Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 10 and 11 September 1989. The Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting, winning 63 of the 165 seats.

The non-socialist parties gained a majority, and Jan P. Syse became prime minister of a coalition minority cabinet consisting of the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Centre Party. This cabinet was disbanded a year later after the Centre Party broke with the Conservatives over the Norwegian EU membership issue. Gro Harlem Brundtland became prime minister in 1990, forming a minority Labour government until the 1993 election four years later.

Political parties

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! rowspan=2 colspan=3 width=225px | Name

! rowspan=2 | Ideology

! rowspan=2 | Position

! rowspan=2 | Leader

! colspan=2 | 1985 result

|-

! Votes (%)

! Seats

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;"|

| align=center | Ap

| Labour Party<br /><small>Arbeiderpartiet</small>

| Social democracy

| Centre-left

| Gro Harlem Brundtland

| align=center | 40.8%

|

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;"|

| align=center | H

| Conservative Party<br /><small>Høyre</small>

| Conservatism<br />Factions:

| Centre-right

| Jan P. Syse

| align=center | 30.4%

|

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;" |

| align="center" | KrF

| Christian Democratic Party<br /><small>Kristelig Folkeparti</small>

| Christian democracy

| Centre to centre-right

| Kjell Magne Bondevik

| align="center" | 8.2%

|

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;" |

| align="center" | Sp

| Centre Party<br /><small>Senterpartiet</small>

| Agrarianism

| Centre

| Johan J. Jakobsen

| align="center" | 6.6%

|

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;" |

| align="center" | SV

| Socialist Left Party<br /><small>Sosialistisk Venstreparti</small>

| Democratic socialism

| Left-wing

|Erik Solheim

| align="center" | 5.4%

|

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;" |

| align="center" | FrP

| Progress Party<br /><small>Fremskrittspartiet</small>

| Classical liberalism

| Right-wing

| Carl I. Hagen

| align="center" | 3.7%

|

|-

! style="background:; width:2px;" |

| align="center" | V

| Liberal Party<br /><small>Venstre</small>

| Social liberalism

| Centre

|Arne Fjørtoft

| align="center" | 3.1%

|

|}

Campaign

Slogans

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%; text-align:left"

! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Party

! Original slogan

! English translation

|-

| style="background:"|

| Labour Party

|«Ny vekst for Norge»

|«New growth for Norway»

|-

| style="background:"|

| Conservative Party

|

|

|-

| style="background:" |

| Centre Party

|

|

|-

| style="background:" |

|Christian Democratic Party

|«La livet leve»

|«Let life live»

|-

| style="background:"|

| Liberal Party

|

|

|-

| style="background:" |

| Progress Party

|«Vi vil gjøre noe med det!»

|«We will do something with that!»

|-

| colspan="4" | Sources:

|}

Debates

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; line-height:15px; text-align:center;"

! colspan="13" | 1989 Norwegian general election debates

|-

! rowspan="3" | Date

! rowspan="3" | Organiser

! colspan="10" | Present &nbsp; Invitee&nbsp; Non-invitee&nbsp;

|-

! 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;" |Frp

! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |V

! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Ms

! scope="col" style="width:5em;" |Mdg

! rowspan="2" |Refs

|-

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

! style="background:" |

|-

| 21 August 1989

| NRK

| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Gro Harlem Brundtland

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Jan P. Syse

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Kjell Magne Bondevik

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Johan J. Jakobsen

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Erik Solheim

| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Carl I. Hagen

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Arne Fjørtoft

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Einar Edvardsen

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Birte Simonsen

|

|-

| 31 August 1989

| NRK

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Gro Harlem Brundtland

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Jan P. Syse

| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Kjell Magne Bondevik

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Johan J. Jakobsen

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Erik Solheim

| style="background:#90FF90" |P<br />Carl I. Hagen

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Arne Fjørtoft

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Einar Edvardsen

| style="background:#FFD0D0" |N<br />Birte Simonsen

|

|}

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;" | FrP

! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | Sv

! scope="col" style="width:5em;" | KrF

! 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;| 34.27% || 22.23%|| 13.04%|| 10.08%

| 8.49%|| 6.47%|| 3.20%||

|-

! colspan="9" | Gender

|-

|align=left| Females || style="background:#ffccd4;| 35.1% || 22.2%|| 9.9% || 11.6%

| 9.7%|| 6.6% || 2.6% ||

|-

|align=left| Males || style="background:#ffccd4;| 33.4% || 22.2%|| 16.1% || 8.6%

| 7.3%|| 6.3% || 3.8% ||

|-

! colspan="9" | Age

|-

|align=left| 18–30 years old || 24.1% || style="background:#cce4ff;| 26.1%|| 21.4% || 12.9%

| 4.2%|| 4.2% || 4% ||

|-

|align=left| 30-59 years old || style="background:#ffccd4;| 36% || 22%|| 10.2% || 11.4%

| 7.3%|| 7.2% || 3.3% ||

|-

|align=left| 60 years old and older || style="background:#ffccd4;| 41.5% || 18.4%|| 10.4% || 3.5%

| 16.2%|| 7.2% || 2% ||

|-

! colspan="9" | Work

|-

|align=left| low income || style="background:#ffccd4;| 35% || 17.5%|| 16.6% || 9.5%

| 10.1%|| 5.3% || 2.7% ||

|-

|align=left| Average income || style="background:#ffccd4;| 36.9% || 18%|| 13.9% || 10.7%

| 8.9%|| 7.4% || 2.7% ||

|-

|align=left| High income || 28.1% || style="background:#cce4ff;| 34.7% || 9.1% || 10.4%

| 5.5%|| 4.2% || 4.9% ||

|-

! colspan="9" |Education

|-

|align=left| Primary school || style="background:#ffccd4;| 52.6% || 11.4%|| 11.2% || 6.2%

| 8.7%|| 6.8% || 1.4% ||

|-

|align=left| High school || style="background:#ffccd4;| 33% || 21.6% || 15.6% || 9.6%

| 7.5%|| 7.7% || 3% ||

|-

|align=left| University/college || 14.8% || style="background:#cce4ff;| 37.3%|| 8.1% || 16.4%

| 10.9%|| 2.5% || 6.1% ||

|-

! 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;" |Frp

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |SV

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |KrF

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |Sp

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" |FfF

|-

! style="background:;" |

! style="background:;" |

! style="background:;" |

! style="background:;" |

! style="background:;" |

! style="background:;" |

! style="background:;" |

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Akershus

!15

|4

|5

|3

|2

|

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Aust-Agder

!4

|1

|1

|1

|

|1

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Buskerud

!7

|4

|2

|1

|

|

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Finnmark

!4

|2

|

|

|1

|

|

|1

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Hedmark

!8

|5

|1

|

|1

|

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Hordaland

!16

|5

|4

|3

|1

|2

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Møre og Romsdal

!10

|3

|2

|1

|1

|2

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Nord-Trøndelag

!6

|3

|1

|

|1

|

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Nordland

!12

|5

|2

|1

|2

|1

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Oppland

!7

|4

|1

|1

|

|

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Oslo

!16

|5

|5

|3

|2

|1

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Østfold

!9

|3

|2

|1

|1

|1

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Rogaland

!12

|3

|3

|2

|1

|2

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Sogn og Fjordane

!5

|2

|1

|

|

|1

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Sør-Trøndelag

!10

|4

|2

|1

|1

|1

|1

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Telemark

!6

|2

|1

|1

|1

|1

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Troms

!6

|3

|1

|1

|1

|

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Vest-Agder

!5

|2

|1

|1

|

|1

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Vestfold

!7

|3

|2

|1

|1

|

|

|

|-

! style="text-align: left;" |Total

!165

!63

!37

!22

!17

!14

!11

!1

|-

|align=left colspan="9" |Source: Norges Offisielle Statistikk

|}

References