Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 13 and 14 September 1981. The elections led to the end of the Labour Party minority government and the creation of a Conservative Party minority government.
The Conservative Party made the strongest gains in the election. The Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting, winning 66 of the 155 seats.
Attempts were made to form a majority coalition government with the Conservative Party, Christian People's Party and Centre Party, but the negotiations failed.
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Debates
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; line-height:15px; text-align:center;"
! colspan="14" | 1981 Norwegian general election debates
|-
! rowspan="3" | Date
! rowspan="3" | Organiser
! colspan="11" | Present Invitee Non-invitee
|-
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Ap
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |H
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |KrF
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Sp
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Sv
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |V
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Frp
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Dlp
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |NKP
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |R
! rowspan="2" |Refs
|-
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
|-
|
| NRK
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Gro Harlem Brundtland
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Kåre Willoch
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Kåre Kristiansen
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Johan J. Jakobsen
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Hanna Kvanmo
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Hans Hammond Rossbach
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Carl I. Hagen
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Gerd Søraa
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Martin Gunnar Knutsen
| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Sigurd Allern
|
|-
|
| NRK
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Einar Førde, Gro Harlem Brundtland
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Kåre Willoch
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Kåre Kristiansen
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Johan J. Jakobsen
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Hanna Kvanmo
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Hans Hammond Rossbach
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Carl I. Hagen
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Gerd Søraa
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Martin Gunnar Knutsen
| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Sigurd Allern
|
|}
Results
Voter demographics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; font-size:95%;"
|-
! rowspan="3"| Cohort
! colspan="8" | Percentage of cohort voting for
|-
! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Ap
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | H
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | KrF
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | Sv
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | FrP
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | Sp
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | V
! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | Others
|-
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
! style="background:" |
|-
|align=left| Total vote || style="background:#ffccd4;| 37.2% || 31.7%
| 8.9%|| 4.9%|| 4.5%|| 4.2%|| 3.2%||
|-
! colspan="9" | Gender
|-
|align=left| Females || style="background:#ffccd4;| 35.6% || 30.3%
| 12.8%|| 4.5%|| 3.7% || 4.3% || 3.3% ||
|-
|align=left| Males || style="background:#ffccd4;| 38.4% || 33.1%
| 5.5%|| 5.5%|| 5.3% || 4.2% || 3.1% ||
|-
! colspan="9" | Age
|-
|align=left| 18–30 years old || 26.2% || style="background:#cce4ff;| 33.8%
| 5.2%|| 8.8% || 10.1% || 4.6% || 4.3% ||
|-
|align=left| 30-59 years old || style="background:#ffccd4;| 39.2% || 32.3%
| 8%|| 4.8%|| 3.5% || 3.8% || 3.6% ||
|-
|align=left| 60 years old and older || style="background:#ffccd4;| 43.5% || 28.9%
| 14.9%|| 1.5%|| 1.2% || 4.9% || 1.2% ||
|-
! colspan="9" | Work
|-
|align=left| low income || style="background:#ffccd4;| 43.5% || 25.9%
| 11.8%|| 4.4%|| 7.1% || 5.6% || 2.4% ||
|-
|align=left| Average income || style="background:#ffccd4;| 43.9% || 27.2%
| 8.1%|| 5.8%|| 3.6% || 4% || 3.6% ||
|-
|align=left| High income || 23.3% || style="background:#cce4ff;| 50.3%
| 6.5%|| 4.5%|| 3.8% || 2.4% || 3.4% ||
|-
! colspan="9" |Education
|-
|align=left| Primary school || style="background:#ffccd4;| 55.2% || 18.7%
| 9.6%|| 3.1%|| 4.4% || 3.6% || 1% ||
|-
|align=left| High school || style="background:#ffccd4;| 36% || 33%
| 8.9%|| 4.7%|| 5.1% || 5% || 3% ||
|-
|align=left| University/college || 12.9% || style="background:#cce4ff;| 47.7%
| 7.9%|| 9.1%|| 3.3% || 2.9% || 7.5% ||
|-
! colspan="11! |
|-
|align=left colspan="9" | Source: Norwegian Institute for Social Research
|}
Seat distribution
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 0.9em;"
! rowspan="3" |Constituency
! rowspan="3" |Total<br>seats
! colspan="7" |Seats won
|-
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |Ap
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |H
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |KrF
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |Sp
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |SV
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |Frp
! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |V
|-
! style="background:;" |
! style="background:;" |
! style="background:;" |
! style="background:;" |
! style="background:;" |
! style="background:;" |
! style="background:;" |
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Akershus
!10
|4
|5
|
|
|
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Aust-Agder
!4
|2
|1
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Buskerud
!7
|4
|2
|
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Finnmark
!4
|3
|1
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Hedmark
!8
|5
|2
|
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Hordaland
!15
|4
|5
|2
|1
|1
|1
|1
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Møre og Romsdal
!10
|3
|3
|2
|1
|
|
|1
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Nord-Trøndelag
!6
|3
|1
|
|2
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Nordland
!12
|5
|4
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Oppland
!7
|4
|2
|
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Oslo
!15
|5
|7
|1
|
|1
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Østfold
!8
|4
|3
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Rogaland
!10
|3
|3
|2
|1
|
|1
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Sogn og Fjordane
!5
|2
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Sør-Trøndelag
!10
|4
|3
|1
|1
|1
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Telemark
!6
|3
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Troms
!6
|3
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Vest-Agder
!5
|2
|2
|1
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Vestfold
!7
|3
|4
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! style="text-align: left;" |Total
!155
!66
!53
!15
!11
!4
!4
!2
|-
|align=left colspan="9" |Source: Norges Offisielle Statistikk
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