The Moderate Liberal Party ( no, Moderate Venstre, literally "Moderate Left") was a political party in Norway that emerged from the moderate and religious branches of the Liberal Party in 1888. The party's turn towards cooperation with the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

caused a party split in 1891, eventually sharpening its profile as a moderate-conservative party based among the low church of south-western Norway. The party was dissolved shortly after the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905.

History

The Moderate Liberal Party was formed on 4 February 1888, when a conservative and religious wing broke away from the Liberal Party. Leading members of the party included

Jakob Sverdrup Jakob Sverdrup may refer to: *Jakob Sverdrup (politician) (1845–1899), Norwegian bishop and politician *Jakob Sverdrup (philologist) (1881–1938), Norwegian philologist *Jakob Sverdrup (historian) Jakob Sverdrup (30 November 1919 – 5 December ...

, Baard Haugland,

Ole Vollan Ole Christiansen Vollan (27 July 1837 – 19 April 1907) was a Norwegian educator, editor, and politician for the Moderate Liberal Party. He was born in Austad. He finished his secondary education in 1856, and graduated with the cand.theol. degree ...

, and Lars Oftedal. The political conflicts between the Liberals and Conservatives in 1891 resulted in a split among the Moderates themselves, with the more left-leaning Moderates returning to the mother party. The split resulted in a more uniformed profile as the remaining party sharpened its opposition against the "pure" Liberals and became more supportive towards the Conservatives. In the mid-1890s the party's central goal became to work against the Liberals' increasingly radical policy of challenging the union with Sweden, granting the population general voting rights, and introducing direct state taxes. The split of 1891 also caused the party to become more firmly based among the revivalist low church of south-western Norway. As such, other important issues for the party included

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, religion and moral, while it took

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

stands in regards to social and economical questions. The party gained an eastern Norway counterpart in 1893 by the party

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, the "Eastern Moderates", and for a brief time there was talks of a merger between the two parties. From 1895 to 1898 the party was represented in Hagerup's First Cabinet. In 1903, the party joined the Coalition Party alongside the Conservatives. It was part of

Michelsen's Cabinet The Michelsen's Cabinet was a Norwegian cabinet, formed by a coalition of the Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Moderate Liberal Party and the Coalition Party. It governed Norway between 11 March 1905 and 23 October 1907. It entered offic ...

during the dissolution of the union with Sweden, from 1905 until 1906 when it effectively merged into the Conservative Party after the introduction of

single-member district A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vo ...

s. Magnus Halvorsen is however registered under the Moderate Liberal label as Minister of Finance in Løvland's Cabinet from 1907 to 1908."Jøgen Løvland's Government: 23 October 1907 - 19 March 1908"
''Government.no''. The party had never developed any strong party organisation, functioning more as a vehicle for individual representatives. The party has sometimes been described as a Christian democratic predecessor to the modern Christian Democratic Party, founded in 1933.

Election results

* *Indicates shared vote between the Moderate Liberals and Conservatives. Seats indicated are the Moderate Liberals alone.

References

{{reflist Political parties established in 1888 1888 establishments in Norway Political parties disestablished in 1906 1906 disestablishments in Norway Christian democratic parties in Norway Conservative parties in Norway Defunct political parties in Norway