| Country: | Norway |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1993 Norwegian parliamentary election |
| Previous Year: | 1993 |
| Next Election: | 2001 Norwegian parliamentary election |
| Next Year: | 2001 |
| Seats For Election: | All 165 seats in the Storting |
| Majority Seats: | 83 |
| Election Date: | 15 September 1997 |
| Image1: | Thorbjørn Jagland (30366602783) (cropped).jpg |
| Party1: | Labour Party (Norway) |
| Last Election1: | 36.91%, 67 seats |
| Seats1: | 65 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Popular Vote1: | 904,362 |
| Percentage1: | 35.00% |
| Swing1: | 1.91 pp |
| Party2: | Progress Party (Norway) |
| Last Election2: | 6.28%, 10 seats |
| Seats2: | 25 |
| Seat Change2: | 15 |
| Popular Vote2: | 395,376 |
| Percentage2: | 15.30% |
| Swing2: | 9.02 pp |
| Image3: | Kjell Magne Bondevik, Norges statsminister, under presskonferens vid Nordiska radets session i Stockholm.jpg |
| Party3: | Christian Democratic Party (Norway) |
| Last Election3: | 7.88%, 13 seats |
| Seats3: | 25 |
| Seat Change3: | 12 |
| Popular Vote3: | 353,082 |
| Percentage3: | 13.66% |
| Swing3: | 5.78 pp |
| Image4: | J Petersen.jpg |
| Leader4: | Jan Petersen |
| Party4: | Conservative Party (Norway) |
| Last Election4: | 17.04%, 28 seats |
| Seats4: | 23 |
| Seat Change4: | 5 |
| Popular Vote4: | 370,441 |
| Percentage4: | 14.34% |
| Swing4: | 2.69 pp |
| Image5: | Anne Enger crop splm13.jpg |
| Leader5: | Anne Enger Lahnstein |
| Party5: | Centre Party (Norway) |
| Last Election5: | 16.74%, 32 seats |
| Seats5: | 11 |
| Seat Change5: | 21 |
| Popular Vote5: | 204,824 |
| Percentage5: | 7.93% |
| Swing5: | 8.81 pp |
| Image6: | Kristin_Halvorsen_Sentralbanksjefens_årstale_2018_(191746).jpg |
| Leader6: | Kristin Halvorsen |
| Party6: | Socialist Left Party (Norway) |
| Last Election6: | 7.91%, 13 seats |
| Seats6: | 9 |
| Seat Change6: | 4 |
| Popular Vote6: | 155,307 |
| Percentage6: | 6.01% |
| Swing6: | 1.90 pp |
| Image7: | Lars Sponheim 1.jpg |
| Leader7: | Lars Sponheim |
| Party7: | Liberal Party (Norway) |
| Last Election7: | 3.61%, 1 seat |
| Seats7: | 6 |
| Seat Change7: | 5 |
| Popular Vote7: | 115,077 |
| Percentage7: | 4.45% |
| Swing7: | 0.84 pp |
| Leader8: | Steinar Bastesen |
| Party8: | Non-Partisan Deputies |
| Last Election8: | 0.03%, 0 seats |
| Seats8: | 1 |
| Seat Change8: | 1 |
| Popular Vote8: | 9,135 |
| Percentage8: | 0.36% |
| Swing8: | 0.33 pp |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister after election |
| Before Election: | Thorbjørn Jagland |
| Before Party: | Labour Party (Norway) |
| After Election: | Kjell Magne Bondevik |
| After Party: | Christian Democratic Party (Norway) |
| Candidate3: | Kjell Magne Bondevik |
| Candidate1: | Thorbjørn Jagland |
| Candidate2: | Carl I. Hagen |
Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 14 and 15 September 1997.[1] Prior to the election Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland of the Labour Party had issued the 36.9 ultimatum declaring that the government would step down unless it gained 36.9% of the vote, the percentage gained by the Labour Party in 1993 under Gro Harlem Brundtland. Whilst Labour won a plurality of seats, they were unable to reach Jagland's 36.9% threshold, gaining 35% of the vote.
As a result of this, the Labour government stepped down, being replaced by a centrist coalition of the Christian People's Party, Liberal Party and the Centre Party, with Kjell Magne Bondevik being appointed Prime Minister, and confidence and supply support from the Conservative Party and the right-wing Progress Party.
See also: List of political parties in Norway.
| Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | 1993 result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes (%) | Seats | ||||||||
| align=center | Ap | Labour Party Arbeiderpartiet | Social democracy | Centre-left | Thorbjørn Jagland | align=center | 36.9% | ||
| align=center | H | Conservative Party Høyre | Liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Jan Petersen | align=center | 17.0% | ||
| Sp | Centre Party Senterpartiet | Agrarianism | Centre | Anne Enger Lahnstein | 16.7% | ||||
| SV | Socialist Left Party Sosialistisk Venstreparti | Democratic socialism | Left-wing | Kristin Halvorsen | 7.9% | ||||
| KrF | Christian Democratic Party Kristelig Folkeparti | Christian democracy | Centre to centre-right | Kjell Magne Bondevik | 7.8% | ||||
| FrP | Progress Party Fremskrittspartiet | Conservative liberalism | Right-wing | Carl I. Hagen | 6.2% | ||||
| V | Liberal Party Venstre | Social liberalism | Centre | Lars Sponheim | 3.6% | ||||
| R | Red Electoral Alliance Rød Valgallianse | Communism | Far-left | Aslak Sira Myhre | 1.0% | ||||
| Party | Original slogan | English translation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | «Eldre og helse først!» | «Elderly and health first!» | ||
| Centre Party | «Ja til samholds-Norge, nei til forskjellsNorge» | «Yes to a united Norway, no to a Norway of difference» | ||
| Conservative Party | «Jan Petersen best som sjef/Høyre best for Norge.» | «Jan Petersen (Leader of party) best suited as boss/Conservative best suited for Norway» | ||
| Socialist Left Party | ||||
| Christian Democratic Party | «Et varmere samfunn med kristne verdier» | «A warmer society with christian values» | ||
| Progress Party | «Frihet under ansvar. Nei til redusering av forsvaret» | «Freedom under responsibility. No to reducing the army» | ||
| Liberal party | ||||
| Red Electoral Alliance | ||||
| Sources: [2] [3] | ||||
| Cohort | Percentage of cohort voting for | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ap | FrP | H | KrF | Sp | Sv | V | Others | ||
| Total vote | 35.00% | 15.30% | 14.34% | 13.66% | 7.93% | 6.01% | 4.45% | ||
| Gender | |||||||||
| Females | 34.8% | 12.3% | 12.4% | 17.6% | 7.9% | 8.1% | 4.1% | ||
| Males | 35.2% | 18% | 16% | 10.2% | 8% | 4.2% | 4.9% | ||
| Age | |||||||||
| 18–30 years old | 30.5% | 19.4% | 11.4% | 11.4% | 6.2% | 9.8% | 4.9% | ||
| 30-59 years old | 35.5% | 14.4% | 16.5% | 11.9% | 7.9% | 6.4% | 5% | ||
| 60 years old and older | 37.8% | 14.6% | 10.9% | 20.7% | 9.8% | 1.1% | 2.2% | ||
| Work | |||||||||
| low income | 33.5% | 17% | 7% | 16.4% | 9.2% | 6.8% | 5% | ||
| Average income | 36% | 16.7% | 11% | 15.2% | 9.2% | 4.7% | 3.8% | ||
| High income | 35.4% | 11.7% | 27% | 8.2% | 4.2% | 7.1% | 5.2% | ||
| Education | |||||||||
| Primary school | 44.7% | 15.3% | 5.6% | 15.3% | 10.6% | 2.5% | 1.6% | ||
| High school | 35.9% | 17.2% | 12.9% | 13.8% | 8.8% | 4.8% | 3.9% | ||
| University/college | 26.3% | 9.9% | 24.3% | 12% | 4.1% | 11.6% | 7.7% | ||
| Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research[5] | |||||||||
| Constituency | Total seats | Seats won | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By party | By coalition | |||||||||||
| Ap | FrP | KrF | H | Sp | SV | V | TVF | |||||
| Akershus | 14 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | ||
| Aust-Agder | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Buskerud | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| Finnmark | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Hedmark | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||
| Hordaland | 16 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | ||
| Møre og Romsdal | 10 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | |||
| Nord-Trøndelag | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Nordland | 12 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Oppland | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| Oslo | 17 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 8 | |||
| Østfold | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Rogaland | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | ||
| Sogn og Fjordane | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| Sør-Trøndelag | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |||
| Telemark | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Troms | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Vest-Agder | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Vestfold | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |||||
| Total | 165 | 65 | 25 | 25 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 91 | 74 | |
| align=left colspan="13" | Source: Statistics Norway | |||||||||||