Kristina Torbergsen
Kristina Torbergsen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Deputy County Mayor of Troms | |
| In office 2007–2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 24, 1987 Skjervøy, Troms, Norway |
| Political party | Labour Party |
| Alma mater | University of Tromsø |
Kristina Torbergsen (born 24 January 1987) is a Norwegian politician representing the Labour Party. In 2012, her revelation of an allegedly exploitative sexual affair with senior Labour Party politician Roger Ingebrigtsen led him to resign his party and government posts.
Early career
Torbergsen was elected to the county parliament in Troms in the 2007 local elections and served as Deputy County Mayor from 2007 to 2011.[1][2] She is currently studying to become a teacher at the University of Tromsø.[3] Torbergsen is a former leader of the Workers' Youth League in Troms.[4]
Ingebrigtsen sex scandal
In November 2012, while Torbergsen was seeking her party's nomination for a seat in parliament, she approached central Labour Party officials with charges that she had been sexually exploited by senior party member Ingebrigtsen in an affair that began when she was 17 and he was 37. Ingebrigtsen admitted to the accusations (but insisted the two-year affair had been consensual) and resigned from his office as state secretary in Norway's ministry of trade and industry. He also withdrew from the list of candidates for the national parliament from Troms county. Despite Ingebrigtsen's admissions, the revelation of the affair provoked speculative accusations of a conspiracy within Labour Party ranks, especially in that Torbergsen had channeled the information through Tonje Brenna, a political advisor to Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, and Brenna's partner Martin Henriksen, a political opponent of Ingebrigtsen, allegedly benefited from Ingebrigtsen's fall. [5]
Torbergsen subsequently withdrew her own name from the list for nomination as a candidate for the parliament. [6]
Despite extensive press reporting on Ingebrigtsen's political debacle, most Norwegian media channels avoided all mention of Torbergsen's name, referring to her only as "the 25-year-old politician"; two of the media outlets that found her identity to be newsworthy became the subject of formal complaints by the Labour Party to Norway's quasi-official press ethics panel. [7]
References
- ^ Gudrun Gulldahl: Ungdommelig vara Harstad Tidende, retrieved December 8, 2012
- ^ Hansen blir fylkesordfører tromsfylke.no, retrieved December 8, 2012
- ^ "Vil heller bli lærer enn lege". Har du det i deg? (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ Årsæther, Jan Ove. "Kristina Torbergsen - Stortingskandidat for Ap i Troms". Tv2.no. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ "- Roger Ingebrigtsen er langt nede". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 December 2012.
- ^ "Politisk henrettelse". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 4 December 2012.
- ^ "Ap melder identifisering av kvinne (25) til PFU". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 December 2012.