Conservative Party of Norway

Infobox Norwegian political party
party_articletitle = Conservative Party of Norway
party_name = "Høyre"
Conservative Party of Norway
name_native = Høyre
colorcode = #50a7f7
party_
leader = Erna Solberg
foundation = 1884
founder = Emil Stang
ideology = Liberal conservatism, Conservative liberalism
youth_wing = Unge Høyre
headquarters = Oslo
europarl = European People's Party
international = Int. Democrat Union
members = 67,000
website = [http://www.hoyre.no/ www.hoyre.no]

The Conservative Party ("Høyre", H, meaning "right") is a Norwegian political party. Founded in 1884, it is Norway's second oldest party. The current leader (since 2004) is Erna Solberg.

History and Political Platform

The Conservative Party of Norway was founded in 1884 with Emil Stang as its first Chairman. Ever since its creation, Høyre has been one of the larger political parties in Norway. It had had a historically bad election in 2005, when the party only got 14,1 percent of the votes, however, according to the 2007 local elections and various opinion polls, the party is again gaining popularity. It is currently the third largest party in the Norwegian Parliament, Stortinget, after the Norwegian Labour Party and the Progress Party. The party is committed to fiscal free market policies, including tax cuts and little government involvement in the economy.In spite of the party's right-wing orientation, Høyre's social policies are quite liberal, with the party's programme supporting liberal policies such as gay adoption rights and marriage. Høyre is also strongly in favour of Norwegian membership in the European Union.

Membership

The party claims 67,000 registered members, organized in about 600 local party units. There are reportedly some 15,000 members active in party affairs. The Central Board of Høyre meets seven times a year to discuss important matters such as budget, organizational work, plans, party platforms, drawing up political lines.

Parliamentary (Storting) elections 1961-2005

List of Party Chairmen and Leaders

*Emil Stang, 1884-1889
*Christian Homann Schweigaard, 1889-1891
*Emil Stang, 1891-1893
*Christian Homann Schweigaard, 1893-1896
*Emil Stang, 1896-1899
*Francis Hagerup, 1899-1902
*Ole L. Skattebøl, 1902-1905
*Edm. Harbitz, 1905-1907
*Fredrik Stang, 1907-1911
*Jens Bratlie, 1911-1919
*Otto B. Halvorsen, 1919-1923
*Ivar Lykke, 1923-1926
*Carl Joachim Hambro, 1926-1934
*Johan H. Andresen, 1934-1937
*Ole Ludvig Bærøe, 1937-1940
*Arthur Nordlie, 1945-1950
*Carl Joachim Hambro, 1950-1954
*Alv Kjøs, 1954-1962
*Sjur Lindebrække, 1962-1970
*Kåre Willoch, 1970-1974
*Erling Norvik, 1974-1980
*Jo Benkow, 1980-1984
*Erling Norvik, 1984-1986
*Rolf Presthus, 1986-1988
*Kaci Kullmann Five, 1988
*Jan P. Syse, 1988-1991
*Kaci Kullmann Five, 1991-1994
*Jan Petersen, 1994-2004
*Erna Solberg, 2004-

Unge Høyre

"Main article: Unge Høyre"

Høyre has its own youth wing called Unge Høyre. The leader of The Young Conservatives is Henrik Asheim, who followed Torbjørn Røe Isaksen. The youth wing was founded in 1922.

Internationally

Høyre is an associated member of the European People's Party (EPP) and full member of the International Democrat Union (IDU).

See also

*Politics of Norway

External links

*no icon [http://www.hoyre.no Høyre] - Official site
*en icon [http://www.hoyre.no/artikler/2003/1/information_in_english Conservative Party (Høyre)] - Information in English
*no icon [http://www.ungehoyre.no/ Unge Høyre] - Official site of the Young Conservatives
*no icon [http://www.studenterforbund.no/ Høyres Studenterforbund] - Site of the Conservative Students' Union
* [http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/innenriks/valg/val_2007/resultat/?type=parti&id=h#valresultat Election results for the Conservative Party in the 2007 local elections]