Ragnhild Queseth Haarstad (4 April 1939 – 6 June 2017) was a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. She was a member of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from 1981 to 1997 and Minister of Local Government from 1997 to 1999.

Early life

She was born in Grue as a daughter of farmers. After basic education she took commerce school in 1957, and then attended the

Conservatory of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

from 1957 to 1959. She also attended courses in stenography, housekeeping and agronomy. In March 1961 in

Grue Church Grue Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Grue Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Kirkenær. It is the church for the Grue parish which is part of the Solør, Vinger og Odal prosti (deaner ...

she married farmer Harald Haarstad from Grue. After that she was a housewife.

Political career

Queseth Haarstad entered politics, first as board member of Hedmark Centre Party from 1968 to 1970. She subsequently chaired Hedmark Centre Party Women from 1970 to 1974. She was elected as a politician as well, first as a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Grue Municipality Grue is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Solør. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kirkenær. ...

from 1971 to 1975, and then as a member of Hedmark

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

from 1975 to 1982. She also chaired the county agricultural board from 1975 to 1977 and the county school board from 1977 to 1979 (sitting as a member until 1982). She was a central board member of the Centre Party from 1973 to 1977 and 1988 to 1994, the latter term while chairing the Centre Women nationwide. Haarstad was elected as a deputy representative to the

Parliament of Norway 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

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

in 1973 and 1977. She was then elected as a full member in 1981, 1985, 1989 and 1993. Among others, she was a member of the

Election Committee The Election Committee is the electoral college in Hong Kong that selects the Chief Executive (CE) and, since 2021, elects 40 of the 90 members of the Legislative Council. Established by Annex I of the Basic Law of Hong Kong which states ...

for three of her four terms, was deputy leader of the Standing Committee on Education and Church Affairs from 1985 to 1989 and leader of the

Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment The Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to petroleum, energy, hydroelectricity, environmental protection and regional planning Regional p ...

from 1993 to 1997. While her last term as an MP ended in 1997, the Centre Party then formed

Bondevik's First Cabinet Bondevik's First Cabinet governed Norway between 17 October 1997 to 17 March 2000. It was led by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and consisted of the Christian Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is a ...

, where Haarstad was appointed as Minister of Local Government. She remained such until 1999. Haarstad was a board member of

NAVF The Norwegian Research Council for Science and the Humanities (Norges almenvitenskapelige forskningsråd, NAVF) was one of Norway's five research councils. It was established in 1949. NAVF was responsible for funding basic research in all discipline ...

from 1980 to 1982 and of the from 1985 to 1994. She then held board memberships mainly within culture. She sat on the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

from 1997 to 2000 and on the jury to decide the new opera house in 1999–2000. In the 2000s she chaired the boards of Kongsvinger Museum, and the Museum for Forest Finn Culture in Norway. From 2010 and 2013 she was a member of . She died on 6 June 2017 at the age of 78.Ragnhild Queseth Haarstad er død
''Østlendingen''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haarstad, Ragnhild Queseth 1939 births 2017 deaths People from Grue, Norway Hedmark politicians Centre Party (Norway) politicians Ministers of local government and modernisation of Norway 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Women members of the Storting Women government ministers of Norway Members of the Storting 1993–1997 Members of the Storting 1989–1993 Members of the Storting 1985–1989 Members of the Storting 1981–1985