Norway’s Progress Party achieved a historic result in Monday’s general election, becoming the country’s second-largest political force and, for the first time since its founding in 1973, the main opposition party.
While Labour Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store secured another term in office after the left-wing bloc’s victory, the Progress Party won 23.9% of the vote, marking its best performance ever.
Much of the party’s momentum came from younger voters, especially men. A poll by public broadcaster NRK showed the Progress Party is now the leading choice among men under 30. On social media, its youth league leader Simen Velle ran an energetic campaign, with TikTok slogans such as “Vote Progress Party!” spreading rapidly. The party also won Norway’s “skolevalg” school elections, gaining 26% of the vote.
Jonas Stein, a political science professor at Tromsø University, said the surge reflected “a combination of factors.” He explained: “There’s the economy — these are individuals who want to keep a higher share of what they earn and have the opportunity to become wealthier—and a form of protest against egalitarianism and some progressive forces.”
The Progress Party’s platform includes abolishing Norway’s wealth tax, which has already pushed wealthy citizens abroad, along with cuts to bureaucracy, development aid, green subsidies, and immigration. “We see that some Norwegians who are creating a lot of jobs … are moving to Switzerland or Sweden, and this is not sustainable for Norway,” Listhaug told AFP.
For many of its young supporters, the appeal is rooted in economics and security. “I feel integration isn’t working very well right now,” a 19-year-old first-time voter told AFP.
The rise of Norway’s right-wing mirrors a broader shift across Europe. Supporters of conservative parties are increasingly youthful, with political momentum moving from climate-focused ‘Generation Greta’ to what has been dubbed the ‘Bande de Bardella,’ after Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old leader of France’s Rassemblement National (RN). RN has doubled its support among young voters since the 2022 presidential election, winning 32% of the 18-to-25-year-old vote in last summer’s snap elections.
Similar patterns are visible elsewhere: Austria’s Freedom Party took 27% of under-34 votes in its latest election, Germany’s AfD attracted one in three young voters in several state contests, and Belgium’s Flemish Nationalist Party drew strong youth backing in local elections. As we reported, many of the attendees of the Reform UK’s conference in Birmingham were also young, debunking myths about conservatism and right-wing policies not being able to serve the interests of the youth. Analysts note that disillusionment plays a role, with studies suggesting that younger Europeans are less likely than older generations to see democracy or voting as effective ways to bring about change.
The Norwegian Progress Party itself remains distinct from some of its European counterparts. Political scientist Johannes Bergh described it as a “right-wing populist party” that is anti-elitist and anti-immigration. Unlike newer movements, it is already an established part of Norwegian politics, having governed in coalition with the Conservatives from 2013 to 2020.
Listhaug, who once denounced “the tyranny of kindness” during the 2015 migration crisis, now defines the party as “a liberal party that wants more freedom, less taxes, less government, but we also want a strict immigration policy.”
