# 1981 Norwegian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 13 and 14 September 1981. The elections led to the end of the Labour Party minority government and the creation of a Conservative Party minority government.
The Conservative Party made the strongest gains in the election. The Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting, winning 66 of the 155 seats.
Attempts were made to form a majority coalition government with the Conservative Party, Christian People's Party and Centre Party, but the negotiations failed. The Conservative Party subsequently formed a minority government with parliamentary support from Christian People's Party and Centre Party.
In 1983 a majority coalition government with the Christian People's Party and the Centre Party was established.

## Contesting parties

| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | 1977 result | 1977 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | Ap | Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet | Social democracy | Centre-left | Gro Harlem Brundtland | 42.2% | 76 / 155 |
| | H | Conservative Party Høyre | Conservatism | Centre-right | Jo Benkow | 24.5% | 40 / 155 |
| | KrF | Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti | Christian democracy | Centre to centre-right | Kåre Kristiansen | 9.7% | 18 / 155 |
| | Sp | Centre Party Senterpartiet | Agrarianism | Centre | Johan J. Jakobsen | 8.0% | 11 / 155 |
| | SV | Socialist Left Party Sosialistisk Venstreparti | Democratic socialism | Left-wing | Berge Furre | 4.1% | 2 / 155 |
| | V | Liberal Party Venstre | Social liberalism | Centre | Hans Hammond Rossbach | 2.3% | 1 / 155 |
| | FrP | Progress Party Fremskrittspartiet | Classical liberalism | Right-wing | Carl I. Hagen | 1.8% | 0 / 155 |

### Leadership changes and challenges
#### Progress Party

Carl I. Hagen was elected chairman on 12 February 1978 after Arve Lønnum declined to seek reelection.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Carl I. Hagen | 33 | 70.21 |
| Jens Marcussen | 14 | 29.79 |
| Total | 47 | 100.00 |
| Source: Moss Dagblad |||

#### Christian People's Party

After Lars Korvald declined to seek reelection, Kåre Kristiansen was elected chairman on 21 April 1979. Despite not being a candidate, Kjell Magne Bondevik received 44 votes.
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Kåre Kristiansen | 197 | 82.77 |
| Kjell Magne Bondevik | 41 | 17.23 |
| Total | 238 | 100.00 |
| Source: Rana Blad |||

## Campaign
### Slogans

| Party | Party | Original slogan | English translation |
| | Labour Party | Arbeid for alle | Labour for everyone |
| | Conservative Party | | |
| | Centre Party | | |
| | Christian Democratic Party | | |
| | Liberal Party | | |
| | Communist Party of Norway | | |
| Sources: ||||

### Debates

1981 Norwegian general election debates :
| Date | Organiser | 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 | Organiser | Ap | H | KrF | Sp | Sv | V | Frp | Dlp | NKP | R | Refs |
| 9 April | NRK | P Gro Harlem Brundtland | P Kåre Willoch | N Kåre Kristiansen | N Johan J. Jakobsen | N Hanna Kvanmo | N Hans Hammond Rossbach | N Carl I. Hagen | N Gerd Søraa | N Martin Gunnar Knutsen | N Sigurd Allern | |
| 11 September | NRK | P Einar Førde, Gro Harlem Brundtland | P Kåre Willoch | P Kåre Kristiansen | P Johan J. Jakobsen | P Hanna Kvanmo | P Hans Hammond Rossbach | P Carl I. Hagen | P Gerd Søraa | P Martin Gunnar Knutsen | P Sigurd Allern | |

## Results

| | Labour Party | 914,749 | 37.20 | 66 | –10 |
| | Conservative Party | 780,372 | 31.74 | 53 | +12 |
| | Christian Democratic Party | 219,179 | 8.91 | 15 | –7 |
| | Socialist Left Party | 121,561 | 4.94 | 4 | +2 |
| | Progress Party | 109,564 | 4.46 | 4 | +4 |
| | Centre Party | 103,753 | 4.22 | 6 | –1 |
| | Non-socialist joint lists | 88,969 | 3.62 | 5 | – |
| | Liberal Party | 79,064 | 3.22 | 2 | 0 |
| | Red Electoral Alliance | 17,844 | 0.73 | 0 | 0 |
| | Liberal People's Party | 13,344 | 0.54 | 0 | 0 |
| | Communist Party | 6,673 | 0.27 | 0 | 0 |
| | Plebiscite Party | 1,145 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Tom A. Schanke's Party | 826 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Freely Elected Representatives | 801 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 |
| | Lapp People's List | 594 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 |
| | Broad-Based Non-Partisan List | 383 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 2,458,821 | 100.00 | 155 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 2,458,821 | 99.86 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 3,387 | 0.14 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,462,208 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 3,003,093 | 81.99 | | |
| 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 | Sv | FrP | Sp | V | Others |
| Total vote | 37.2% | 31.7% | 8.9% | 4.9% | 4.5% | 4.2% | 3.2% | |
| Gender |||||||||
| Females | 35.6% | 30.3% | 12.8% | 4.5% | 3.7% | 4.3% | 3.3% | |
| Males | 38.4% | 33.1% | 5.5% | 5.5% | 5.3% | 4.2% | 3.1% | |
| Age |||||||||
| 18–30 years old | 26.2% | 33.8% | 5.2% | 8.8% | 10.1% | 4.6% | 4.3% | |
| 30-59 years old | 39.2% | 32.3% | 8% | 4.8% | 3.5% | 3.8% | 3.6% | |
| 60 years old and older | 43.5% | 28.9% | 14.9% | 1.5% | 1.2% | 4.9% | 1.2% | |
| Work |||||||||
| low income | 43.5% | 25.9% | 11.8% | 4.4% | 7.1% | 5.6% | 2.4% | |
| Average income | 43.9% | 27.2% | 8.1% | 5.8% | 3.6% | 4% | 3.6% | |
| High income | 23.3% | 50.3% | 6.5% | 4.5% | 3.8% | 2.4% | 3.4% | |
| Education |||||||||
| Primary school | 55.2% | 18.7% | 9.6% | 3.1% | 4.4% | 3.6% | 1% | |
| High school | 36% | 33% | 8.9% | 4.7% | 5.1% | 5% | 3% | |
| University/college | 12.9% | 47.7% | 7.9% | 9.1% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 7.5% | |
| Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research |||||||||

### Seat distribution

| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| Constituency | Total seats | Ap | H | KrF | Sp | SV | Frp | V |
| Akershus | 10 | 4 | 5 | | | | 1 | |
| Aust-Agder | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | | |
| Buskerud | 7 | 4 | 2 | | 1 | | | |
| Finnmark | 4 | 3 | 1 | | | | | |
| Hedmark | 8 | 5 | 2 | | 1 | | | |
| Hordaland | 15 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Møre og Romsdal | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | | | 1 |
| Nord-Trøndelag | 6 | 3 | 1 | | 2 | | | |
| Nordland | 12 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | |
| Oppland | 7 | 4 | 2 | | 1 | | | |
| Oslo | 15 | 5 | 7 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | |
| Østfold | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | | | | |
| Rogaland | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | | 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 | 4 | | | | | |
| Total | 155 | 66 | 53 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Source: Norges Offisielle Statistikk |||||||||