Social Democrats (Norway)
Encyclopedia
The Social Democrats is a minor Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 political party. It last ran for election in the 2001 parliamentary election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on September 10, 2001. The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and seats, closely followed by the Conservative Party...

 where it received a mere 0.01% of the votes.

History

The party came to after a break with the Pensioners Party
Pensioners Party (Norway)
The Pensioners' Party is a political party in Norway without parliamentary representation. It was founded in 1985 to work for the interests of pensioners. The party has never been elected to parliament, althouth former Arne Haukvik who was elected on the Centre Party list in 1993 joined the party...

 and ran for the 1993 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 1993
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on 13 September 1993. The Labour Party won a plurality of seats, and Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland remained in office. The Centre Party was particularly successful, gaining 21 seats....

, then under the name Common Future (Felles Framtid). In the 1995 election
Norwegian local elections, 1995
Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway in 1995. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently.-Municipal elections:...

 the name had however been changed into People's Will (Folkets Vilje), and in the 1999 election
Norwegian local elections, 1999
Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway in 1999. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently.-Municipal elections:...

 the party had changed name yet another time, now to the Generation Party (Generasjonspartiet). Its final name, the Social Democrats, was approved for the 2001 election
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001
A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on September 10, 2001. The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and seats, closely followed by the Conservative Party...

 after the Norwegian Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

's protest against the name had been dismissed.

In 2002 the party was tried taken over by a group of former Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...

 members with Vidar Kleppe
Vidar Kleppe
Vidar Sveinung Kleppe is a Norwegian politician. He was a Member of Parliament and deputy chairman of the Progress Party until being suspended and left the party in 2001...

 in the lead. This however failed, and Kleppe and his allies instead formed the Democrats
Demokratene
The Democrats in Norway , formerly and commonly known as the Democrats, is a Norwegian political party. The party was formed in 2002, chiefly by former Progress Party members. It is led by Vidar Kleppe, a former Deputy Leader and Member of Parliament for the Progress Party...

, and even though this was originally presented as a continuation of the Social Democrats, both parties were listed as political parties in 2005. By the 2003 election
Norwegian local elections, 2003
Country-wide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on September 15, 2003. For most places this meant that two elections, the municipal elections and the county elections ran concurrently. In addition, several municipalities held direct mayoral...

 the Social Democrats delivered in several protests against the Democrats' lists on the grounds that it was the Social Democrats who had initially registered the name Democrats. This was however rejected.

The party has never gained representation in any electoral bodies, and since the 2001 election the party was left inactive, mainly caused by an internal struggle by the two main factions "Tømmerdal" and "Borgundvaag". On an internet debate in February 2007, Tore Tømmerdal said "I am not leader or member of the Social Democrats. Neither do I know if it still exists today." According to the webpages of the Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

 Social Democrats, and the party's blog, the party on 6 April 2008 went over to the newly founded local party the Center Alliance
Center Alliance
The Center Alliance is a political party in Norway. The party was founded in Bergen on 28 March 2007 by a group of former members of the Norwegian Labour Party, among them both the leader and vice leader of the Bergen Labour Party, Jarl Høva and Merete Andreassen...

. The party seems though to still formally exist as it is still listed as a political party in the Brønnøysund Register Centre
Brønnøysund Register Centre
Brønnøysund Register Centre is a Norwegian government agency that is responsible for the management of numerous public registers for Norway...

, even with Tore Tømmerdal as its leader.
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