Ivar Bühring Prestbakmo (born 7 November 1968) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He currently serves as a deputy member of the Storting for Troms since 2021, having previously done so from 1993 to 2001. Prestbakmo was mayor of

Salangen Municipality Salangen is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. Other villages ...

from 1999 to 2014, when he became county commissioner for transport and the environment until 2019.

Political career

Local politics

On the local level, Prestbakmo served as mayor of

from 1999 to 2014. Upon being elected, Oddveig Kristiansen was deputy mayor until resigning in 2001 and was replaced by Lars Johan Hellefossmo. Following the 2003 local elections, the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

' Karin Haugli Zachariassen became deputy mayor. Zachariassen was succeeded by Gry Hege Rognsaa from the Centre Party following the 2007 local elections. The Conservatives returned to the deputy mayor post with Ronny Karlsen following the 2011 local elections. Upon his departure, his wife Sigrun W. Prestbakmo succeeded him as mayor, something which was unprecedented at the time. His wife continued as mayor until 2023 when she was appointed state secretary at the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. He chaired the county party chapter between 2006 and 2012. In 2014, he was appointed Troms County Commissioner for Transport and the Environment in the county cabinet of Line Fusdahl. He was retained by Cecilie Myrseth and her cabinet following the 2015 local elections. Following her resignation in 2017, Prestbakmo was again retained by Myrseth's successor Willy Ørnebakk. Following the 2019 local elections, Prestbakmo was elected county mayor for the newly established

Troms and Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; ; ; ) was a Counties of Norway, county in Northern Norway, northern Norway that existed from 2020 to 2023. The county was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. It was the largest county by area i ...

county, with the Labour Party's Tarjei Jensen Beck as deputy mayor. Prestbakmo went on leave as county mayor after he took on the duties for

Sandra Borch Sandra Konstance Nygård Borch (born 23 April 1988) is a Norwegian politician who served as the minister of research and higher education from 2023 to 2024 until her resignation over the extensive plagiarism in her master's thesis. As minist ...

, who served in government. Deputy county mayor Jensen Bech took on his duties from 14 December 2021, with the Centre Party's Rikke Håkstad as acting deputy mayor.

Parliament

He served as a deputy representative to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 represe ...

from

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

from 1993 to 2001 and again since 2021. He deputised for Sandra Borch, who served in the

Støre Cabinet The Støre Cabinet is the incumbent government of the Kingdom of Norway, headed by Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre as Prime Minister. The government was appointed by King Harald V on 14 October 2021, following the parliamentary election o ...

between 2021 and 2024.

State Secretary

On 23 January 2024, Prestbakmo was appointed state secretary to the

Minister of Research and Higher Education The Minister of Research and Higher Education (, ) is a Cabinet of Norway, councilor of state in the Ministry of Education and Research (Norway), Ministry of Education and Research. The incumbent minister is Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland of the Labour P ...

Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel Oddmund Løkensgard Hoel (born 8 November 1968) is a Norwegian professor and politician for the Centre Party. He served as minister of research and higher education from 2024 to 2025, having previously served as state secretary to said minister ...

. He was reassigned to be state secretary for minister of local government

Erling Sande Erling Sande (born 8 November 1978 in Bremanger) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He represents Sogn og Fjordane in the Norwegian Parliament, where he deputised for Liv Signe Navarsete, who served in government between 2005 and 20 ...

on 15 November and was succeeded by Signe Bjotveit a week later.

Personal life

Prestbakmo is married to Sigrun Wiggen Prestbakmo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prestbakmo, Ivar 1968 births Living people Deputy members of the Storting Centre Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Troms Place of birth missing (living people) Members of the Storting 2021–2025