Norwegian PM Erna Solberg claims election victory

The ruling Conservative coalition is set for a historic second term in office after a tight race

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg is set to be re-elected in general election
Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg
(Image credit: 2016 Getty Images)

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has held on to power with a historic victory for her centre-right coalition in the country’s general election.

“With 95% of the votes counted on Monday, Solberg’s Conservatives, along with their anti-immigration junior coalition partner, the Progress Party, and two other centre-right allies, were projected to win 89 seats in the 169-seat parliament,” Al Jazeera says.

The win is the first time a centre-right government had been returned to power in Norway since 1985.

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“We have received support for four new years because we have delivered on what we pledged,” Solberg said during her victory speech.

Despite losing the election, the Norwegian Labour Party looks set to remain the largest single party represented in the parliament.

“The five-party left-wing opposition grouping, led by Labour leader Jonas Gahr Store, was on target for 80 seats after a nail-biting campaign fought on the issues of taxation and the future of Norway’s giant energy sector,” the The Guardian reports.

Following yesterday’s result, Store said: “We knew it was going to be close, and it was close. But as it looks now it wasn’t enough to replace a Conservative-Progress Party government with a Labour government."

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