Centre Party (Norway)

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The Centre Party (Senterpartiet, Sp) is a Norwegian political party founded in 1920. Until 1959 it bore the name Bondepartiet ("The Farmers' Party"). 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.

Since 1972, it has maintained a principled opposition to Norwegian membership in the European Union.

The party has supported both Socialist and non-Socialist coalition governments; between 1930 and 2000 the Centre Party has participated in seven governments, three of which were led by a Prime Minister from the party. Still, until 2005, the party had only joined non-socialist governments.

During the eight decades since the Centre Party was created as a political fraction 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 Centre Party's current leader is Åslaug Haga (since 2003).

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.

[edit] 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–

[edit] Government participation

Governments led by Centre Party Prime Ministers:

• The Government of Peder Kolstad 1930–31 (minority gov't)
• The Government of Jens Hundseid 1931–32 (minority gov't)
• 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 gov't coalition of KrF, Sp, and V)
• The second Government of Jens Stoltenberg (Ap), 2005–present (coalition of Ap, Sp and SV)

[edit] External links

• Welcome to the Norwegian Centre Party – Official English-language information page on the Centre Party's ideology and history; thorough
• Senterpartiet (Centre Party) (Norwegian) – Official website

Norwegian parliamentary political parties
Parties in the Stoltenberg government
Labour	Socialist Left	Centre
Opposition parties
Conservative	Christian Democratic	Liberal	Progress