl Hagen left the leadership, and Siv Jensen was elected the new head of the Progress Party on May 6 of the same year.

According to the results of the 2005 and 2009 parliamentary elections , it was the second largest party in the Storting , after the 2013 elections in third place.

Party representation in the Storting increased in the 2009 election to 41 out of 169 seats.

In the 2013 election, the Progress Party received 16.4% of the vote, 29 seats in parliament, and first entered the government. Party leader Siv Jensen became Minister of Finance, Thord Lien became Minister of Oil.

From 2015 to 2018, the Minister of Immigration and Integration was Sylvie Listhaug , a popular Norwegian politician, known for his harsh statements about immigrants, a member of the central council of the party since 2005.

The Party of Progress considers the main priorities to be the defense of the interests of the right-wing radical of the political spectrum, with the goal of completely destroying the existing model of government and replacing it with a neoliberal market economy. They advocate a sharp decrease in immigration to the country and are opposed to the policy of multiculturalism . The principles of state structure in accordance with the party’s program should undergo changes towards greater democratization and individualization, with power being decentralized and decisions made using referenda , which should become part of the constitutional order. The ideology of the party is liberalism , which does not imply too general decisions, but it means a higher level of social responsibility, therefore, the program provisions do not differ much from the course of the ruling coalition : tax cuts, increase of old-age pensions. Of the special, it is possible to single out a decrease in alcohol prices, which may be due to the desire to emphasize a special position and a liberal course. Individualism is combined with a fairly high level of organization, involving the constant interaction of members of society.

• Anders Lange ( 1973 - 1974 )
• Eivind Escbo ( 1974 - 1975 , interim)
• Arve Lönnum ( 1975 - 1978 )
• Karl Ivar Hagen ( 1978 - 2006 )
• Siv Jensen (since 2006 )

• Anders Bering Breivik (1999-2004), expelled for non-payment of membership fees.

• Party of Progress official website (Norwegian)