# 1985 Norwegian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 8 and 9 September 1985. The Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting, winning 71 of the 157 seats. It was the first election since 1885 in which the Liberal Party failed to win a seat.

## Contesting parties

| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | 1981 result | 1981 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | Ap | Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet | Social democracy | Centre-left | Gro Harlem Brundtland | 37.2% | 66 / 155 |
| | H | Conservative Party Høyre | Conservatism | Centre-right | Erling Norvik | 31.7% | 53 / 155 |
| | KrF | Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti | Christian democracy | Centre to centre-right | Kjell Magne Bondevik | 8.9% | 15 / 155 |
| | SV | Socialist Left Party Sosialistisk Venstreparti | Democratic socialism | Left-wing | Theo Koritzinsky | 4.9% | 4 / 155 |
| | FrP | Progress Party Fremskrittspartiet | Classical liberalism | Right-wing | Carl I. Hagen | 4.4% | 4 / 155 |
| | Sp | Centre Party Senterpartiet | Agrarianism | Centre | Johan J. Jakobsen | 4.2% | 6 / 155 |
| | V | Liberal Party Venstre | Social liberalism | Centre | Arne Fjørtoft | 3.2% | 2 / 155 |

## Campaign
### Slogans

| Party | Party | Original slogan |
| | Labour Party | Ny vekst for Norge |
| | Conservative Party | |
| | Centre Party | |
| | Christian Democratic Party | La livet leve |
| | Liberal Party | |
| | Progress Party | Vi vil gjøre noe med det! |
| Sources: ||||

### Debates

1985 Norwegian general election debates :
| Date | Organizers | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee | P Present  I Invitee N Non-invitee |
| Date | Organizers | Ap | H | KrF | Sv | Frp | Sp | V | Rv | Dlp | NKP | Refs |
| 9 October 1984 | NRK | P Gro Harlem Brundtland | P Kåre Willoch | N Kjell Magne Bondevik | N Hanna Kvanmo | N Carl I. Hagen | N Johan J. Jakobsen | N Odd Einar Dørum | N Jorunn Gulbrandsen | N Halfdan Hegtun | N Hans Ingemann Kleven | |
| 6 September 1985 | NRK | P Einar Førde, Gro Harlem Brundtland | P Kåre Willoch, Kaci Kullmann Five | P Kjell Magne Bondevik | P Hanna Kvanmo | P Carl I. Hagen | P Johan J. Jakobsen | P Odd Einar Dørum | P Jorunn Gulbrandsen | P Halfdan Hegtun | P Hans Ingemann Kleven | |

## Results

| | Labour Party | 1,061,712 | 40.81 | 71 | +5 |
| | Conservative Party | 791,537 | 30.42 | 50 | –3 |
| | Christian Democratic Party | 214,969 | 8.26 | 16 | +1 |
| | Centre Party | 171,770 | 6.60 | 12 | +1 |
| | Socialist Left Party | 141,950 | 5.46 | 6 | +2 |
| | Progress Party | 96,797 | 3.72 | 2 | –2 |
| | Liberal Party | 81,202 | 3.12 | 0 | –2 |
| | Red Electoral Alliance | 14,818 | 0.57 | 0 | 0 |
| | Liberal People's Party | 12,958 | 0.50 | 0 | 0 |
| | Pensioners' Party | 7,846 | 0.30 | 0 | New |
| | Communist Party | 4,245 | 0.16 | 0 | New |
| | Sunnmøre List | 2,013 | 0.08 | 0 | New |
| | Freely Elected Representatives | 2,013 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 |
| | Society Party | 2,013 | 0.08 | 0 | New |
| | Non-Partisan List | 2,013 | 0.08 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 2,601,817 | 100.00 | 157 | +2 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,601,817 | 99.86 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 3,619 | 0.14 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,605,436 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 3,100,479 | 84.03 | | |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver ||||||

### Voter demographics

| Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for | Percentage of cohort voting for |
| Cohort | Ap | H | KrF | Sp | Sv | FrP | V | Others |
| Total vote | 40.8% | 30.4% | 8.3% | 6.6% | 5.5% | 3.7% | 3.12% | |
| Gender |||||||||
| Females | 43.4% | 27.6% | 10.7% | 5.5% | 5.7% | 2.6% | 2.9% | |
| Males | 38.4% | 33% | 6% | 7.6% | 5.2% | 4.8% | 3.2% | |
| Age |||||||||
| 18–30 years old | 34.4% | 33.9% | 5.5% | 4.1% | 8.6% | 7.6% | 4.5% | |
| 30-59 years old | 40.5% | 32% | 7.5% | 6.6% | 5.3% | 3% | 3.6% | |
| 60 years old and older | 47.3% | 24.1% | 12.6% | 8.8% | 2.9% | 1.5% | 0.7% | |
| Work |||||||||
| low income | 44.6% | 23.3% | 9.3% | 8.4% | 5.5% | 4.4% | 2.9% | |
| Average income | 45.5% | 26.6% | 8.3% | 6% | 6.5% | 2.8% | 2.9% | |
| High income | 28.6% | 46.5% | 6.1% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 4.4% | 3.7% | |
| Education |||||||||
| Primary school | 60.2% | 16.3% | 7.4% | 7% | 4.4% | 3% | 1.1% | |
| High school | 38.2% | 33.6% | 8.6% | 6.8% | 4.7% | 4.6% | 2.4% | |
| University/college | 14.8% | 44.7% | 9.3% | 5.8% | 9.6% | 2.6% | 8.7% | |
| Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research |||||||||

### Seat distribution

| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| Constituency | Total seats | Ap | H | KrF | Sp | SV | Frp |
| Akershus | 12 | 5 | 5 | | 1 | 1 | |
| Aust-Agder | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| Buskerud | 7 | 4 | 2 | | 1 | | |
| Finnmark | 4 | 3 | 1 | | | | |
| Hedmark | 8 | 5 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | |
| Hordaland | 15 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Møre og Romsdal | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | | |
| Nord-Trøndelag | 6 | 3 | 1 | | 2 | | |
| Nordland | 12 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Oppland | 7 | 5 | 1 | | 1 | | |
| Oslo | 15 | 5 | 7 | 1 | | 1 | 1 |
| Østfold | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | | | |
| Rogaland | 10 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | | |
| Sogn og Fjordane | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | |
| Sør-Trøndelag | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Telemark | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | | | |
| Troms | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | | | |
| Vest-Agder | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | | | |
| Vestfold | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | | | |
| Total | 157 | 71 | 50 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 2 |
| Source: Norges Offisielle Statistikk ||||||||