The government of Oslo, the capital of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, consists of a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

, governing mayor and the Oslo City Council. The governing mayor appoints members of the city cabinet, while the mayor administers city services, public property and law enforcement.

Governance

Constituting both a municipality and a county of Norway, the city of Oslo is represented in the Storting by twenty Members of Parliament as of 2021. The Conservative Party has five representatives in Oslo's delegation, the Labour Party has four, the Liberals and the Socialist Left Party have three each, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and the Red Party have two each and the Progress Party has one. The combined municipality and county of Oslo has had a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentary democracy, is a form of government where the head of government (chief executive) derives their Election, democratic legitimacy from their ability to command the support ("confidence") of a majority of t ...

of government since 1986. The supreme authority of the city is the City Council (''Bystyret''), which currently has 59 seats. Representatives are popularly elected every four years. The city council has five

standing committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, each having its own areas of responsibility. These are: Health and Social Welfare; Education and Cultural Affairs;

Urban Development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

; Transport and Environmental Affairs; and Finance. The

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

(''Byrådet'') consists of the Governing mayor (''byrådsleder'') and currently seven vice mayors or Commissioners (''byråder'', sing. ''byråd'') holding ministerial positions. The vice mayors are appointed and removed by the Governing mayor. The Governing mayor and the vice mayors can individually or collectively be voted out of office by the city council. Since the local elections of 2023, the

city government A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

has been a coalition of the Conservative Party and

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 ...

, with support from the Progress Party and

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. After the 2023 local elections the negotiations took a while and the Liberal Party wanted to include the

rather than the Progress Party and Christian Democratic Party. The Greens wanted the Liberal Party to join the red-green bloc, which did not happen. After the 2023 elections the Center Party, a minor party with no parliamentary representation managed to secure one seat in the City Council. The Center Party therefore managed to beat the Centre Party who is currently the third biggest party in the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

and a member of the Støre Government.

Mayor

The

Mayor of Oslo The Mayor of Oslo (Bokmål: ''Oslos ordfører''; Nynorsk: ''Oslos ordførar'') is the chief executive of Oslo. The Mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within O ...

is the head of the city council and the highest-ranking representative of the city. This used to be the most powerful political position in Oslo, but following the implementation of parliamentarism, the mayor has had more of a ceremonial role, similar to that of the president of the Storting at the national level. The current mayor of Oslo is

Anne Lindboe Anne Lindboe (born 1 August 1971) is a Norwegian politician and paediatrician, who is currently serving as the mayor of Oslo since 2023. She previously served as the Norwegian Children's Ombudsman from 2012 to 2018.regjeringen.no (27 April 201 ...

Governing mayor

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 ...

is the head of the city council. The post was created with the implementation of parliamentarism in Oslo and is similar to the role of the prime minister at the national level. The current governing mayor is Erik Lae Solberg.

Administrative divisions

Following the latest reform of 1 January 2004, the city is divided into fifteen

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

(''bydeler'') that are to a considerable extent self-governed. Each borough is responsible for local services not overseen by the city council, such as

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

, basic

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, and

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 ...

Sentrum Sentrum, meaning city-centre, is located on the southeast side of Oslo near the inner Oslofjord. The district is dominated by high rises like Postgirobygget and The Plaza. Oslo's Central Station is located on the eastern side of the borough. ...

(the city centre) and Marka (the rural/recreational areas surrounding the city) are separate geographical entities, but do not have an administration of their own. Sentrum is governed by the borough of St. Hanshaugen. The administration of Marka is shared between neighbouring boroughs.

References

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