Storting
The Storting is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation in nineteen multi-seat constituencies. A member of the Storting is known in Norwegian as a stortingsrepresentant,.
The assembly is led by a president and, since 2009, five vice presidents: the presidium. The members are allocated to twelve standing committees as well as four procedural committees. Three ombudsmen are directly subordinate to parliament: the Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee and the Office of the Auditor General.
Parliamentarianism was established in 1884, with the Storting operating a form of "qualified unicameralism", in which it divided its membership into two internal chambers making Norway a de facto bicameral parliament, the Lagting and the Odelsting. Following a constitutional amendment in 2007, this was abolished, taking effect following the 2009 election.
Following the 2025 election, nine parties are represented in parliament: the Labour Party, the Progress Party, the Conservative Party, the Centre Party, the Socialist Left Party, the Red Party, the Green Party, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Liberal Party. Since 2021, Masud Gharahkhani has been President of the Storting.
History
The parliament in its present form was first constituted at Eidsvoll in 1814, although its origins can be traced back to the allting, as early as the 9th century, a type of thing, or common assembly of free men in Germanic societies that would gather at a place called a thingstead and were presided over by lawspeakers. The alltings were where legal and political matters were discussed. These gradually were formalised so that the things grew into regional meetings and acquired backing and authority from the Crown, even to the extent that on occasions they were instrumental in effecting change in the monarchy itself.As oral laws became codified and Norway unified as a geopolitical entity in the 10th century, the lagtings were established as superior regional assemblies. During the mid-13th century, the by then archaic regional assemblies, the Frostating, the Gulating, the Eidsivating and the Borgarting, were amalgamated and the corpus of law was set down under the command of King Magnus the Lawmender. This jurisdiction remained significant until King Frederick III proclaimed absolute monarchy in 1660; this was ratified by the passage of the King Act of 1665, and this became the constitution of the Union of Denmark and Norway and remained so until 1814 and the foundation of the Storting.
The Storting building opened in 1866.
World War II
On 27 June 1940 the presidium signed an appeal to King Haakon, seeking his abdication.In September 1940 the representatives were summoned to Oslo, and voted in favour of the results of the negotiations between the presidium and the authorities of the German invaders. However, directives from Adolf Hitler resulted in the obstruction of "the agreement of cooperation between parliament and occupation force".
Qualified unicameralism (1814–2009)
The Storting has always been de facto unicameral, but before a constitutional amendment in 2009 it was de jure bicameral. After an election, the Storting would elect a quarter of its membership to form the Lagting, a sort of "upper house" or revising chamber, with the remaining three-quarters forming the Odelsting or "lower house". The division was also used on very rare occasions in cases of impeachment. The original idea in 1814 was probably to have the Lagting act as an actual upper house, and the senior and more experienced members of the Storting were placed there. Later, however, the composition of the Lagting closely followed that of the Odelsting, so that there was very little that differentiated them, and the passage of a bill in the Lagting was mostly a formality.Bills were submitted by the Government to the Odelsting or by a member of the Odelsting; members of the Lagting were not permitted to propose legislation by themselves. A standing committee, with members from both the Odelsting and Lagting, would then consider the bill, and in some cases hearings were held. If passed by the Odelsting, the bill would be sent to the Lagting for review or revision. Most bills were passed unamended by the Lagting and then sent directly to the king for royal assent. If the Lagting amended the Odelsting's draft, the bill would be sent back to the Odelsting. If the Odelsting approved the Lagting's amendments, the bill would be signed into law by the King. If it did not, then the bill would return to the Lagting. If the Lagting still proposed amendments, the bill would be submitted to a plenary session of the Storting. To be passed, the bill required the approval of a two-thirds majority of the plenary session. In all other cases a simple majority would suffice. Three days had to pass between each time a chamber voted on a bill. In all other cases, such as taxes and appropriations, the Storting would meet in plenary session.
A proposal to amend the constitution and abolish the Odelsting and Lagting was introduced in 2004 and was passed by the Storting on 20 February 2007. It took effect with the newly elected Storting in 2009.
Number of seats
The number of seats in the Storting has varied over the years. In 1882 there were 114 seats, increasing to 117 in 1903, 123 in 1906, 126 in 1918, 150 in 1921, 155 in 1973, 157 in 1985, 165 in 1989, and 169 as of 2005.Procedure
Legislative
The legislative procedure goes through five stages. First, a bill is introduced to parliament either by a member of government or, in the case of a private member's bill, by any individual representative. Parliament will refer the bill to the relevant standing committee, where it will be subjected to detailed consideration in the committee stage. The first reading takes place when parliament debates the recommendation from the committee, and then takes a vote. If the bill is dismissed, the procedure ends. The second reading takes place at least three days after the first reading, in which parliament debates the bill again. A new vote is taken, and if successful, the bill is submitted to the King in Council for royal assent. If parliament comes to a different conclusion during the second reading, a third reading will be held at least three days later, repeating the debate and vote, and may adopt the amendments from the second reading or finally dismiss the bill.Royal assent
Once the bill has reached the King in Council, the bill must be signed by the monarch and countersigned by the prime minister. It then becomes Norwegian law from the date stated in the Act or decided by the government.Articles 77–79 of the Norwegian constitution specifically grant the King of Norway the right to withhold Royal Assent from any bill passed by the Storting. This right has never been exercised by any Norwegian monarch since the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. Should the king ever choose to exercise this privilege, Article 79 provides a means by which his veto may be overridden if the Storting passes the same bill after a general election:
"If a Bill has been passed unaltered by two sessions of the Storting, constituted after two separate successive elections and separated from each other by at least two intervening sessions of the Storting, without a divergent Bill having been passed by any Storting in the period between the first and last adoption, and it is then submitted to the King with a petition that His Majesty shall not refuse his assent to a Bill which, after the most mature deliberation, the Storting considers to be beneficial, it shall become law even if the Royal Assent is not accorded before the Storting goes into recess."
Organisation
Presidium
The presidium is chaired by the president of the Storting, consisting of the president and five vice presidents of the Storting. The system with five vice presidents was implemented in 2009. Before this there was a single holder of the office.| Position | Representative | Party |
| President | Labour | |
| First Vice President | Progress | |
| Second Vice President | Labour | |
| Third Vice President | Conservative | |
| Fourth Vice President | Progress | |
| Fifth Vice President | Ingrid Fiskaa | Socialist Left |
Standing committees
The members of parliament are allocated into twelve standing committees, of which eleven are related to specific political topics. The last is the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs. The standing committees have a portfolio that covers that of one or more government ministers.| Committee | Chair | Chair's party |
| Business and Industry | Rune Støstad | Labour |
| Education and Research | Mathilde Tybring-Gjedde | Conservative |
| Energy and the Environment | Mani Hussaini | Labour |
| Family and Cultural Affairs | Bente Estil | Labour |
| Finance and Economic Affairs | Tuva Moflag | Labour |
| Foreign Affairs and Defence | Conservative | |
| Health and Care Services | Kjersti Toppe | Centre |
| Justice | Jon Engen-Helgheim | Progress |
| Labour and Social Affairs | Marian Abdi Hussein | Socialist Left |
| Local Government and Public Administration | Hanne Stenvaag | Red |
| Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs | Per-Willy Amundsen | Progress |
| Transport and Communications | Bård Hoksrud | Progress |