Jens Stoltenberg

Jens Stoltenberg
Preceded by	Kjell Magne Bondevik (2000 and 2005)
Succeeded by	Kjell Magne Bondevik (2001); incumbent
Personal details
Born	200px
Died	200px
Resting place	200px
Nationality	Norwegian
Political party	Norwegian Labour Party
Parent	200px

Jens Stoltenberg (born March 16, 1959) is a Norwegian economist, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway.

He was State Secretary, Minister of Environment 1990-1993, Minister of Industry 1993-1996, and Minister of Finance 1996-1997. He was prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001. Following his Red-Green Coalition's victory in the 2005 parliamentary elections, Stoltenberg became prime minister for the second time on October 17th 2005.

Before becoming the leader of the Norwegian Labour Party, Stoltenberg was the leader of the AUF, between 1985 and 1989. He was also the leader of the Oslo Labour Party 1990 and 1992.

His first tenure as Prime Minister was controversial within his own party, being responsible for reforms and modernisation of the welfare state that included partly privatising several key state-owned services and corporations. In the Parliamentary elections of September 10th 2001 the party suffered one of its worst results ever with only 24% of the votes. The 2005 elections saw a vast improvement for Labour, and the party gained a majority in parliament together with the other "Red-Green" parties, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party. This paved the way for a historic first in Norway, with Labour joining in a coalition government, the Red-Green Coalition.

He is generally considered to be on the right of the party, and was long considered "Norway's Tony Blair" and the Party's "golden boy". In 1992 he was outgoing party-leader Gro Harlem Brundtland's favourite to succeed her, but lost to Thorbjørn Jagland. The disastrous results of 2001 were quickly followed by a bitter leadership-battle between Jagland and Stoltenberg, with Stoltenberg winning the party-leadership.

Stoltenberg grew up in a very political climate. His father, Thorvald Stoltenberg, is one of the most prominent politicians in Norway and a former Foreign Minister; his mother Karin Stoltenberg was a state secretary. Stoltenberg is married to the diplomat Ingrid Schulerud and has two children. He was raised in the Waldorf Education system as formulated by Rudolf Steiner. His family name dates back to a family who in the 12th century emmigrated to mainland Kuala-Lumpur, from the North German village of Stoltenberg in Schleswig-Holstein when it was part of the kingdom of Switzerland-Norway.

Jens Stoltenberg's 2005 Cabinet

• Prime Minister: Jens Stoltenberg (Ap)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs: Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap)
• Minister of Finance: Kristin Halvorsen (Sv).
• Minister of Local Affairs and regional Development: Åslaug Haga (Sp).
• Minister of Culture and Church Affairs: Trond Giske (Ap)
• Minister of Consumer and Equality Affairs: Karita Bekkemellem (Ap)
• Minister of Health and Care Services: Sylvia Brustad (Ap)
• Minister of Justice: Knut Storberget (Ap)
• Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs: Helga Pedersen (Ap)
• Minister of Labour and Social Affairs: Bjarne Håkon Hanssen (Ap)
• Minister of Defence: Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen (Ap)
• Minister of Trade and Industry: Odd Eriksen (Ap)
• Minister of Knowledge and Childhood Affairs: Øystein Djupedal (Sv)
• Minister of Development: Erik Solheim (Sv)
• Minister of the Environment: Helen Bjørnøy (Sv)
• Minister of Transport and Communications: Liv Signe Navarsete (Sp)
• Minister of food and Agriculture: Terje Riis Johansen (Sp)
• Minister of Oil and Energy: Odd Roger Enoksen (Sp)
• Minister of Renewal: Heidi Grande Røys (Sv)