Kristin Halvorsen (born 2 September 1960) is a Norwegian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the Socialist Left Party. She served as Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2009 and as Minister of Education from 2009 to 2013. She also served as the party's leader from 1997 to 2012 and a member of parliament representing Oslo, from 1989 to 2013. Taking over as leader of the Socialist Left Party in 1997, she established an unprecedented level of consensus within the party. At the 2005 election, the party received a disappointing 8.8% share of the vote, and in 2009 down further, to 6.2%. She stepped down as leader in 2012, and was succeeded by

Audun Lysbakken Audun Bjørlo Lysbakken (born 30 September 1977) is a Norwegian politician who served as the leader of the Norwegian Socialist Left Party (Norway), Socialist Left Party from 2012 to 2023. His career in national politics began when he was elected ...

on 11 March. The Socialist Left, in

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

with the Labour Party and the Centre Party, won Norway's September 2005 parliamentary elections. The resulting Red-Green

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

marked the first time that the Socialist Left Party was included in the cabinet. Halvorsen took office as Minister of Finance, becoming the first woman to hold the position.

Background

Halvorsen was born in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

. After taking university courses in

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

(1.5 years) and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

(1 year) without receiving a degree, Halvorsen worked for a while as a legal secretary. She served as a vice member to the

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 1985, and was elected member of Parliament in 1989, representing the county of

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 ...

, a seat she has held ever since. She has been a member of the parliamentary standing Committee on Finance (1989–1997) and the Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs (1997–2001). She is presently a member of the Election Committee and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the Socialist Left Party's parliamentary group, but is on leave from these positions while sitting in government. Halvorsen was the first Norwegian party leader to launch a

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

Personal life

Kristin Halvorsen's parents are Leif Georg Halvorsen, a civil engineer, and Marit Larsen, a teacher. Kristin is married to Charlo Halvorsen, an editor at Norsk Rikskringkasting.

Controversies

Kindergarten coverage promise

In the electoral campaign of the 2005 election Halvorsen announced that she would leave politics if the government would not be able to provide all citizens with

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

for their children by the end of 2007, and proclaimed that "this is so important for me that you'll get rid of me if we don't accomplish this". While she stood firmly by her announcement even two months after the election, she in October 2006 simply withdrew her promise, stating that "what I have said is that we'll have full coverage in 2007. But nobody will get rid of me if full coverage is missing in one or two municipalities". By the end of 2007, 90 percent of municipalities will be able to offer kindergarten for all applicants, with the not fully covered constituting approximately 43 municipalities in Norway.

Poverty resolved "with the stroke of a pen" claim

In the same electoral campaign she claimed that

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

in Norway could be eliminated "with the stroke of a pen". After being elected to government and becoming Minister of Finance, by the end of the four-year term she had not accomplished this, as

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

was actually increasing. When attending a television program during the 2009 electoral campaign, she also refused to apologise to the poor in Norway for her failure.

Israel boycott

On 5 January 2006, Halvorsen caused a controversy by calling for boycott of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i products as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians. The government and the other parties in the coalition distanced themselves from these remarks, and Halvorsen later apologized as foreign matters were outside her government position. In January 2009, Halvorsen took part in anti-Israel protests which erupted into violent riots.

Books

*''Rett fra hjertet'' (Straight from the Heart), 2004

References

External links

*
Entry at party website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Halvorsen, Kristin 1960 births Living people Ministers of finance of Norway Women members of the Storting Politicians from Porsgrunn Politicians from Oslo People from Horten Socialist Left Party (Norway) politicians University of Oslo alumni 21st-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Women government ministers of Norway Female finance ministers Ministers of education of Norway Research ministers of Norway Members of the Storting 2001–2005 Members of the Storting 1993–1997 Members of the Storting 1997–2001 Members of the Storting 2005–2009 Members of the Storting 2009–2013 Members of the Storting 1989–1993