Erna Solberg
Erna Solbær is a Norwegian politician and was the Leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2025. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004.
Solberg was first elected to the Storting in 1989, and served as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development in Bondevik's Second Cabinet from 2001 to 2005. During her tenure, she oversaw the tightening of immigration policy and the preparation of a proposed reform of the administrative divisions of Norway. After the 2005 election, she chaired the Conservative Party parliamentary group until 2013. Solberg has emphasized the social and ideological basis of Conservative policies, though the party also has become visibly more pragmatic.
After winning the 2013 parliamentary election, Solberg became Norway’s second female prime minister, after Gro Harlem Brundtland. She led a minority coalition government of the Conservative and Progress parties, known as the "Blue-Blue Cabinet," with support from the Liberal and Christian Democratic parties. Her government was re-elected in 2017 and later expanded to formally include the Liberal Party in 2018 and the Christian Democratic Party in 2019, securing a parliamentary majority. Solberg became the longest-serving Conservative prime minister in Norwegian history in 2018. Following the 2021 election, her government lost its majority, and she resigned, returning to the role of Leader of the Opposition. In 2025, after the Conservative Party was defeated in the general election, Solberg announced she would step down as party leader in 2026.
Early life and education
Solberg was born 24 February 1961 in Bergen in western Norway and grew up in the affluent Kalfaret neighbourhood. Her father, Asbjørn Solberg, worked as a consultant in the Bergen Sporvei, and her mother, Inger Wenche Torgersen, was an office worker. Her parents are both executives. Solberg has two sisters, one older, one younger.Solberg had some struggles at school and at the age of 16 she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She was nevertheless an active and talkative contributor in class. In her final year as a high-school student in 1979, she was elected to the board of the School Student Union of Norway, and in the same year led the national charity event Operasjon Dagsverk, in which students collected money for Jamaica.
In 1986, she graduated with her cand.mag. degree in sociology, political science, statistics and economics from the University of Bergen. In her final year, she led the Students' League of the Conservative Party in Bergen.
Since 1996 she has been married to Sindre Finnes, a businessman and former Conservative Party politician, with whom she has two children. The family has lived in both Bergen and Oslo.
Early political career
Local government
Solberg was a deputy member of Bergen city council in the periods 1979-1983 and 1987-1989, the last period on the executive committee. She chaired local and municipal chapters of the Young Conservatives and the Conservative Party.Parliamentarian
She was first elected to the Storting from Hordaland in 1989 and has been re-elected five times. She was also the leader of the national Conservative Women's Association, from 1994 to 1998.Minister of Local Government and Regional Development
From 2001 to 2005 Solberg served as the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development under Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik. Her alleged tough policies in this department, including a firm stance on asylum policy, earned her the nickname "Jern-Erna" in the media.File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Congress Warsaw.jpg|thumb|Solberg, José Manuel Barroso and Mariano Rajoy at European People's Party Congress in Warsaw in 2009
In fact, numbers show that the Bondevik government, of 2001–2005, actually let in thousands more asylum seekers than the subsequent centre-left Red-Green government, of 2005–2009. In 2003, Solberg proposed introducing Islamic Sharia Councils in Norway after being informed of the existence of such councils in the United Kingdom, and, in 2004, said that she wished to increase immigration to Norway.
As Minister, Solberg instructed the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration to expel Mulla Krekar, being a danger to national security. Later, terrorism charges were filed against Krekar for a death threat he uttered in 2010 against Erna Solberg.
She had Mordechai Vanunu denied political asylum so as not to damage relations with Israel.
Party leader
She served as deputy leader of the Conservative Party from 2002 to 2004 and, in 2004, she became the party leader.After losing the 2009 elections, the party realised that a mere promise of tax cuts and a smaller role for the state would not convince voters. Solberg therefore abandoned her rhetoric that had earned her the nickname "Iron Erna" in the past and began to explain that a different approach was needed - instead of cuts, she wanted to reform, instead of dismantling the welfare state, she wanted to manage its structures more efficiently.
In 2011, she published a book called People, Not Billions, which could be better described as a new programme manifesto. She made regular visits to schools, health facilities and smaller municipalities, explaining to all that the goal was not to serve big business but to create conditions for the creation of new jobs, infrastructure development and economic restructuring. Solberg saw her long-term economic goal of moving Norway's economy out of dependence on oil revenues as achievable through traditional right-wing methods of tax cuts, spending reductions and privatisation of state shares in companies. In addition, she promised to maintain free education and free health care.
Prime Minister of Norway (2013–2021)
Solberg became the head of government after winning the general election on 9 September 2013 and was appointed prime minister on 16 October 2013. Solberg is Norway's second female prime minister after Gro Harlem Brundtland.The Government was re-elected in 2017, making Solberg the country's first conservative leader to win re-election since the 1980s. The centre-right parties were also able to maintain the majority in the Storting.
Erna Solberg has combined numerous national positions as Minister, Parliamentarian and regional politician with a strong commitment to global solutions for development, growth and conflict resolution.
She also negotiated with the Liberals to join the government in 2018. The Liberals officially joined the Solberg Cabinet on 17 January 2018. After the Christian Democrats alliance conflict that lasted from September to November 2018, they eventually negotiated to join the Solberg Cabinet on the grounds of a minor change in the abortion law, something that caused harsh backlash from the public and critics alike. The Christian Democrats officially joined the Cabinet on 22 January 2019.
She faced tensions between the components of her majority, leading to a break with the Progress Party.
She inherited the nickname "Iron Erna", in reference to the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for her relentless management of the migration crisis in 2015, during which she had tightened reception conditions.
To cope with the fall in oil prices in March 2020, her government adopted a series of measures to support businesses, such as simplifying procedures for temporary layoffs of employees, and tax privileges.
COVID-19 pandemic in Norway
One day after her 60th birthday in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway, Solberg breached national health guidelines by going to a restaurant in Geilo with her husband and 13 family members to celebrate her birthday. The guidelines stated that restaurants only can hold 10 people of the same cohort. In March, she apologised for breaching guidelines and that she didn't think of it properly before being questioned by NRK. She further stated that she should have known better. She was fined 20,000 NOK after a police investigation was conducted.On 24 September 2021, her government announced a lift for all national major measures, taking effect the day after at 4:00pm, officially reopening the country.
International engagements
As Prime Minister, and former Chair of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, she has championed transatlantic values and security.In 2018 she assembled a global High Level Panel on sustainable ocean economy and introduced the topic at the G7 Summit. Her Government supports the World Bank's PROBLUE initiative to prevent marine damage.
From 2016 the Prime Minister has co-chaired the UN Secretary General's Advocacy group for the Sustainable Development Goals. Among the goals, she takes a particular interest in access to quality education for all, in particular girls and children in conflict areas. This was also central in her work as MDG Advocate from 2014 to 2016.
In one her many keynote speeches she stated that there is still a need for traditional aid and humanitarian assistance in marginalised and conflict-ridden areas of the world. The SDGs, however, take a holistic view of global development, and integrate economic, social and environmental factors.
Solberg has shown particular interest in gender issues, such as girl's rights and education. Together with Graça Machel she has expressed the hope that in 2030 no factors such as poverty, gender and cultural beliefs will prevent any of today's ambitious young girls from standing confidently on the world stage.
In 2016, she held a lecture at the International Institute for Strategic Studies The Global Goals in Singapore, addressing a road map to a Sustainable, Fair and More Peaceful Futurethe International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Solberg has secured significant financial support for the Global Partnership for Education and hosted the Global Finance Facility for women's and children's health pledging Conference in Oslo in November 2018. Her firm belief is that investment in education will accelerate progress on all other SDG goals.
In April 2017, she held a speech on globalization and development at Peking University in Beijing.
She was awarded the inaugural Global Citizen World Leader Award in 2018 for her international engagement.
In October 2019, she criticized the unilateral Turkish invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria, but dismissed calls for suspending Turkey from NATO.
In Solberg's speech to the UN General Assembly in 2019 she advocated for Norway's candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for 2021–2022. She upheld that UN needs to be strengthened and that the world needs strong multilateral cooperation and institutions to tackle global challenges such as climate change, cyber security and terrorism.
In May 2021, it was reported that Danish Defence Intelligence Service collaborated with National Security Agency to wiretap on fellow EU members and leaders, leading to wide backlash among EU countries and demands for explanation from Danish and American governments. Solberg said that, "It's unacceptable if countries which have close allied co-operation feel the need to spy on one another."