![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Venstre_logo_2023.svg/640px-Venstre_logo_2023.svg.png&w=640&q=50)
Liberal Party (Norway)
Norwegian political party / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Venstre (Norway)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Liberal Party (Norwegian: Venstre, lit. 'Left', V; Northern Sami: Gurutbellodat) is a centrist political party in Norway. It was founded in 1884 and it is the oldest political party in Norway. It is positioned in the centre on the political spectrum,[5] and it is a liberal party which has over the time enacted reforms such as parliamentarism, freedom of religion, universal suffrage, and state schooling.[6][7][8][9]
Liberal Party | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Abbreviation | V |
Chairperson | Guri Melby |
Founders |
|
Founded | 28 January 1884 (1884-01-28) |
Headquarters | Møllergata 16 0179, Oslo |
Student wing | Liberal Students of Norway |
Youth wing | Young Liberals of Norway |
Membership (2017) | ![]() |
Ideology | Liberalism (Norwegian) Social liberalism (1909–present) Green liberalism Historical: Classical liberalism (1884–1909) |
Political position | Centre |
European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
International affiliation | Liberal International |
Nordic affiliation | Centre Group |
Colours | Teal |
Storting | 8 / 169 |
County Councils[3] | 39 / 728 |
Municipal Councils[4] | 280 / 10,781 |
Sami Parliament | 0 / 39 |
Website | |
venstre | |
For most of the late 19th and early 20th century, it was Norway's largest and dominant political party, but in the postwar era it lost most of its support and became a relatively small party. The party has nevertheless participated in several centrist and centre-right government coalitions in the postwar era. It currently holds eight seats in the Parliament, and was previously a part of Norway's government together with the Conservative Party and the Christian Democratic Party. Guri Melby has served as the party leader since 2020.
Founded in 1884, then with the main support from farmers and progressive members of the bourgeoisie, it was the first political party that came into existence in Norway, and was the dominant government party for several decades. From the beginning it had a close relationship with the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights, which was founded in the same year by most of the Liberal Party's leading politicians, and the party played a central role in advocating for women's suffrage.[10] Since the 1880s the party has seen many internal schisms. A politically moderate and religious wing broke away in 1888 to form the Moderate Liberal Party; and the conservative-liberal faction, including the former Prime Minister of Norway Christian Michelsen, broke away in 1909 to form the Free-minded Liberal Party (both parties eventually merged into the Conservative Party). The most notable recent schism was in 1972, when the Liberal Party decided to oppose Norwegian membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), and the faction supporting membership broke away and formed the Liberal People's Party.[11] The party has since endorsed Norwegian membership in the EU and is currently a strong proponent.[12]