Norwegian voters tilted right on September 9th, positioning Erna Solberg, the sparky Conservative leader, to be their second female prime minister and ending eight years of Labour-led government under Jens Stoltenberg. He lost in part because his high approval ratings after the massacre of 77 people by Anders Breivik in 2011 fell when a report faulted the government for security lapses. But his hopes of a third term were stymied most by a desire for change and the poor showing of his coalition partners. Overall, the left-leaning parties lost 14 seats in parliament, holding only 73, whereas the right took 96 out of the 169 seats. Yet Iron Erna, as she is known, faces a hard task putting together a coalition. There was no pact between the four right-wing parties and she must reconcile her biggest ally, the anti-immigrant Progress Party, with two smaller ones. Progress wants to spend more of Norway’s oil wealth, but the other parties mistrust its populist streak. Still, with five weeks to go before the handover, Ms Solberg should reach a consensus, at worst forming a two-party minority coalition with Progress. The irony is that Mr Breivik was once a Progress…
The Economist: Europe
