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Conservative Party of Norway

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

Year	% of votes
1961	19,3%
1965	20,3%
1969	18,8%
1973	17,2%
1977	24,5%
1981	31,8%
1985	30,4%
1989	22,2%
1993	17,0%
1997	14,3%
2001	21,2%
2005	14,1%

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.