The Radical People's Party (), founded as the Labour Democrats (Norwegian: ''Arbeiderdemokratene''), was a

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

political party in

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 ...

mainly active from 1906 to 1936, targeting workers and smallholders. The party was founded by Johan Castberg, who led the party until his death in 1926. He was succeeded in this position by Alf Mjøen, who also represented the party as a member of 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 ...

History

The party was a successor to the United Norwegian Workers' Association (Norwegian: ''De forenede norske Arbeidersamfund'', DFNA), a labour organisation associated 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 ...

, which due to conflicts with the mother party fielded Johan Castberg as a parliamentary candidate in the 1900 election. Castberg in turn founded a new party, the Labour Democrats in 1906. The party took part in its first election in 1906, and in 1912 and 1915 it won six parliamentary representatives. For most of its history, the party cooperated with the Liberal Party. The party had its strongest support among small-scale farmers and landless agricultural labourers, based in a non-socialist ideology. In 1921 the party changed its name to the Radical People's Party (although its members continued to be referred to as "Labour Democrats"). The party eventually went into a steady decline. Only in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

did the party retain some influence. In the 1918 election, the party was reduced to one representative. At the election in 1936, it fell out of parliament altogether. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the party had effectively merged into the Liberal Party, although formally the parties had joint lists in Oppland until 1957. The party was formally dissolved in 1965.

MPs elected

* Thore Embretsen Myrvang (1904-1910) * Johan Castberg (1904-1928) * (1907-1915) * (1907-1910) * (1910-1919) * (1910-1918) * Wollert Konow (H) (1913-1915) * (1913-1915) * (1913-1936) * (1913-1915) * Thore Myrvang (1916-1918) * (1916-1918) * (1919-1921) * (1925-1927)

Election results

References

{{Norwegian political parties Political parties established in 1906 1906 establishments in Norway Political parties disestablished in 1965 1965 disestablishments in Norway Liberal parties in Norway Georgist parties Labour parties Radical parties Defunct political parties in Norway