Kjell Borgen (21 October 1939 – 22 August 1996) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1986 to 1988, Minister of Local Government from 1988 to 1989 and again from 1990 to 1992. He served as County Governor of Hedmark from 1993 until his death.

Early life and career

He was born in

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 ...

as a son of a worker and a housewife. He attended the teacher's college in

Elverum Elverum () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Elverum ( ...

from 1960 to 1962. He worked as a secondary school teacher in Rendalen Municipality from 1962 to 1966, and also minored in Norwegian at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

in 1964. From 1967 to 1972 he worked as headmaster at a combined primary-secondary school, and from 1972 he had a municipal administrative job. Borgen chaired his regional branch of the Workers' Youth League from 1957 to 1959. He chaired his local Labour Party chapter from 1964 to 1967, and the county chapter from 1976 to 1980. He was a member of the Labour Party central committee from 1985 to 1993. Locally, Borgen became 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 ...

for the new Rendalen Municipality in 1965. In 1967 he became mayor, serving until 1977. He was a member of

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 ...

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 1967 to 1979, from 1874 to 1975 as deputy county mayor (''fylkesvaraordfører'').

National politics

In 1977, he was elected 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, and he was re-elected in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. He served as President of the Lagting from 10 to 18 December 1979. When

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Gro Harlem Brundtland Gro Brundtland (; née Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian politician in the Labour Party, who served three terms as the prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–1989, and 1990–1996), as the leader of her party from 1981 to 1992, and as the d ...

formed her Second Cabinet in 1986, Borgen became Minister of Transport and Communications. He remained so until 13 June 1988, when he became Norwegian Minister of Local Government and Labour. According to Tore Lindholt, who released a book about the

Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

in 1990, the same year as he served as acting director-general for the second time, Borgen was instrumental in removing Robert Nordén as director-general of the State Railways. Borgen asked

to have Nordén removed, and when Brundtland gave the green light, Borgen told this to then-assisting director-general Lindholt over the telephone. Borgen also became slightly controversial due to the Oslo Airport localization debate. A decision to choose Hurum Municipality as the site of the new Oslo Airport was the reason for Borgen's withdrawal as Minister of Transport. Borgen lost his position as Minister of Local Government and Labour when Brundtland's Second Cabinet fell in 1989. When Brundtland's Third Cabinet returned in 1990, Borgen returned as well, only under a slightly different name: Minister of Local Government. He made his exit in September 1992, and sat through his last term in Parliament, to 1993. While Borgen was Minister, his seat in Parliament was taken by Ingrid Nylund and Grethe Fossum. Borgen finished his career with the position as County Governor of Hedmark from 1993. When Borgen died in August 1996, Ola Skjølaas became Acting County Governor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borgen, Kjell 1939 births 1996 deaths University of Oslo alumni Labour Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Hedmark County governors of Norway Heads of schools in Norway Ministers of transport and communications of Norway Ministers of local government and modernisation of Norway Members of the Storting 1989–1993 Members of the Storting 1985–1989 Members of the Storting 1981–1985 Members of the Storting 1977–1981