Eirik Lae Solberg
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Eirik Lae Solberg (born 3 April 1971) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He has served as the
Governing Mayor of Oslo The Governing Mayor of Oslo (Bokmål: ''Oslos byrådsleder;'' Nynorsk'': Oslos byrådsleiar'') is the head of the city government of Oslo. The Governing Mayor appoints and removes the members (vice mayors) of the city cabinet and decides how the d ...
since 2023 and was previously the Oslo City Commissioner for Finance from 2014 to 2015. Lae Solberg has also been a deputy member of parliament for Oslo since 2021, having previously done so between 1993 and 1997 for Buskerud.


Education

Solberg holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the
London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...
(LSE) and a master's degree in European history and politics from the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
.


Political career


Local politics

Solberg was elected to the Oslo City Council in 2007, and led the committee on finance and the Conservative group from 2009 to 2013. In 2014, he was appointed city commissioner for finance, a post he held until the Conservative coalition lost the 2015 local elections. Lae Solberg was elected deputy leader of the Oslo Conservative Party in 2018 with
Heidi Nordby Lunde Heidi Nordby Lunde (born 3 February 1973) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. A deputy representative to the Storting, she met regularly from 2013, and has been ordinary member of the Storting since 2017. Political career Parl ...
as leader, and was re-elected in 2020. He was the Oslo Conservative Party's candidate for Governing Mayor in the 2019 local elections. He lost the election to incumbent
Raymond Johansen Raymond Johansen (born 14 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Governing Mayor of Oslo from 2015 to 2023. A former member of the Socialist Left Party, Johansen previously served as the Oslo city commission ...
, and resigned as the Conservatives' group leader. He did however retain his council seat. On 1 July 2022, he was again chosen as the Oslo Conservatives' candidate for Governing Mayor for the 2023 local elections. The Conservative block won a majority in the following election, and the Conservatives initially sought to form a new city government with the
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
,
Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...
and the Progress Party, but these negotiations collapsed and the Conservatives then sought to form a minority government with only the Liberal Party. The Progress Party had also ruled out a cooperation agreement with a new city government, citing they would not support a government they weren't a part of. However, they later backtracked and agreed to negotiate a cooperation agreement with the Conservatives and Liberals. The parties presented their platform on 24 October.


Governing Mayor of Oslo


Cabinet

Lae Solberg and his city government succeeded the Johansen government on 25 October 2023.


Tenure

In mid November, he called on the national government to assist the municipality with police staffing and combating violence and criminal gangs. With strong blizzards covering large parts of
Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...
in January 2024, Lae Solberg advised the public to work from home and not utilise vehicles more than necessary. While several counties in region had closed their schools, he stated he would restrain from doing so in Oslo, citing their importance and a high threshold to do so. He and finance commissioner Hallstein Bjercke presented Oslo's 2025 budget in September 2024, which notably included a proposed increase of 63% in water and sewage fees for the next four years. Finance minister
Trygve Slagsvold Vedum Trygve Magnus Slagsvold Vedum (born 1 December 1978) is a Norwegian politician and farmer who served as Minister of Finance (Norway), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2025. A member of the Centre Party (Norway), Centre Party, which he has led ...
accused the Conservatives of breaking election promises of maintaining decreased fees in municipalities they secured power in. Lae Solberg however criticsed Vedum for taking away millions of NOK from Oslo municipality through the national government's new revenue system for municipalities. In June 2025, the Progress Party withdrew their support for Lae Solberg's government, leaving it in a minority. The party stated that they were dissatisfied with the changes that the government had implemented.


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
Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...
from 1993 to 1997. He was re-elected as a deputy representative in the 2021 election, this time for
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. He met as permanent representative for
Nikolai Astrup Nikolai Astrup () (30 August 1880 – 21 January 1928) was a Norwegian modernist painter. Astrup was a distinctive, innovative artist noted principally for his intense use of color depicting the lush landscapes of Vestlandet featuring the trad ...
from 1 to 14 October 2021 at the end of the Solberg Cabinet's tenure.


Government

During the
second cabinet Bondevik Bondevik's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 19 October 2001 and 17 October 2005. It was led by Kjell Magne Bondevik and consisted of the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any o ...
, Solberg was political advisor in the
Ministry of Trade and Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...
from 2001 to March 2004, and State Secretary in the Ministry of Work Affairs and Administration (renamed Ministry of Modernization in June 2004) from March 2004 to 2005. In the elections that year, the second cabinet Bondevik fell, thus Solberg lost his position. He was appointed state secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries in 2013 and held the post until 2014.


Non-politics

In 2020, Lae Solberg was hired to work for
Deloitte Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
as a strategic consultant for the public sector.


Personal life

Lae Solberg is married to Hanna Rommerud, with whom he has a son and a daughter.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Solberg, Eirik Lae 1971 births Living people Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Norwegian state secretaries Deputy members of the Storting Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Cambridge