Trond Giske
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Trond Giske (born 7 November 1966) 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 ...
who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party from 2015 until his resignation in 2018 after accusations of widespread
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
and
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
against multiple women. After renewed allegations in 2020 he announced his complete and permanent withdrawal from politics. In 2024 he returned to politics, becoming the deputy leader of the
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
Labour Party. Giske was elected into the
Norwegian parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...
for
Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag (; ) was a Counties of Norway, county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag () county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. ...
county in 1997, and served as Minister of Education, Research and Church Affairs in the first cabinet of
Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. Since 2025, he has been the Minister of Finance in the Støre Cabinet. He has previously been the prime minister of Norway and secretary general of NATO. ...
from 2000 to 2001, as Minister of Culture and Church Affairs in
Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet was the Government of Norway from 17 October 2005 to 16 October 2013. It was a coalition government, coalition between the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party (Norway), Socialist Left Party a ...
from 2005 to 2009 and as Minister of Trade and Industry from 2009 to 2013. As a cabinet member he several times faced accusations of
cronyism Cronyism is a specific form of in-group favoritism, the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. ...
by having appointed little-qualified close friends to well paid government jobs, which also led to formal inquiries into his actions in the
Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It holds a supervisory role in relation to the proceedings of the parliament and public sector. The committee has 12 members and i ...
. In December 2017, during the Me Too controversy triggered by the allegations against
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...
, Giske was accused of an extensive pattern of
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
and
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
of young women, leading to the so-called Giske affair, which dominated Norwegian media for several weeks. After admitting to some of the accusations against him, Giske was asked to permanently resign by party leader
Jonas Gahr Støre Jonas Gahr Støre (; born 25 August 1960) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the prime minister of Norway since 2021. He has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of ...
on 1 January 2018, which he subsequently did on 7 January 2018 shortly before the party executive committee were to debate the matter and shortly before Støre was about to state publicly that Giske needed to resign. On 25 January 2018 the Labour Party ruled that Giske had violated the party's rules against sexual harassment and that his behaviour disqualified him from holding offices or positions of trust in the party. In response Giske sought legal assistance against his own party. He faced intense criticism when seeking election as chairman of a local party branch in 2020, and as a result announced his withdrawal from politics. In 2023 ''
Dagens Næringsliv ''(DN)'' ( Norwegian for "''Today's Business Affairs''"), is a Norwegian daily newspaper focusing on economic and business current affairs. it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway by circulation. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, appoint ...
'' reported that Giske had threatened the Labour Party with a lawsuit, resulting in a settlement where the party paid his legal expenses and wrote a letter as demanded by Giske which said that the party leadership couldn't rule out the possibility of a comeback.


Early life and education

Born in
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
, Sør-Trøndelag, he is the son of engineer Bjørn Giske (1938–) and associate professor Norunn Illevold (1935–). He attended the
University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...
and the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...
, receiving a cand.mag. degree in 1997. Giske was an honorary member of the fraternity "Kjeller" during his studies.


Political career

Active in the Workers' Youth League from an early age, Giske became the leader of its Trondheim branch in 1988, before becoming the leader of its Sør-Trøndelag branch the following year. In 1992 Giske was elected head of the Workers Youth League as a whole. He served until 1996, the following year he was elected to the parliament, 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 first time, he has since been reelected on three occasions. In March 2000 Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed Giske as the new Minister of Education and Church affairs. He would serve in this capacity until the minority Labour government fell in the 2001 elections. 4 years later, the 2005 elections again swept the Labour party to power as a part of the Red-green coalition and Trond Giske was then appointed Minister of Culture. He would remain in this position until October 2009, when as a part of a cabinet reshuffle he was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry, succeeding Sylvia Brustad. Following a confidence vote against the leader of the Trondheim Labour Party, Gunn Elen Høgni, Giske was elected deputy leader, succeeding Jørn Arve Flått. Alongside Giske, Per Sture Nilsen was elected leader.


Minister of Trade and Industry

In January 2012, Giske received widespread attention for his opposition to the sale of TV 2 to a Danish company. Giske spoke out against the transfer of 100% of TV 2's shares to the
Egmont Group The Egmont Group (officially Egmont International Holding A/S; known as Gutenberghus Group until 1992) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishi ...
, at a price of 2.1 billion
NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...
(274 million
euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
s), despite Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg stating his government would have no opinion on the case. It was reported that Giske threatened the head of the
Telenor Group Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwi ...
, Harald Norvik, with the loss of his position if the sale went through. One of the policies championed during Giskes tenure as minister has been the so-called "salary moderation". The idea is that the leaders of state owned companies or companies where the Norwegian government was majority shareholder should not earn more in salary than their counterparts in the
private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...
. Giske called on board members and CEO's to adhere to this policy or risk being replaced.


Media appearances

As a well known Labour politician in Norway, Giske has had numerous appearances in the media. He displays an interest in culturally related subjects such as film, literature and especially
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. He is also well known for his personal friendship with members of the royal family, namely
Princess Märtha Louise of Norway Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (born 22 September 1971) is a Norwegian self-described clairvoyant, businesswoman and a member of the Norwegian royal family, although she is not a member of the royal house and has no public role. She is marri ...
and her previous husband, the author
Ari Behn Ari Mikael Behn (; , or ; 30 September 1972 – 25 December 2019) was a Norwegian author, playwright, and visual artist, best known for his marriage to Princess Märtha Louise of Norway from 2002 to 2017. He held no title or special status, an ...
. He is also known for being a big supporter of his home town football club Rosenborg.


Controversy


Allegations of cronyism

Giske has several times faced accusations of
cronyism Cronyism is a specific form of in-group favoritism, the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. ...
by having appointed little-qualified close friends to well paid government jobs, which also led to formal inquiries into his actions in the
Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs () is a standing committee of the Parliament of Norway. It holds a supervisory role in relation to the proceedings of the parliament and public sector. The committee has 12 members and i ...
. ;Entra In October 2012, Trond Giske's long-time friend and Labour party colleague Rune Olsø was appointed CEO of Entra Eiendom, a company wholly owned by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Olsø was to receive NOK 4.2 million in salary, which was perceived by some to be in violation of Giske's own policy of moderation. Later it was revealed that the chairman and vice-chairman of the board opposed the appointment of Olsø, but lost the vote due to pressure from members who had personal or political ties to Giske. In the wake of the affair, prime minister Jens Stoltenberg appointed
Bård Vegar Solhjell Bård Vegar Solhjell (born 22 December 1971) is a former Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party. He served as Minister of Education from 2007 to 2009, and as Minister of the Environment from 2012 to 2013, both in Stoltenberg's Sec ...
to handle the matter, as Giske had recused himself. Solhjell responded by firing three board members, including two who were largely seen as having close ties to Giske. Ten days after the story broke, Rune Olsø resigned as CEO of Entra. ;Telenor In October 2012, several media reported that Giske had demanded that his close friend and colleague Tore O. Sandvik be appointed to the
board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
of The Telenor Group, even though the board had stated that Sandvik "was not even close to being qualified", the board also objected due to the fact that Sandvik was considered one of Giske's closest friends. According to the media reports Giske eventually relented, but only after the board accepted another friend, Hallvard Bakke, instead; Bakke himself stated that he had no knowledge about the telecommunications industry. Giske vehemently denied ever having made the demand, claiming it might have been a mere proposal. On 25 October 2012, it emerged that in 2009, when he was Minister of Culture, Giske personally appointed Tore O. Sandvik's wife and former party colleague Trine Brænden to the board of directors at the prestigious
Trondheim Symphony Orchestra The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera ( Norwegian: ''Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera'') is a Norwegian orchestra based in Trondheim, Norway. Its principal concert venue is the Olavshallen. The orchestra is organised as a trust and receives ...
(TSO). Giske stated that they were not close friends.


Sexual assault and harassment and resignation

In December 2017, in what became known as the Giske affair, Giske was accused by multiple younger women of
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...
and
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
. The accusations came in the context of the international Me Too debate in the aftermath of the
Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations In October 2017, ''The New York Times'' and ''The New Yorker'' reported that dozens of women had accused the American film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse over a period of at least 30 years. Over 80 women in ...
, and dominated Norwegian media for several weeks. Giske admitted to some of the allegations of sexual misconduct, although he denied some of the accusations. On 1 January 2018 he was relieved of his duty as deputy leader for the Labour Party for an indefinite period as a result of the allegations. On 7 January 2018 he permanently resigned as deputy leader of the Labour Party stating that it was impossible for himself and his family to withstand the pressure of the picture that was painted of him by the media. Labour Party leader
Jonas Gahr Støre Jonas Gahr Støre (; born 25 August 1960) is a Norwegian politician who has served as the prime minister of Norway since 2021. He has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of ...
stated that he had asked Giske to permanently resign a week earlier. Giske's final resignation came shortly before the party executive committee were to debate the Giske affair. According to ''
Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...
'', Giske's resignation came only hours before party leader Støre was about to state publicly that Giske did not have his confidence and needed to resign. On 25 January 2018 the Labour Party ruled that Giske had violated the party's rules against sexual harassment and that his behaviour disqualified him from having offices in the party. In response Giske sought legal assistance against his own party. In 2020, Giske faced intense criticism and renewed allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault when he sought election as chairman of the local
Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...
party branch; as a result he withdrew his candidacy and announced his complete and permanent withdrawal from politics.


Potential lawsuit against the Labour Party

In 2023, ''
Dagens Næringsliv ''(DN)'' ( Norwegian for "''Today's Business Affairs''"), is a Norwegian daily newspaper focusing on economic and business current affairs. it is the third-largest newspaper in Norway by circulation. Editor-in-chief is Janne Johannessen, appoint ...
'' reported that Giske had threatened the Labour Party with a lawsuit, resulting in a settlement where the party paid his legal expenses and an agreement that included a stipulation about the possibility of a comeback.


Personal life

Giske was in a relationship with Anne Grethe Moe from ca. 1996 until they separated amicably in 2006. They have one daughter, Una, together. From 2014, he have been in a relationship with singer and television host Haddy N'jie and the couple had a daughter in 2016. They married in 2019. His nephew, Johannes Dalen Giske, was on
Utøya Utøya () is an island in the Tyrifjorden lake in Hole municipality, in the county of Buskerud, Norway. The island is , situated off the shore, by the E16 road, about driving distance south of Hønefoss, and northwest of Oslo city centre. ...
during the
2011 Norway attacks The 2011 Norway attacks, also called 22 July () or 22/7 in Norway, were two domestic terrorism, domestic terrorist attacks by far-right politics, far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik against the politics of Norway, government, the civil ...
.


Bibliography

*2009: ''Mangfold eller enfold: 21 stemmer om kultur i vår tid'',
Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises o ...
*2009: ''"Hvem snakker for Bob Kåre?,"''
Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises o ...
(with Hadia Tajik)


See also

* Workers' Youth League affair


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giske, Trond 1966 births Living people Norwegian economists Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni University of Oslo alumni Politicians from Trondheim Labour Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway Ministers of culture of Norway Ministers of education of Norway Ministers of trade and shipping of Norway Research ministers of Norway Members of the Storting 2001–2005 Members of the Storting 1997–2001 Members of the Storting 2005–2009 Members of the Storting 2009–2013 Members of the Storting 2013–2017 Members of the Storting 2017–2021