Torhild Bransdal (10 April 1956 – 28 September 2022) was a Norwegian politician. She served as mayor of

Vennesla Vennesla is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Venn ...

from 1999 to 2017, and was the female mayor in Norway who had been in office for the longest time. She was elected representative to 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 ...

for the period 2017–2021 for the

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 ...

Political career

Local politics

Bransdal was a member of the municipal council of

from 1991 to 2019. She was the

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 ...

of Vennesla municipality from 1999 to 2017. She thus became the female mayor in Norway who had been in office for the longest time.

Parliament

Bransdal was elected deputy representative to the

for the periods 2009–2013 and 2013–2017 from the constituency of

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total popul ...

. She was elected ordinary representative to the Storting for the period 2017–2021, representing the

. In the Storting, she was a member of the

Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration The Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It is responsible for policies relating to local government, regional and rural policy, immigration policy, housing policy, ...

from 2017 to 2021, and also a delegate to the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

during the same period.

Death

Torhild Bransdal died at the

Hospital of Southern Norway Hospital of Southern Norway () is the trust which runs the hospitals in the counties of Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. The general hospitals in the Agder counties were joined together under one trust by the state, with Helse Sør-Øst as owner. T ...

on 28 September 2022, after suffering from cancer for an extended period.

References

1956 births 2022 deaths Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Deputy members of the Storting Vest-Agder politicians Deaths from cancer in Norway Members of the Storting 2017–2021 {{Norway-politician-1950s-stub